George Washington was elected to his first and second terms as President of the United States of America through the unanimous vote of its electors. The selection process for today’s presidential contenders is decidedly more complicated. Please read the report from the National Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process, convened in 1982 and chaired by former Governor of Virginia A. Linwood Holton, Jr., to learn more about the changing process.

The National Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process (1982)

Read the Commission's Final Report (Adobe Acrobat)

Chair:

A. Linwood Holton, Jr., Governor of Virginia, 1970-1974

Commissioners:

Dean Burch, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, 1969-1974

William T. Coleman, Jr., U.S. Secretary of Transportation, 1975-1977 (Senior Counselor, O’Melveny & Myers)

William Frenzel, Member, U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota, 1971-1991

Richard Gordon Hatcher, Mayor, Gary, Indiana, 1967-1987

Austin Ranney, American Enterprise Institute, Senior Staff, 1975-1985

Robert S. Strauss, U.S. Trade Representative, 1977-1979; U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union & Russian Federation, 1991 (Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)

Anne Wexler, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce, 1977-1978; Assistant to the President 1978-1981

Commission Director:

Kenneth W. Thompson, Director of the Miller Center, 1978-1998