1972 Democratic National Convention

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The 1972 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida July 10 to 13, 1972. It nominated Senator George McGovern for President and Senator Thomas Eagleton for Vice President. Eagleton later withdrew from the race when it was disclosed that he had undergone mental health treatment (including electroshock therapy) in the past. He was replaced on the ballot by Sargent Shriver.

The 1972 convention was significant in that the new rules put into place as a result of a commission which McGovern himself had chaired opened the door for quotas mandating that certain percentages of delegates be women or members of minority groups, and subjects that were previously deemed not fit for political debate, such as abortion and gay rights, now occupied the forefront of political discussion. That convention itself was one of the most bizarre in recent American history, with sessions beginning in the early evening and lasting until sunrise the next morning, and previously-excluded political activists gaining influence at the expense of elected officials and traditional core Democratic constituencies such as organized labor, thus resulting in a convention far to the left of a good part of the rank-and-file of the Democratic Party.