1988 Republican National Convention

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Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the podium on August 15, 1988.

The 1988 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 15 to August 18, 1988. The convention nominated Vice President George H. W. Bush for President, as expected. The second spot on the ticket was not publicly known before the convention; Bush chose James Danforth "Dan" Quayle, U.S. Senator of Indiana, as his vice-presidential running mate. The revelation of Quayle's selection as running mate did not come until the second day of the convention, when NBC News broke the story.

The convention featured speeches by Pat Robertson and a keynote address by Thomas Kean, then governor of New Jersey.

The convention is perhaps best known for Bush's "thousand points of light" speech accepting the nomination. Written by Peggy Noonan, it included the "read my lips: no new taxes" pledge that was the most popular sound bite coming out of the convention. The successful speech gave him a "bounce" that he was able to capitalize on to win the 1988 presidential election.

Ronald and Nancy Reagan were honored on August 14. President Reagan made a major speech on the opening night of the convention, as he would in 1992.