The 1872 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5–6, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant was unanimously nominated for reelection by the convention's 752 delegates. Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson replaced sitting Vice President Schuyler Colfax as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidate

The platform

The platform, significantly so in the first section, boasted of the party's achievements since it had attained power in 1861: The Republican party of the United States, assembled in National Convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its position upon the questions before the country:

Anti-Temperance and the Raster Resolution

The late 19th century saw a massive and nationwide growth of the temperance movement, and until 1872 the Republican Party had not formally adopted a stance on the prohibition of alcohol. Famous German American editor and political figure Hermann Raster of Chicago wrote a passionate and carefully worded resolution, dubbed the Raster Resolution, for the 1872 convention. The resolution attacked the temperance movement and solidified the Republican Party's opposition to prohibition, and it was inserted in condensed form as the sixteenth section of the official platform.

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Not Nominated