2004 Democratic National Convention

The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts for president and Senator John Edwards from North Carolina for vice president, respectively, in the 2004 presidential election.

The 2004 Democratic National Convention was famous because it included the keynote speech of Barack Obama, who would go on to be elected President four years later. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson served as chairman of the convention, while former presidential advisor to Bill Clinton, Lottie Shackelford, served as vice chairwoman of the convention.

The 2004 Democratic National Convention marked the formal end of the active primary election season, although all meaningful primary elections had finished months earlier. After the convention, John Kerry and John Edwards were defeated by the incumbent George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the general election.

The 2004 Democratic National Convention featured a theme for each day of the convention. The first night of the meeting focused on the theme "Plan for America's Future" with speeches devoted to building optimism for John Kerry's candidacy. The second night of the meeting focused on the theme "A Lifetime of Strength and Service" devoted to John Kerry's biography and his path to his nomination. The third night of the meeting focused on the theme "A Stronger More Secure America" devoted to issues of homeland security and the global war on terror. The last night of the meeting focused on the theme "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World" devoted to the overall agenda of the party to secure the borders, improving domestic welfare while at the same time promoting international cooperation in world affairs. The phrase "Help is on the Way" was often repeated by speakers such as John Edwards.

This was the first major party presidential nominating convention to be held since the terrorist attacks of September 11 attacks. During the convention, there was a memorial service to honor the victims of the attacks. Haleema Salie, who lost her daughter, son-in-law, and unborn grandchild on American Flight 11, spoke.

The 2004 Democratic National Convention successfully passed an official party platform. A forty-three page document, the party platform was entitled "Strong at Home, Respected in the World" – also the name of the theme conveyed on the last night of the convention. The first part of the platform was called "A Strong, Respected America". The section defined specific goals and actions to defeat terrorism, to keep weapons of mass destruction from the hands of terrorists, to promote world peace and security, to strengthen the military, to achieve energy independence and to strengthen homeland security. The second part of the platform was called, "A Strong, Growing Economy". The section defined specific goals and actions to create what the party called "good jobs" and "standing up for the great American middle class." The third part of the platform was called, "Strong, Healthy Families." The section defined specific goals and actions to reform the healthcare system in the United States, to improve education and to protect the environment. The final part of the platform was called, "A Strong American Community." It stressed the diversity of the nation and the importance of upholding civil rights as a major tenet of the party.

After an initial notice to 34 cities, 10 cities requested the RFP to host the convention: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York City and Pittsburgh. Of those, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Miami and New York City submitted bids. Baltimore's bid was considered a long-shot. The city lacked a conventional venue with enough space to accommodate the convention, and was proposing the prospect of erecting a temporary canopy at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (which would have likely necessitated the baseball team tenant to vacate the venue for a roughly two-month period of their season). Baltimore was eliminated. Boston, Detroit, Miami and New York City were selected as the finalist cities. Each of the finalist cities received visits from members of the Democratic National Committee during the site selection process. Boston was announced as the host of the convention on November 13, 2002.

The 2004 Democratic National Convention was the first major party presidential nominating convention to held in Boston. With John Kerry arising as the winner of the primaries, it ultimately was one of the few presidential nominating conventions that was held in the home state of the party's nominee.