Choosing Vice Presidential Candidates

Factual Questions
1

My understanding is that in the 19th century, quite often it was the convention that chose the VP candidate. Of course conventions weren’t the tightly-scripted tv events they are today and with two-thirds required votes, favorite sons, etc they could go on for days and even 100+ ballots in the 1924 Democratic convention.

 Is there any kind of dividing line as to when it became the Presidential nominee's choice?   
I will mention in 1956 Adlai Stevenson let the convention choose the VP and they decided a Senator wearing a coonskin hat was a better choice than one who had his PT boat rammed and sunk
2

There is no hard and fast dividing line. And, there were some years that went against the custom of the times. For example, Andrew Jackson hand-picked Martin Van Buren as his running mate in 1832.

But in general, Nineteenth Century presidential candidates had little or no involvement with the VP selection. The presidential candidate was seldom if ever at the convention, and the telegraph wasn’t a completely practical way to solicit his input.

The telephone moved matters a little; by the late 1800’s/early 1900’s the presidential candidate would usually be consulted, and might veto particular candidates. But, this would not be a one-man show; party leaders at the convention would still be involved and the nomination sometimes went to a convention floor fight. For example, the Republican Convention of 1920 nominated Calvin Coolidge even though Harding and most party leaders preferred Irvine Lenroot.

Franklin Roosevelt took a more active role by virtually forcing the 1940 Democratic Convention to nominate Henry Wallace. (Roosevelt would have declined to run otherwise.) But party leaders didn’t like Wallace, and they in turn had enough pull to force FDR to back down and let the convention nominate Harry Truman (after a furious floor fight) in 1944.

By 1956, Stevenson’s allowal of open balloting for VP was already something of an anachronism. More and more, the presidential candidate (usually known in advance of the convention) would pick the candidate, and the convention would rubber-stamp it.

The final transition occurred in 1972-76. In 1972 George McGovern had to fight a contested convention, and foolishly deferred his VP selection until late at night during Convention Week, after he won the nomination. He and his aides picked Thomas Eagleton in haste, leading to a double disaster. First, the surprised convention delegates rebelled, forcing the convention through a multi-hour ballot which delayed McGovern’s acceptance speech until three in the morning. Second, Eagleton turned out to have serious mental health issues which rendered him inappropriate as a potential President.

In 1976 Jimmy Carter made sure not to repeat this mistake, initiating a careful VP vetting process starting in the weeks before the convention and announcing his choice (Walter Mondale) well before the rubber-stamp balloting. All candidates of both parties have followed his example ever since.

3

IIRC, Eagleton had had electroshock therapy - somewhat normal for people with issues like depression at the time. Of course, that was not the best situation for a possible replacement president to be in. McGovern announced he was “behind Eagleton 1000%” and then later dumped him, thus giving new meaning to the phrase.

The bit about Wallace in Wikipedia mentions the delegate ballots for VP. But remember, in a lot of these conventions, this was the time before primaries selected most of the delegates. The legendary cigar-smokers-in-smoke-filled-back-rooms allegedly wheeled and dealed for many of the results, then told their hand-picked delegates who to vote for.

4

Supposedly McCain was talked down from choosing Lieberman to be on the ticket by fears it would be too hard to get him nominated by the convention, so even now the Prez nominees ability isn’t totally unchecked. But he has to wander pretty far off the reservation before he faces that kind of threat of revolt.

5

The senator wearing a coonskin cap (Estes Kefauver) was well known at the time for heading a committee on organized crime that, among other things, forced J. Edgar Hoover to admit that the FBI really hadn’t done anything about organized crime up to that point.

That’s the same kind of credentials that got Thomas Dewey elected governor and later twice nominated for President.

BTW, the reason Kefauver was wearing a coonskin cap in the first place was to give the finger to a political boss who accused him of being as sneaky as a raccoon.