--- title: Classic Photos From Democratic Conventions, 1940 - 1972 description: LIFE.com presents classic photos -- and some that never ran in LIFE -- from conventions through the years. canonical: https://time.com/3707191/lifes-best-convention-photos-the-democrats/ author: Liz Ronk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-09-02T15:37:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:40.508Z og:title: LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The Democrats og:description: LIFE.com presents classic photos -- and some that never ran in LIFE -- from conventions through the years. og:url: https://time.com/3707191/lifes-best-convention-photos-the-democrats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53f7be8a1efe0d02/69877f035f570f23c3b1540a/democratic-national-convention-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1497 og:image:height: 842 og:image:alt: democratic-national-convention-19 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The Democrats twitter:description: LIFE.com presents classic photos -- and some that never ran in LIFE -- from conventions through the years. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53f7be8a1efe0d02/69877f035f570f23c3b1540a/democratic-national-convention-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The Democrats > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Sep 2, 2012 3:37 PM UTC  Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Sep 2, 2012 3:37 PM UTC Politics and politicians of every stripe always held a central place in LIFE Magazine’s mission, as articulated by LIFE founder Henry Luce, “to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud … to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed….” And while the magazine’s approach to touchstone events — World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, the Vietnam War — as well as famous (and notorious) public figures cemented LIFE’s reputation as _the_ photojournalism publication of the 20th century, its straightforward political coverage was, in its own way, equally powerful. After all, to make politics, and politicians, visually exciting is no mean feat. In recent years, of course, conventions have come to resemble coronations rather than the passionate, quarrelsome rumbles of old. But as many of the pictures here from Democratic conventions of old attest, every once in awhile the carefully stage-managed spectacle could go thrillingly — and sometimes, as in Chicago in 1968, frighteningly — off the rails. At the 1948 convention in Philadelphia, for example, boisterous Southern delegates — opposed to the Democratic platform that, in their eyes, attacked the “Southern way of life” — actually walked out in protest. That same year, the “Dixiecrats” formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party and ran their own candidate, South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond, for president. (Thurmond won 39 electoral votes in the fall, and nearly scuttled Democratic president Harry Truman’s chances at re-election.) But whether or not the convention is filled with tension or a yawn-fest, every four years, as the delegates don their pins and loud, crazy clothes and wave their flags and pennants, and the states’ names bob and weave above the crowd like unimaginatively designed carnival puppets — every four years, we pay attention to the spectacle. Every four years, we listen to the speech-makers who hope and trust that speaking before their party’s bigwigs and being seen by millions of people watching on TV will somehow help their own chances on the national stage in the next election, or the one after that. We watch and we listen not because we believe that there will be any stunning upsets or even any especially surprising moments, but because the conventions are probably the best and most efficient way for the average citizen to gauge the mood of both parties. Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of LIFE’s best pictures from the Democrats’ national conventions across several decades. Famous Dems are here in abundance — FDR, Harry Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, the Kennedys — as are other long-forgotten pols who were players in their day and the folks who, in the end, provide both parties’ conventions with their real energy and their often surprising level of fun: namely, the shouting, laughing, weirdly garbed, wide-eyed delegates. The American political process has never been pretty. The photos here, however, remind us that, pretty or not, that process can make for wonderful, memorable imagery. [_See LIFE’s best photographs from GOP conventions._](http://time.com/3707440/lifes-best-convention-photos-the-gop)  Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Of this picture, LIFE noted in its July 29, 1940, issue: "Trying, amid the general convention apathy and sullenness, to find some Democrats who appeared to be having fun \[as it was clear FDR would be nominated for an unprecedented third term, the convention lacked drama\], a LIFE photographer went to the famous 606 Club ... featuring an almost continuous strip tease." John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Senator Harry S. Truman and his family at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Roosevelt supporters demonstrate at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where he was nominated for a fourth term. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  George Vaughn of Missouri offers motion to unseat the anti-Truman delegation from Mississippi during the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Franklin D. Roosevelt's oldest son, James, gets makeup for a television broadcast during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Penn. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Alabama delegation leader Handy Ellis (center) on the floor during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Ellis,a "Dixiecrat," would eventually lead a walkout over the Democratic platform plank supporting civil rights. Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Soapy Williams sings the Star Spangled Banner during the 1952 Democratic convention in Chicago. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Mrs. Estes Kefauver (center, in white hat) watching the action at the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Michigan Senator Blair Moody (right) and Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. confer during the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Mrs. John F. Kennedy at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Left to right: Senator Estes Kefauver, Gov. Frank Clement, Sen. Albert Gore and candidate Adlai Stevenson at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Delegates strategize on the floor during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Two-way radios were used to interview delegates on the floor at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Georgia Congresswoman Iris Blitch, a staunch segregationist during her time in Congress, being saluted by her state's delegates before her speech at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Democratic politician Averell Harriman watches former President Harry S. Truman support him during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Harriman lost the nomination to Adlai Stevenson that year, and in 1952. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy confers with his brother and campaign organizer, Robert Kennedy, in a hotel suite during the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn of Texas grieves over Lyndon Johnson's defeat at the 1960 Democratic National Convention after JFK won the nomination. Johnson, of course, was added to the ticket as Kennedy's VP pick. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Eleanor Roosevelt addresses delegates at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where she supported Illinois' Adlai Stevenson over the party's eventual nominee, John F. Kennedy. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Senator John F. Kennedy speaks at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Adlai Stevenson (center) and Lyndon Johnson (right) congratulate John F. Kennedy on winning the party's presidential nomination at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Delegates from Illinois show their support for President Lyndon Johnson at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Robert F. Kennedy (right), his wife Ethell and Democratic stalwart Averell Harriman at a reception for Jackie Kennedy during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President Lyndon Johnson with his running mate Hubert Humphrey during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Demonstrators protest American involvement in the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. Charles Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Connecticut delegates and Eugene McCarthy supporters Paul Newman (right) and playwright Arthur Miller during the contentious 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A protestor is grabbed by police during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. Lee Balterman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  California delegate Charles Anderson burns his credentials to protest the party's decision to seat only half of Georgia's civil rights delegation during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. Michael Mauney—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Chicago mayor Richard Daley — a Democrat who served for five terms and remains one of the most controversial figures in Chicago political history — on the floor during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Delegates for Alabama's George Wallace cheer behind a delegate for New York's Shirley Chisholm—the first African-American woman ever elected to Congress—during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  George McGovern delegation co-chair Willie Brown, Jr.—later the powerful, long-time Speaker of the California State Assembly and, eventually, the mayor of San Francisco—embraces an unidentified woman during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. McGovern would win his party's nomination, but was crushed by Richard Nixon during the presidential election, winning only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. 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