It has been an interesting summer with the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
Watonga’s own Mrs. Tom B. (Elva) Ferguson lead the Oklahoma delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1924.
In “ The Story of Oklahoma Newspapers” the chapter “Mrs. Tom B. Ferguson: Pioneer Woman Editor” states “At the same time she was running the Watonga Republican after her husband’s death, Elva Ferguson became a political power in Republican circles. In 1924 she was named delegate from the sixth Oklahoma District to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. She was also chairman of the state delegation to the convention.”
From Wikipedia “The 1924 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Public Auditorium, from June 10 to 12.
Incumbent President Calvin Coolidge was nominated for a full term and went on to win the general election. (He had fulfilled the term of President Harding who died in office).
The convention nominated Illinois Governor Frank Orren Lowden for vice president on the second ballot, but he declined the nomination.
This had never happened before nor since. The convention then selected Charles G. Dawes.”
There was a lot of interest in the vice-presidential nominee in 1924 as there was for both the Republican and Democratic vice president nominees in 2024.
When President Warren G. Harding died in office in 1923 and Coolidge became president, there was no provision to select a vice president. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified by the states in 1967 and provided that, in the event of the elected vice president assuming the presidency, the president could select a vice president who then had to be approved by both houses of Congress, according to Wikipedia.
There were 120 women delegates in 1924, 11% of the total. The Republican National Committee approved a rule providing for a national committeeman and a national committeewoman from each state.
Therefore, Mrs. Tom B. Ferguson had a front row seat to the political drama in Cleveland in 1924.