Hoover was virtually unopposed for the nomination. Despite the ongoing situation facing the Republican Party, the convention praised Hoover and pledged itself to maintain a balanced budget.
Republicans gloomily gathered in Chicago for the 20th Republican National Convention. Los Angeles attorney Joseph Scott delivered President Hoover's nominating address, praising him as the man who taught the nation to resist the temptations of governmental paternalism. Hoover was re-nominated on the first ballot without significant opposition. To have repudiated the incumbent would have destroyed what little chance of victory the party had amid the worst economic depression in U.S. history.
Former Senator Joseph I. France of Maryland attempted to engineer a "draft Coolidge" movement, but the former president expressed no interest in the nomination.
Vice President Curtis experienced more difficulties than President Hoover in securing his party's re-nomination. It took the fervid appeals of Hoover's cabinet members to keep the Illinois delegation from nominating former Vice President Charles Dawes for his old office. Curtis nonetheless still had to fight for his re-nomination despite the disorganization of his opposition by the advance refusal of Dawes to accept the nomination for second place. AmbassadorHanford MacNider and RCAChairmanJames Harbord, both military professionals, were the primary beneficiaries of the opposition to Curtis.[2]
The initial roll call revealed Curtis to be 18 votes shy of securing re-nomination. At this point, Pennsylvania switched its 75 votes from favorite son Edward Martin to Curtis. After Curtis had secured the vice presidential nomination, the delegates moved to make his re-nomination unanimous.[2]
Pietrusza, David 1932: The Rise of Hitler & FDR: Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal and Unlikely Destiny Lyons Press Guilford, CT 2015.
Shi, David E.; Tindall, George Brown (2010). Jon Durbin (ed.). America: A Narrative History. Vol. 1 (8th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN978-0-393-11700-4.