Presidential Nomination
Acceptance Speeches and Messages
1880 - 2020
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Nominee | Date | Convention Location |
Length |
did nominee |
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in time | in words | |||||
Joseph Biden | August 20, 2020 | Milwaukee, WI ** | 24:28 | 3192 | yes | |
Hillary Clinton | July 28, 2016 | Philadelphia, PA | 56:34 | 5389 | no | |
Barack Obama | September 6, 2012 | Charlotte, NC | 39:03 | 4474 | no | ![]() |
Barack Obama | August 28, 2008 | Denver, CO | 41:40 | 4652 | yes | ![]() |
John F. Kerry | July 29, 2004 | Boston, MA | 45:26 | 5166 | yes | ![]() |
Albert Gore, Jr. | August 17, 2000 | Los Angeles, CA | 50:20 | 5755 | yes | ![]() |
William J. Clinton | August 29, 1996 | Chicago, IL | 1:06:22 | 6997 | yes | ![]() |
William J. Clinton | July 16, 1992 | New York, NY | 53:02 | 4435 | yes | ![]() |
Michael Dukakis | July 21, 1988 | Atlanta, GA | 46:25 | 3316 | no | |
Walter F. Mondale | July 19, 1984 | San Francisco, CA | 32:45 | 2418 | no | |
Jimmy Carter | August 14, 1980 | New York, NY | 51:07 | 4655 | no | |
Jimmy Carter | July 15, 1976 | New York, NY | 39:15 | 2932 | no | |
George McGovern | July 14, 1972 | Miami Beach, FL | 30:23 | 2600 | no | ![]() |
Hubert H. Humphrey | August 29, 1968 | Chicago, IL | 36:33 | 3839 | no | ![]() |
Lyndon B. Johnson | August 27, 1964 | Atlantic City, NJ | 37:30 | 2297 | yes | |
John F. Kennedy | July 15, 1960 | Los Angeles, CA | 21:31 | 2560 | no | ![]() |
Adlai Stevenson | August 17, 1956 | Chicago, IL | 36:42 | 3045 | no | |
Adlai Stevenson | July 26, 1952 | Chicago, IL | 15:55 | 1723 | no | |
Harry S. Truman | July 15, 1948 | Philadelphia, PA | 24:06 | 2688 | no | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | July 20, 1944 | Chicago, IL | nd | 1769 | yes | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | July 19, 1940 | Chicago, IL | nd | 3525 | yes | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | June 27, 1936 | Philadelphia, PA | nd | 1998 | yes | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | July 2, 1932 | Chicago, IL | nd | 4309 | yes | |
Al Smith | August 22, 1928 | Houston, TX | nd | 8302 | no | |
John W. Davis | August 11, 1924 | New York, NY * | nd | 7795 | no | |
James M. Cox (Address) | August 7, 1920 | Dayton, OH * | nd | 11,138 | no | |
James M. Cox (Telegram) | July 6, 1920 | San Francisco, CA | n/a | |||
Woodrow Wilson | September 2, 1916 | St. Louis, MO * | nd | 5522 | yes | |
James K. Polk | June 12, 1844 | Baltimore, MD | -- | -- | yes | |
**Joseph Biden's 2020 acceptance address was delivered from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, although the Democratic National Convention was held "virtually" from Milwaukee, Wisconsin due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||||
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Nominee | Date | Convention Location |
Length |
did nominee |
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in time | in words | |||||
Donald J. Trump | August 27, 2020 | Charlotte, NC*** | 1:10:08 | 6959 | yes | |
Donald J. Trump | July 21, 2016 | Cleveland, OH | 1:14:40 | 5092 | yes | ![]() |
Mitt Romney | August 30, 2012 | Tampa, FL | 37:19 | 4087 | no | ![]() |
John McCain | September 4, 2008 | Saint Paul, MN | 48:57 | 4340 | no | ![]() |
George W. Bush | September 2, 2004 | New York, NY | 1:02:07 | 5011 | no | |
George W. Bush | August 3, 2000 | Philadelphia, PA | 52:10 | 4109 | no | |
Robert Dole | August 15, 1996 | San Diego, CA | 56:58 | 5771 | no | |
George Bush | August 20, 1992 | Houston, TX | 56:44 | 4867 | yes | |
George Bush | August 18, 1988 | New Orleans, LA | 49:05 | 4469 | yes | ![]() |
