1988 Democratic National Convention

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The 1988 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–21, 1988 to select a candidate for the 1988 United States presidential election. At the convention Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for President and Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen of Texas for Vice President. Chair of Convention was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright.

Notable speakers:

• Texas state Treasurer Ann Richards gave a keynote speech that put her in the public spotlight and included the line that George H. W. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth".
• Massachusetts senator Edward M. Kennedy's remarks contained the famous iteration "Where was George?"
• Arkansas governor Bill Clinton gave a widely jeered 32-minute long opening night address that some predicted would ruin his political career, a source of much satisfaction to him 4 years later.
• Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, who called Bush "a toothache of a man".
• Former President Jimmy Carter of Georgia
• Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota
• Former Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota
• John F. Kennedy, Jr.
• Jesse Jackson

In one of the subsequent presidential debates, when questioned about the general alleged "negativity" of the campaign, Bush cited the ad hominem attacks against him at the Convention as the root cause, an assertion not rebutted by Dukakis then or subsequently.

Preceded by 1984

Democratic National Conventions

Succeeded by 1992

Actor Rob Lowe attended the convention. One night, he partied at the nearby Club Rio, where he met, had sex with, and was videotaped having sex with, two women. One was underage. Rolling Stone article