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Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.![LIFE_gop_fox_2]()
Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco.![LIFE_gop_fox_5]()
Republicans hold an informal conference in a kitchen during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.![LIFE_gop_fox_4]()
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.![LIFE_gop_fox_6]()
Pennsylvania delegates to the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago pull cold beers from a tub of ice after a caucus meeting.![LIFE_gop_fox_3]()
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.![LIFE_gop_fox_7]()
A young Republican rests on a sofa in the Hotel Adelphi during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. ("Van" is Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, long considered a front-runner for the GOP nomination; instead, the Republicans nominated Indiana's Wendell Willkie, who lost the election to the Democratic incumbent, FDR.)Un-conventional moments: A look back at GOP National Conventions
There’s simply no more dramatic, tense or humorous time to watch the strange, imperfect mechanism of representative democracy at work than during a national convention. The photos here, however, remind us that, pretty or not, that process can make for wonderful, memorable imagery. See more great images in the full slideshow at Life.com.
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- Un-conventional moments: A look back at GOP National Conventions
