In the past, political bosses picked their party's nominees for president even after the advent of the primary system. This was to ensure the best possible man, as it were at the time, would get the job if there was no agreed-upon candidate or the convention deadlocked. It could mean as many as thirty or more ballots were cast before a leader was deemed suitable to those involved in the time-consuming process. Sometimes, it bore fruit, and at others, it didn't.
In the 1960 Democratic presidential primaries, John F. Kennedy aspired to win as many primaries as possible to prevent a brokered convention. He enlisted his brother, Bobby, to keep his delegates in line or loyal to him and poached other delegates from rival candidates. After winning his party nomination, Kennedy narrowly defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in the general election.
Eight years later, in 1968, following the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, Vice President Hubert Humphrey was awarded the Democratic nomination. Humphrey had not competed in the primaries, and Senator Gene McCarthy held the delegate lead, likely after picking up Kennedy defectors. Humphrey lost a nail-biter to former Vice President Richard Nixon on election night in November.
Finally, in 1976, President Ford nearly lost the Republican nomination to Governor Ronald Reagan of California, even though he accumulated more delegates while campaigning in the states that held primaries and caucuses. Ford suffered a narrow defeat to Jimmy Carter, an unknown governor from Georgia.
It would be difficult to pull this off today or replace Biden since the rules are stricter, and he has met the delegate threshold. If I am not mistaken, the Democratic delegates are bound to the presumptive nominee, or what is a closed convention.
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