Posted on 08/20/2026 7:38:06 PM PDT by Rummyfan
The evening of Aug. 19, 1976, was hot and muggy in Kansas City, where the Republicans were wrapping up their convention. Gerald Ford was scheduled to give his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination for what is probably the last contested party convention in American history.
While exact totals varied slightly depending on uncommitted state delegations, Ford entered the convention with approximately 1,100 to 1,110 committed delegates, while his challenger Ronald Reagan held around 1,030 to 1,040. Because neither candidate had reached the 1,130-delegate threshold outright, roughly 90 to 100 uncommitted delegates held the balance of power.
It had been a bitter primary season, with Ford racking up several key early victories and building a large lead in delegates. With Reagan on the ropes and preparing to concede, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) engineered a stunning upset for the Gipper in his state's primary. Reagan had changed tactics and begun attacking Ford's foreign policy as naive and weak.
It proved a winning formula. Reagan won North Carolina and never looked back. The victory propelled Reagan to a string of major primary victories shortly after in states like Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Nebraska, and California, stretching the nomination battle all the way to the convention floor.
Reagan made a critical tactical error when he named the liberal Pennsylvania senator Richard Schweiker as his running mate. The move alienated his base, and he lost whatever momentum he carried into the convention.
Ford ultimately secured the nomination on the first ballot with 1,187 votes to Reagan's 1,070.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
“But his Aug. 19, 1976, speech was given “cold,” with no teleprompter and no preparation.”
The speech
8 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eSmfldz_bA&t=48s
Amazing speech.
Also on Rumble for those that don’t want to use google products
Ronald Reagan’s Remarks at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri — 8/19/76
https://rumble.com/v7eg7ku-ronald-reagans-remarks-at-the-republican-national-convention-in-kansas-city.html
After Reagan, I never read or listened to a president's speech. As far as I am concerned, he was the last president who said anything encouraging to the country.
Very good.
My interpretation of the 1976 convention I watched it from start to finish as a teenager is that Reagan was overwhelmed by the Ford political machine using the Power of the Presidency to twist arms.
Arm twisters of note included Haley Barbour of Mississippi who did the dirty work of the Ford apparatus.
At one point Reagan spoke to his supporters noting the tactics used to defeat him by the Ford machine resembled “seeing the world with its pants down”.
He thanked his supporters for remaining loyal in spite of seeing the ‘down and dirty’ of politics before their eyes.
I was there that night.
I was sitting with the Virginia delegation on the Kemper Arena floor. Reagan was in the “sky box,” which was at the top of the lower level behind the goal line of the ice surface had it been there. Ford was gesturing to Reagan with “come on down” swings of his arm and the packed crowd cheering. It took a while for him to make it all the way to the podium, but when he and Nancy walked out the delegates and alternants went nuts.
After the Reagan speech, the Reagan delegates, like me, discussed how we just heard part of his acceptance speech, had he won. It was not impromptu. It was well thought out and would have presented his “shining city on a hill” approach to making America great again. An unforgettable night.
It was the last, great convention. There will never be another like it.
Great story. Someday, someone should write an article about Ronald Reagan’s Unplanned, Off the Cuff 1976 GOP Convention Speech, which might have been his best. I’d sure love to learn about it.
“Ford ultimately secured the nomination on the first ballot with 1,187 votes to Reagan’s 1,070.”
“Amazing speech”
After which a great many Ford delegates said - Oops I think I voted for the wrong guy.
You’ve got to wonder...if Reagan had won in 1976, how would the world be different right now? He would have cleaned Jimmy Carter’s clock in 1976...just like he did in 1980.
Ronaldus Magnus. I'm on deck to download it (197mb), and when I started there were more than 360 downloads ahead of me. I may try a different site.
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