The Democratic National Convention is held every four years by the United States Democratic party to determine the party's candidate for the coming Presidential election. In the past this issue was often contentious and the convention could make or break a candidate, but in recent decades the candidate has already long-since been anointed by the Presidential primary process, and the convention is now generally perceived as not much more than (a.) a big fiesta with a lot of red, white and blue decorations, (b.) a chance for political reporters to preen, and holler over the din into their microphones at their anchors who are really only a few steps away, (c.) an opportunity for the party to shred itself while fighting over planks of the party platform, (d.) a nationally televised publicity stunt.
The occasion of the national conventions (there is also a Republican National Convention) marks the close of the primary election period and the start of the general election.
The first DNC (not to be confused with the Democratic National Committee) was held in 1832. William Jennings Bryan delivered his "Cross of Gold" speech at the 1896 convention. The most historically notable Democratic Convention of recent memory was the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, which was fraught with highly emotional battles between conventioneers and Vietnam war protesters and a notable outburst by Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley.