Ronald Reagan | August 23, 1984 | Dallas, TX | 54:59 | 5060 | yes | ![]() |
Ronald Reagan | July 17, 1980 | Detroit, MI | 43:42 | 4640 | yes | ![]() |
Gerald R. Ford | August 19, 1976 | Kansas City, MO | 36:26 | 2895 | no | |
Richard Nixon | August 23, 1972 | Miami Beach, FL | 41:11 | 4348 | yes | ![]() |
Richard Nixon | August 8, 1968 | Miami Beach, FL | 32:17 | 4664 | yes | ![]() |
Barry Goldwater | July 16, 1964 | San Francisco, CA | 40:14 | 3186 | no | |
Richard Nixon | July 28, 1960 | Chicago, IL | 50:20 | 5356 | no | |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | August 23, 1956 | San Francisco, CA | 37:50 | 4342 | yes | |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | July 11, 1952 | Chicago, IL | nd | 1131 | yes | |
Thomas E. Dewey | June 24, 1948 | Philadelphia, PA | nd | 1371 | yes | |
Thomas E. Dewey | June 28, 1944 | Chicago, IL | nd | 2293 | no | |
Wendell L. Willkie | August 17, 1940 | Philadelphia, PA | nd | 5588 | no | |
Alf Landon (Speech) | July 23, 1936 | Topeka, KS * | nd | 4067 | no | |
Alf Landon (Telegram) | June 12, 1936 | Cleveland, OH | n/a | |||
Herbert Hoover (Speech) | August 11, 1932 | Chicago, IL | nd | 7241 | no | |
Herbert Hoover (Message) | June 16, 1932 | Chicago, IL | n/a | |||
Calvin Coolidge | August 14, 1924 | Cleveland, OH | nd | 6586 | yes | |
Warren G. Harding | July 22, 1920 | Chicago, IL * | nd | 6833 | yes | |
Charles E. Hughes | June 10, 1916 | Chicago, IL | n/a | yes | ||
William Howard Taft | August 1, 1912 | Chicago, IL * | nd | 8,922 | no | |
William Howard Taft | July 28, 1908 | Chicago, IL * | nd | 12,055 | yes | |
Theodore Roosevelt | July 27, 1904 | Chicago, IL * | nd | 2916 | yes | |
William McKinley | July 12, 1900 | Philadelphia, PA | nd | 2016 | yes | |
Benjamin Harrison | September 3, 1892 | Minneapolis, MN | n/a | yes | ||
Benjamin Harrison | September 11, 1888 | Chicago, IL | n/a | yes | ||
James A. Garfield | July 12, 1880 | Chicago, IL | n/a | yes | ||
Ulysses S. Grant | June 10, 1872 | Philadelphia, PA | n/a | yes | ||
Ulysses S. Grant (Letter) | May 29, 1868 | Chicago, IL | n/a | yes | ||
Ulysses S. Grant (Remarks) | May 29, 1868 | nd | 198 | |||
Abraham Lincoln | June 9, 1864 | Baltimore, MD | n/a | yes | ||
Abraham Lincoln | May 19, 1860 | Chicago, IL | --- | yes | ||
*** Donald Trump's 2020 acceptance address was delivered from the South Lawn at the White House although the Democratic National Convention was held "virtually" from Charlotte, North Carolina due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||||
* These speeches were delivered at another location, not the nominating convention. In 1932 Franklin Roosevelt was the first nominee to appear at a convention in person to accept the nomination. nd = Time not determined due to a complete recording not available at the time this compilation was assembled, or the message was in writing. Length in time was determined using video available in the C-SPAN archives. The time began when the nominee began speaking from prepared text, and excludes extended applause that may have occurred when the nominee was introduced, but before the prepared remarks began. Time ended when the nominee spoke the last word. Word counts exclude any annotations, and exclude any audience reaction that may be included in the transcript. Microsoft Word was used to compute word counts. Citation: Gerhard Peters. "Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches and Letters." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2022. Available from the World Wide Web: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive....
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