Alben Barkley addresses delegates at the 1948 Democratic National Convention in P...HD Stock Footage
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People gather to choose Democratic convention for the election of the President. HD Stock Footage
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Us Democratic Convention (1948)
The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky for Vice President in the 1948 presidential election. One of the decisive factors in convening both major party conventions in Philadelphia that year was that the Philadelphia area was part of the newly-developing broadcast television market. In 1947, TV stations in New York City, Washington and Philadelphia were connected by a coaxial cable, so in 1948 two of the three new television networks, NBC and CBS, had the ability to telecast along the east coast live gavel to gavel coverage of both conventions. In television's early days, live broadcasts were not routinely recorded, but a few minutes of Kinescope film of the conventions has survived.