Any residual upheaval ahead of the 2024 Democratic National Convention will be duck soup compared to the 1924 election cycle, when it took divided Democrats a grueling 15 days and 103 ballots to nominate a candidate for president.
And if that time-honored political ritual wasn’t chaotic enough, a Montana senator vying for the White House that year, Sen. Burton K. Wheeler, actually broke from his Democratic Party.
Imagine arriving in New York City as a delegate to the 1924 convention, your suitcase packed for three, maybe four days max. Instead, the official proceedings would drag on for two-plus weeks — June 24 to July 9 — until dark horse contender John Davis, a former U.S. ambassador to Britain, was finally nominated over two more popular candidates.
Democratic leaders and delegates today know better than to go down that same tumultuous path of a century ago, uniting in force and a sense of urgency to designate Vice President Kamala Harris their presidential nominee.
It’s a good thing Wheeler’s not in office today. The Montana senator 100 years ago took the extraordinary step of splitting from his Democratic Party to become the vice presidential running mate of Wisconsin Sen. Robert La Follette, a disgruntled Republican who’d recently established the alternative (and short-lived) Progressive Party.
The aim of these two strange bedfellows was to leverage the existing chaos among Democrats and better target incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge, who’d been confident enough going into the election that he never left the White House to campaign.
Sure enough, when Election Day came in November, it was the nail-biter the mutinous ticket had hoped for — in Montana and Wisconsin, if no place else.
Of the 5,871 Flathead County residents who cast ballots, 43.21 percent supported Wheeler’s fringe candidacy, compared to 43.28 percent who backed Coolidge — a difference of only four votes. Only 13 percent of Flathead voters supported the Democratic ticket.
To the south, Lake County poll goers came out in droves for Wheeler, awarding him and his running mate more than 61 percent of the vote. Coolidge was the choice of 28 percent, while a mere 10 percent supported Davis.
Across Montana, La Follette and Wheeler got double the votes of the Democratic Party nominee — 66,123 to 33,805 — and finished somewhat close, albeit four points behind Coolidge, who pushed an otherwise popular “small-government” platform.
Removing Montana and Wisconsin from the equation, Coolidge easily cruised to victory and his first full term in the White House (he’d ascended from vice president to president in 1923 after Warren G. Harding suffered a deadly heart attack, just weeks after visiting bustling Butte). A lackluster 16 percent of the nation supported the two Progressives, so with his tail between his legs Montana’s senator quickly rejoined the Democrats, to whom he remained loyal until hanging up his spurs in 1947.
A remarkable reign of service, I might add, given Wheeler had never intended to live in Montana, let alone represent its citizens.
Earning a law degree, the Massachusetts native was bound for Seattle, his plan to buy a home, raise a family, and pursue a legal career. But stepping off the train in Butte — purportedly to stretch his legs — Wheeler stumbled upon a poker game and in rapid succession lost all of his belongings except the clothes on his back.
Oh well, he reasoned, no better perch than the “Richest Hill in the World” to settle down and practice law. He promptly got fitted for a new suit, moved into a house, hung out his shingle, and the rest is history.
Columnist’s note: The popular 1939 political drama, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” starring Jimmy Stewart, is loosely based on the life and political career of Wheeler, as portrayed in Lewis R. Foster’s unpublished work, “The Gentleman from Montana.” Today, the Burton K. Wheeler House at 1232 East 2nd Street in Butte is a National Historic Landmark.
John McCaslin is a longtime journalist and author.