 
the path to the presidency goes through the national nominating 
convention. 
this is a meeting of each party made up of delegates from all the states. 
in many states the delegates are chosen by the state committee or by a 
state convention. 
in other states the delegates are elected in a presidential primary 
election by the registered voters of the party. 
the delegates meet in the national convention to do two things: to choose 
the presidential and vice presidential candidates, and to approve a party 
platform (statement of party policies). 
let us take the republican party as our example for 1968. 
richard m.[nixon set out to capture the republican presidential 
nomination. 
he had gathered around him a group of loyal supporters. 
early in 1968 nixon and his squads of workers traveled throughout the 
country talking with powerful republicans such as governors, senators, and 
party chairmen. 
they persuaded many of them to support nixon at the forthcoming republican 
national convention. 
these leaders, in turn, influenced the convention delegates from their 
states to vote for nixon. 
nixon's name was placed on the ballot in many of the states where 
presidential primary elections were held. 
the former vice president did very well in the primaries and picked up 
delegate strength. 
"nixon is hard to stop," the news commentators began to say. 
as convention time grew near, nixon's supporters claimed that they were 
very close to a majority of the delegates, 667 needed out of 1,333 delegates. 
in august the republican party held its national convention in the mammoth 
convention hall in the city of miami, florida. 
