The 1948 Republican National Convention was held in Municipal Auditorium, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, June 21-25, 1948.

New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey had paved the way to win the Republican presidential nomination in the primaries where he had beaten Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassen and the victoriuos WWII general Douglas MacArthur. In Philadelphia he was nominated on the third ballot over the opposition from diehard conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, from the future "minister of peace" Harold E. Stassen of Pennsylvania, Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenberg and California Governor Earl Warren. The California Governor was nominated for Vice President. Together they went on to lose the general election to Democrats Harry S. Truman and Alben W. Barkley.

The Platform

The 1948 Republican platform supported reduction of the public debt, federal aid to states for slum clearence and low-cost housing, extension of Social Security benefits, a federal anti-lynching law, federal civil rights legislation, abolition of the poll tax, a crackdown of domestoc Communism, recognition of the state of Israel and international arms control "on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith".

The Candidates before and under the Convention

• Harold E. Stassen (Pennsylvania)
• Robert A. Taft (Ohio)
• Douglas MacArthur (Washington D.C)
• Earl Warren (California)
• Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan)
• Riley A. Bender (Illinois)