The Journal of San Diego History
Fall 1992, Volume 38, Number 4
Contents of This Issue
When the Elephants Marched Out of San Diego:
The 1972 Republican Convention Fiasco
Back to the Article
Page 226. Architects of Disaster? Seven of the eight men who drafted San Diego's bid for the convention pose for a publicity shot as they sign the document. Front row (left to right), William Craven, Mayor Frank Curran, and Leon Parma. Back row Leslie Gehres, Gordon Luce, Martin Blatt, and Lloyd Schunemann
Page 231. Leon Parma (left) and William Craven (right) attempting to convince Senator Robert Dole that San Diego is capable of hosting the convention.
Page 232. The GOP National Convention Site Selection Committee touring the Sports Arena in June of l971.
Page 237. Members of the United Farm Worker's Organizing Committee (UFWOC) picketing the GOP Convention headquarters in March of 1972. The Republicans feared widespread Chicano demonstrations during the convention in response to the Nixon administration's efforts to break the farm worker's strike. Nixon also opposed the UFW boycott of grapes by purchasing them for the troops in Vietnam.
Page 239. The Street Journal, a local underground newspaper, suggested that Nixon was not only behind the selection of San Diego as the convention site, but that he also "selected" Pete Wilson to be San Diego's new mayor. Ironically, these charges were made before the mayoral election.
Page 240. Members of the Convention Coalition, which planned to hold demonstrations and protests during the convention. The man on the right is Bill Ritter, spokesman for the Coalition.
Page 242. Mayor Pete Wilson and Leon Parma wearing long faces at a press conference on April 20, 1972, just days before the convention was moved to Miami.
Page 244. Souvenir shops were left with boxes of ashtrays, glasses and other items depicting San Diego as the site of the convention. Souvenir vendors had little to worry about; most of the items were bought up by collectors or by Democrats who gave them to their Republican friends as joke items.
Page 245. [souvenirs]
