The 1920 Republican National Convention nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for president and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge for vice president. The convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Chicago Coliseum from June 8 to June 12, 1920, with 940 delegates. Under convention rules, a majority plus one, or at least 471 of the 940 delegates, was necessary for a nomination.
Many Republicans sought the presidential nomination, including General Leonard Wood, Illinois Governor Frank Lowden and California Senator Hiram Johnson. Dark horse Harding, however, was nominated. Many wanted to nominate Wisconsin Senator Irvine L. Lenroot for vice president, but Coolidge was nominated instead, because he was known for his response to the Boston Police Strike in 1919.
The convention also adopted a platform opposed to the accession of the United States to the League of Nations. The plank was carefully drawn up by Henry Cabot Lodge to appease opponents of the League such as Johnson, while still allowing eventual American entry into the League.
Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University
Calvin Coolidge, governor of Massachusetts
Robert M. La Follette, U.S. senator from Wisconsin and candidate for president in 1912
Jeter C. Pritchard, federal circuit court judge from North Carolina
William Cameron Sproul, governor of Pennsylvania
Howard Sutherland, U.S. senator from West Virginia
Potential or declined candidates
Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. senator from Massachusetts (declined to run)
Henry J. Allen, governor of Kansas
Albert J. Beveridge, former U.S. senator from Indiana
William Borah, U.S. senator from Idaho
Omar Bundy, U.S. Army general from Indiana
T. Coleman du Pont, businessman from Delaware
Will H. Hays, chairman of the Republican National Committee
Charles Evans Hughes, former U.S. Supreme Court justice, former governor of New York, and nominee for president in 1916 (declined to run)