Miami Beach’s 1972 Political Double Feature: Democrats and Republicans Take the Spotlight

When you think of Miami Beach as a center of something, that something usually involves fun. A party center, a tourism center, the media center for the Super Bowl, a drug-trafficking center. But rarely do you think of it as the center of the American political process. After all, a casual stroll down Collins Ave. on a Saturday doesn’t exactly find you rubbing elbows with news junkies and political hounds. But during the summer of 1972, Miami Beach became the third—and last—city to host both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in the same year. In an otherwise unremarkable and predictable presidential election, the South Florida conventions at least gave campaign workers and journalists something to look forward to.

Except that they were held during the summer.

Democratic Convention: Miami Beach, FL – July 10 to 13, 1972

Coming off the heels of the disastrous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the party was desperate for something calmer. Miami Beach looked like a safe bet: plenty of hotel rooms, established infrastructure from prior events, and—most importantly—no Mayor Daley. Police Chief Rocky Pomerance went all-in on preparation. His small 25-man force was backed by FBI agents, Secret Service, FDLE, and Army intelligence. Flamingo Park was designated a “free speech” zone to contain protestors, and a massive chain-link fence went up across from the convention center. When the Democrats arrived in early July, the Beach was locked down and ready.

The park became “Quaalude Alley” for the thousands of non-delegates (hippies, Yippies, transients) who camped out there. Abbie Hoffman posed for photos at the Yippie office and worked the Jewish crowd. The atmosphere stayed surprisingly mellow—certainly compared to Chicago ’68. The Democrats even hired Tammy Wynette and George Jones to play concerts in the park.

Inside the convention center, George McGovern shocked the old guard by clinching the nomination on the first ballot. His radical platform—gay rights, abortion rights, anti-war—was too much for many party insiders, who quietly tried (and failed) to derail him. Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72” spends pages dissecting the delegate maneuvering; even he admits it’s confusing. McGovern picked Thomas Eagleton as VP—only for Eagleton to drop off the ticket weeks later after revelations about his mental-health history and shock treatments. A loss to Nixon already felt inevitable.

Sessions often ran late into the night—sometimes until sunrise—leaving delegates stumbling back to hotels like club kids after a long night at Mansion. If Flamingo Park was Quaalude Alley, the hotel strip was Caffeine Alley. Or something stronger.

Outside stayed mostly peaceful. Protestors knew they’d have to come back in six weeks for Nixon. They saved their real energy for the Republicans.

Republican Convention: Miami Beach, FL – August 21 to 23, 1972

Republicans Land in Miami: Protests and Pepper Gas

The GOP convention wasn’t originally scheduled for Miami. It was set for San Diego, but negotiations collapsed over the Sports Arena, and a scandal involving a telecom company trading infrastructure upgrades for antitrust leniency killed the deal. Miami Beach stepped in—already set up from the Democrats, with hotels and phone lines ready. Nixon had his Key Biscayne compound nearby. Easy choice.

Inside, it was a coronation. Nixon was the incumbent; the nomination was never in doubt. Spiro Agnew stayed on the ticket. No drama, no surprises—just a smooth machine.

Outside was another story.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), led by Ron Kovic, marched across the causeway and set up in Flamingo Park again. This time the mood was angrier. Rumors swirled of a sinister Republican plot to kill protestors and blame it on anti-war radicals. The Gainesville Eight (arrested earlier for allegedly planning to bomb buildings during the convention) believed the GOP would seal off the Beach, trap everyone, and unleash chaos. Their plan? Create diversions elsewhere to pull police away. Bad acid makes you paranoid.

The first days were tense but mostly peaceful: marches down Biscayne Boulevard, protests outside the convention center, flag burnings at the Fontainebleau. Cubans rallied at the Orange Bowl, still more focused on Castro than Vietnam. Police kept their distance.

Then the heat and frustration boiled over. On August 22, protestors blockaded the Fontainebleau, burned flags, trashed downtown Miami Beach near 16th and Washington—breaking windows, flipping Dumpsters, jumping on cars. Police started making arrests. By day’s end, 212 people were in custody.

On the final day—Nixon’s acceptance speech—things escalated. VVAW soaked paper in gasoline, prepared to torch vehicles. They brought gas masks. Protestors surrounded delegates’ cars and buses, hurling rocks, pipes, spit, insults—anything they could grab. Police finally unleashed tear gas. Andrea Mitchell (then a young reporter) got a face full. Hunter S. Thompson, blinded and staggering, later wrote that Miami cops showed restraint Chicago never did. “If the cops in Chicago had found me crawling around in somebody’s front yard, wearing a ‘press’ tag and blind from too much gas, they’d have broken half my ribs and hauled me away in handcuffs for ‘resisting arrest.’”

By the next morning the gas had cleared, the arrestees were in Dade County Jail or heading home, and South Beach returned to normal. Neither party has been back since. Miami Beach hosted both conventions in one summer—and never again.

1972 Democratic Convention Video

Super 8 footage captures a rare glimpse at travel measures, delegates, and the Miami Beach atmosphere of the era.

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Editor's Note: Originally published on November 2, 2007 and updated in 2026 for clarity while preserving Matt Meltzer’s storytelling and investigative detail.