Has a national party convention for either party ever decided the vice presidential nominee?
– Jerry Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals, Oklahoma City A: In the old, old days, running mates were decided at the convention, along with the presidential nominee. The VP choice was often made by the party bosses, who were looking to balance a ticket for geographic or ideological reasons. At the 1932 Democratic convention, Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York and House Speaker John Nance Garner of Texas battled through four ballots before FDR won the nomination and Garner became the running mate. After that, the presidential candidate generally named his ticket mate, but in 1956, Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson threw open the VP spot to the delegates at the Chicago convention. They selected Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, a Stevenson rival, but it took two ballots. Every running mate since has been chosen by the candidate. When Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, it was the first time a No. 2 was named in advance of the convention. Q: Both John Edwards and Mitt Romne
