# 1976 Democratic National Convention

The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia for president and Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota for vice president. John Glenn and Barbara Jordan gave the keynote addresses. Jordan's keynote address made her the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. The convention was the first in New York City since the 103-ballot 1924 convention.
By the time the convention opened Carter already had won more than enough delegates in the primary elections and caucuses to clinch the nomination, and so the major emphasis at the convention was to create an appearance of party unity, which had been lacking in the 1968 and 1972 Democratic Conventions. Carter easily won the nomination on the first ballot. He then chose Mondale, a liberal and a protégé of Hubert Humphrey, as his running mate. Mondale was put over the top at roll call by the convention's second youngest delegate Cathy Clardy who cast the delegate votes for the State of Minnesota.
The Carter–Mondale ticket went on to win the 1976 presidential election on November 2.
The convention is also notable for the fact that congresswoman Lindy Boggs, who presided over it, thus became the first woman to preside over a national political convention.

## Platform

The Democrats' 1976 platform called for continued price controls on natural gas, a policy which had caused dwindling domestic natural gas reserves since 1974 and which President Gerald Ford was asking to rescind. The platform stated: "Those now pressing to turn natural-gas price regulation over to OPEC, while arguing the rhetoric of so-called deregulation, must not prevail."

### Abortion

Despite an address from anti-abortion activist Erma Clardy Craven, the platform added "it is undesirable to attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn [Roe v. Wade]".

## Presidential vote tally

The following people had their names placed in nomination.
* Former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia
* Governor Jerry Brown of California
* Representative Morris Udall of Arizona
* Activist Ellen McCormack of New York
The tally at the convention was:
Democratic National Convention Presidential nominee vote, 1976 :
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Jimmy Carter | 2,238.5 | 74.42% |
| Mo Udall | 329.5 | 10.95% |
| Jerry Brown | 300.5 | 9.99% |
| George Wallace | 57.0 | 1.89% |
| Ellen McCormack | 22.0 | 0.73% |
| Frank Church | 19.0 | 0.63% |
| Hubert Humphrey | 10.0 | 0.33% |
| Henry M. Jackson | 10.0 | 0.33% |
| Fred R. Harris | 9.0 | 0.30% |
| Milton Shapp | 2.0 | 0.07% |
| Robert Byrd | 2.0 | 0.07% |
| César Chávez, Leon Jaworski, Barbara Jordan, Ted Kennedy, Jennings Randolph and Fred W. Stover | 1 vote each | 0.03% each |
| "nobody" | 0.5 | 0.02% |
| Abstention | 3.0 | 0.10% |
| Totals | 3,008 | 100.00% |

## Vice presidential nomination

According to Jimmy Carter, his top choices for vice president were: Walter Mondale, Edmund Muskie, Frank Church, Adlai Stevenson III, John Glenn, and Henry M. Jackson. He selected Mondale.
The vice presidential tally was:
* Walter Mondale, 2,817 (94.28%)
* Carl Albert, 36 (1.21%)
* Barbara Jordan, 25 (0.84%)
* Ron Dellums, 20 (0.67%)
* Henry M. Jackson, 16 (0.54%)
* Gary Benoit, 12 (0.40%)
* Frank Church, 11 (0.37%)
* Fritz Efaw, 11 (0.37%)
* Peter F. Flaherty, 11 (0.37%)
* George Wallace, 6 (0.20%)
* Allard K. Lowenstein, 5 (0.17%)
* Edmund Muskie, 4 (0.13%)
* Philip Hart, 2 (0.07%)
* Thomas E. Morgan, 2 (0.07%)
* Mo Udall, 2 (0.07%)
* Al Castro, 1 (0.03%)
* Fred R. Harris, 1 (0.03%)
* Ernest Hollings, 1 (0.03%)
* Peter W. Rodino, 1 (0.03%)
* Josephine E. R. A. Smith, 1 (0.03%)
* Daniel Schorr, 1 (0.03%)
* Hunter S. Thompson, 1 (0.03%)
* Wendell Anderson, 1 (0.03%)
In his acceptance speech, Mondale diverted from his printed text which echoed John F. Kennedy's call to "get the country moving again;" Mondale instead said, "Let's get this government moving again!"