 the 1976 republican national convention was a united states political convention of the republican party that met from august 16 to august 19, 1976 to select the party's nominee for president. held in kemper arena in kansas city, missouri, the convention nominated president gerald r. ford for a full term, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former california governor ronald w. reagan. the convention also nominated senator robert j. dole of kansas for vice president, instead of vice president nelson rockefeller. the keynote address was delivered by tennessee senator howard baker. ==history==  going into the convention, ford had won more primary delegates than reagan, as well as plurality in popular vote. however, ford did not have enough to secure the nomination, thus, when the convention opened, both candidates were seen as having a chance to win. because of this, both ford and reagan arrived in kansas city before the convention opened to woo the remaining uncommitted delegates in an effort to secure the nomination. reagan benefited from his highly committed delegates, notably "reagan's raiders" of the texas delegation. they and other conservative western and southern delegates particularly faulted the ford administration's foreign policy of dÃ©tente towards the soviet union, criticizing his signing of the helsinki accords and indirectly blaming him for the april 1975 fall of saigon. the pro-reagan texas delegates worked hard to persuade delegates from other states to support reagan. ford, m
1976_in_Missouri Political_conventions_in_Missouri Republican_National_Conventions United_States_presidential_election,_1976