Centennial celebration for the John W. Davis presidential nomination Sunday in Clarksburg – WV MetroNews

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A West Virginian accepted the nomination for President of the United States 100 years ago and that nomination is being marked with events Sunday in Clarksburg.

Clarksburg-native John W. Davis remains the only West Virginia native to be nominated by a major political party to run for president.

His nomination came out of a nearly three-week long Democratic Party Convention in New York City in 1924, the longest convention in history.

On Aug. 11, 1924, Davis accepted the nomination at a rally on Goff Plaza in Clarksburg. Reports said there were more than 70,000 people there. It was also broadcast live on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh. Davis lost to incumbent President Calvin Coolidge a few months later.

The John W. Davis Centennial Commemoration will be held at the Waldomore Mansion in downtown Clarksburg beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The special guest for the event, Cyrus Vance Jr., is the son of Clarksburg native, former lawyer, politician, and diplomat Cyrus Vance who had a close connection with Davis.

“John W. Davis was a lawyer and a person who came in and out of government and hugely impacted my father. Interestingly, I think some of that career choice passed on down to me, and I feel very lucky to have a connection with Clarksburg and with John W. Davis,” Vance said Friday during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.” “It’s great to be back here where I visited often as a child.”

When John Vance, Cyrus Vance’s father, died in 1922 unexpectedly, Davis took him in and adopted him. This was after Davis, who was born in Clarksburg in 1873, had served as the ambassador to Great Britain and was a presidential candidate for the first time in 1920.

“My dad was born in West Virginia, and at the age of 5, he lost his dad, and John W. Davis became his surrogate father,” Vance said. “John W. Davis, as you know, had an extraordinary career as a lawyer and also in public service.”

Cyrus Vance Sr. went on to serve as Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. He resigned in protest in 1980 following the failed covert attempt to free the American hostages in Iran. Vance also served as Deputy Secretary of Defense, General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“It was clear to me and all of us in our family that John W. Davis was a huge influence and a positive one on my father’s life and career,” Vance said. “That’s the message I got as a child.”

Cyrus Vance Jr. has served as the Manhattan District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney and supervised grand jury investigations, including those involving the Trump Organization. He now works with the law firm Baker McKensie, specializing in corporate cybersecurity matters.

Davis also had significant work as an attorney later in life, including presenting more than 100 cases in front of the United States Supreme Court, still more than any other American attorney.