This study addresses the impact of presidential leadership on party reform, considering an instance where a national party convention renominated an incumbent president and also made a significant change in its presidential nominating procedures. This occurred in 1936, when the Democratic National Convention both renominated Franklin Roosevelt and abolished its two-thirds majority requirement for presidential ticket nominations. The focus is on the involvement of the president and the consequences of the decision for him, the presidency, and the party. In accounting for the success of the reform effort, President Roosevelt's party leadership looms exceedingly large, embracing personal commitment, shrewd staffing, and an undisputed claim to renomination. In addition, fortuitous timing considerations facilitated reform. The demise of the two-thirds rule enhanced the already solid position of an incumbent Democratic president seeking his party nomination, assisted in the expansion of the Democratic coalition and the nationization of the party, and began the gradual estrangement of the solid south from the ranks of the Democracy.
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© 1988 Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress