Bidding processes were held to select the location of the 1952 Democratic National Convention and 1952 Republican National Convention, with Chicago being selected as the location of both conventions.

While the parties selected the location of their conventions separately, they had expressed advance interest in sharing a convention site in order to lower costs (as they had done for the previous two presidential elections). Six cities formally bid for one or both conventions. By the time the choice for each convention was made, the bidding had narrowed, with only Chicago and Philadelphia being considered. Chicago prevailed in its bid, first securing the Republican convention, and securing the Democratic convention several weeks after that.

Background Both the Democratic and Republican party selected the locations of their nominating conventions for the 1952 United States presidential election through bidding processes. While neither party had firmly committed to selecting the same host city as the other party, both indicated their interest in doing so to save money. The two parties had held their conventions in the same cities during the previous two elections, with both parties meeting in Chicago in 1944 and Philadelphia in 1948.

The motivation for cities to bid to host the nominating conventions was a belief that the convention visitors generated substantial additional commerce in host cities. Due to the anticipated benefit to local commerce, convention expenses were typically funded through contributions donated by local businessmen.

Summary of bidding cities Six cities formally submitted bids (Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and San Francisco, California). Initially, Atlantic City, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan had indicated their interest in hosting, but both abandoned their efforts without submitting a formal bid. Kansas City and Miami only sought to host the Democratic convention, while the four other cities indicated their interest in hosting either or both conventions. Chicago and Philadelphia were the finalist bid cities, with Chicago being selected by both parties.

+ Finalist bid cities City Proposed main venue(capacity) Previous major party conventions hosted by city Subsequent major party conventions hosted by city Chicago, Illinois Chicago International Amphitheatre (12,000)or Chicago Stadium (20,000) Democratic: 1864, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1932, 1940, 1944Republican: 1860, 1868, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1932, 1944Other: 1912 Prog., 1916 Prog. Democratic: 1956, 1968, 1996, 2024Republican:1960 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Convention Hall (13,000) Democratic: 1936, 1948Republican: 1856, 1872, 1900, 1940, 1948Other: 1848 Whig, 1948 Prog. Democratic: 2016Republican: 2000

+ Other formal bids City Previous major party conventions hosted by city Subsequent major party conventions hosted by city Kansas City, Kansas –only bid for DNC Democratic: 1900Republican: 1928 Republican: 1976 Los Angeles, California Democratic: 1960, 2000 Miami, Florida –only bid for DNC Democratic: 1972Republican: 1968, 1972 San Francisco, California Democratic: 1920 Democratic: 1984Republican: 1956, 1964

+ Withdrew without formally bidding City Previous major party conventions hosted by city Subsequent major party conventions hosted by city Atlantic City, New Jersey Democratic: 1964 Detroit, Michigan Republican: 1980

Details of bids Chicago, Illinois (selected by both parties)

Since hosting the 1860 Republican National Convention, Chicago had established itself as a frequent site of United States presidential nominating conventions. This was in large part due to its relatively central geographic location and its accessibility by railroad. Chicago would remain a frequent convention host until after the 1968 Democratic National Convention, ultimately hosting 25 major party conventions over the course of the 29 presidential elections that took place in that time. Subsequent to 1968, Chicago has been the host city for two further conventions (the 1996 and 2024 Democratic conventions).

Prior to 1860, Baltimore, Maryland had been the most-preferred location for presidential conventions due to its close proximity to the U.S. national capitol of Washington, D. C., where many convention delegates worked. However, with the advent of railways as a dominant mode of transportation, after 1860 Chicago supplanted it. Before 1952, Chicago had previously hosted 19 major party presidential conventions (seven Democratic and twelve Republican). It also hosted the notable 1912 and 1916 conventions of the Progressive/"Bull Moose" Party. It would subsequent to the 1952 conventions go on to be the host of a further five major party conventions (1956 DNC, 1960 RNC, 1968 DNC, 1996 DNC, and 2024 DNC).

Chicago's infrastructure (extensive supply of hotels, dining, and entertainment venues; and its robust transportation) was regarded to make it a strong convention host city. It was noted to have a much easier time accommodating party conventions than cities such as Philadelphia that were comparatively were less physically suited for hosting such sizable events. Cities such as Philadelphia had to make a greater effort to accommodate the logistical needs of such conventions than Chicago did. In their late-April presentation, Chicago offered the availability of accommodations superior to those offered by any of the other bidding cities. Chicago promised that (at minimum) 8,000 first-class hotel rooms in the city's downtown would be available. They also promised that hotel rooms would be available at their standard rates, noting that there was an overall supply of 135,400 hotel rooms in the city. The bid initially proposed use of the 20,000-seat capacity Chicago Stadium arena (recently used by both parties for their 1944 conventions) as the convention hall. However, by May, the proposed venue had shifted to the Chicago International Amphitheatre. Chicago's bid representatives also highlighted that the city was highly accessible from the rest of the nation by passenger rail and passenger airlines.

In its previous conventions of 1944, Chicago had locally raised a total of $350,000 to stage the conventions, of which each convention receiving an equal division of $175,000. However, at the time that the Chicago bid committee first presented its bid in late-April, they offered no specifically financial sum, only making a promise that they would give a definite sum of their financial pledge within two weeks time. The committee noted that they had scheduled a May 2 luncheon to secure pledges and contributions. When layer presenting to the Republicans before their decision on a host city, Chicago’s bid delegation promised that the city could raise as much as $250,000 for a Republican convention if necessary, and could further raise an additional $250,000 if both parties were ton select Chicago (a total sum of $500,000). Chicago had no funds immediately available, but promised to sign "letter of guarantee" (promissory note) to provide funding.

Chicago's initial bid presentations in late-April were delivered by a delegation featuring Illinois DNC committeeman Jacob Arvey, Illinois RNC committeeman Werner W. Schroeder, U.S. Senator Paul Douglas, and Chicago Convention Bureau director Chester A. Wilkins.

Chicago named the weeks of June 30, July 7, and July 20 as weeks in which the city would be able to accommodate national conventions.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (finalist bid city)

Walter Annenberg chaired Philadelphia’s bid committee. In late-April, he made the city's initial presentations to the party subcommittees alongside bid committee's vice chair Frank B. Murdoch. For the presentation to Republicans, they were accompanied by Pennsylvania's RNC committeeman, Mason Owlett. For the presentation to Democrats, they were accompanied by David L. Lawrence (the states DNC committeeman), as well as former U.S. Senator Francis J. Myers and Philadelphia Democratic City Committee chairman James A. Finnegan.

Other prominent individuals publicly had indicated their support for the city's bid effort in advance of the presentations, including Pennsylvania Republican state chairman M. Harvey Taylor, Pennsylvania Democratic state chairman Maurice Splain, Philadelphia Republican City Committee chairman William J. Morrow, U.S. attorney Gerald A. Gleeson, Republican Philadelphia mayor Bernard Samuel, Republican governor John S. Fine, Republican U.S. senators Edward Martin and James H. Duff, Democratic U.S. congressman William T. Granahan, as well as Republican U.S. congressmen Hardie Scott and Hugh D. Scott. Such supporters advanced several arguments about Philadelphia's suitability as a host. One argument was that Philadelphia's strong associations with the American Revolution would give its selection as a host site strong symbolism. Mayor Samuel argued that Philadelphia had extensive transit connections through trunk line railways, airline service, and arterial highways. He especially stressed its convenient proximity to Washington, D.C.

In its initial late-April presentation, Philadelphia's bid committee promised the availability 6,000 hotel rooms in the city. These would include 4,500 first-class downtown hotel rooms (far fewer than the number of first-class rooms Chicago had offered) and a further 1,500 "good" rooms. This included dormitories at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. The committee also promised the availability of an additional 1,200 hotel rooms in the outlying parts of Greater Philadelphia. Unlike Chicago's bid committee, Philadelphia's was unable to assure standard rates for its hotel rooms. Instead, they predicted that hotel rooms would likely be available at 25% to 50% above their standard rates. For a convention hall, they proposed the use of the 13,000-seat capacity Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, the venue of the 1948 conventions. The presenters also were assisted by Philadelphia convention bureau executive director Ben Shelman.

In 1948, Philadelphia had locally provided a total of $400,000 to fund the conventions, with each party receiving $200,000. In its April 28 presentation to the parties, Philadelphia's bid committee pledged to provide $250,000 per convention (for a total of $500,000 if both parties selected the city). The cost of materials and construction had increased since 1948. In its final presentation to the Republicans in May, Philadelphia increased this pledge to $285,000 in funding, with $250,000 to be immediately given if Philadelphia were awarded hosting rights and an additional $35,000 to be given at a later date. The additional $35,000 would be allocated to fund the staging of entertainment for delegates during the convention. Annenberg argued that Philadelphia was best suited to host the convention in part because it had more coaxial television cables than Chicago. When presenting to Democrats, Philadelphia's committee again promised that it would immediately make $250,000 in funds available to stage the convention, while Chicago was again only promising a "letter of guarantee” to provide funding at a subsequent date.

Philadelphia declared that it would be able to host conventions any point between mid-June and mid-July.

Philadelphia is located on the East Coast of the United States. In 1948, some West Coast Republicans had complained of the travel expenses required for them to attend a convention held on the East Coast. There was some speculation that President Harry S. Truman may personally have preferred a Philadelphia convention over a Republican convention, and that if he had involved himself in influencing the selection process he would have aided Philadelphia's chances

Kansas City (submitted bid for DNC)

Kansas City, Missouri (the past host of the 1900 DNC and 1928 RNC) bid solely for the Democratic convention.