page_title: United States presidential nominating convention
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: United States presidential nominating convention / History
caption_attribution_description: English: President Gerald Ford, as the Republican nominee, shakes hands with nomination foe Ronald Reagan on the closing night of the 1976 Republican National Convention. Vice-Presidential Candidate Bob Dole is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan, Governor Ronald Reagan is at the center shaking hands with President Gerald Ford, Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford and First Lady Betty Ford.Français&#160;: Le président Gerald Ford serrant la main de Ronald Reagan (1976). Bob Dole à l'extrême gauche et la femme de Ronald Reagan entre les deux. Nelson Rockefeller à la droite de Ford suivi de Susan Ford et de la femme du président Betty Ford.
context_page_description: A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpose of such a convention is to select the party's nominee for popular election as President, as well as to adopt a statement of party principles and goals known as the party platform and adopt the rules for the party's activities, including the presidential nominating process for the next election cycle.
  Since 1972, the delegates have been mostly selected in presidential primaries state by state. This allows the nominees to be decided before the convention opens. In the 1976 GOP race, Ronald Reagan did well in the primaries but had clearly lost to incumbent Gerald Ford when the convention opened. Other delegates to these conventions include political party members who are seated automatically, and are called "unpledged delegates" because they can choose for themselves for which candidate they vote.
caption: Primary foes Ronald Reagan (left) and Gerald Ford (right) shake hands during the 1976 Republican National Convention, the last major party convention whose outcome was in doubt.
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