The presidential nominating convention has been a mainstay of American politics since the early nineteenth century. Although the major functions of the convention-formally nominating the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, constructing party platforms, and throwing gigantic political rallies-remain largely unchanged today, conventions have evolved in the modern era into carefully choreographed televised events aimed to market the party's ticket and programs. This new edition of National Party Conventions covers the complete history of U.S. nominating conventions, offering summaries of all major political party conventions from 1831 to 2004. The chronological format allows readers to trace historical developments in the convention form. Important excerpts from party platforms, key convention ballots for presidential nominees, and significant convention votes on rules and delegate disputes are provided. National Party Conventions also examines other facets of the national presidential nominating process, touching on the preconvention nominating procedure from 1789 to 1928, the decisive role of presidential primaries in the modern era, the delegate selection process, party convention rules, and the expanded role of the media. An appendix focuses on American political parties, including brief histories of U.S. parties and concise biographies of major presidential and vice-presidential candidates from 1789 to 2004. A bibliography for further reading and a comprehensive index complete the book. To provide readers with definitive congressional and presidential election results, CQ Press publishes two series, America Votes and America at the Polls, edited by Rhodes Cook. Elections A to Z, second edition, by John L. Moore, is an accessible encyclopedic guide to the U.S. electoral process. The sum of this historical data and analysis is included in the Guide to U.S. Elections, fifth edition, and online in the CQ Voting and Elections Collection. Book jacket.