Number of Ballots Required to Nominate Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates at National Nominating Conventions 1832 - 2020
Democratic Party
| Year | Location | Presidential Nominee | Ballots | V.P. Nominee | Ballots |
| 1832 | Baltimore | Andrew Jackson | 1 | Martin Van Buren | 1 |
| 1836 | Baltimore | Martin Van Buren | 1 | Richard Johnson | 1 |
| 1840 | Baltimore | Martin Van Buren | 1 | -- | by states |
| 1844 | Baltimore | James K. Polk | 9 | George M. Dallas | 2 |
| 1848 | Baltimore | Lewis Cass | 4 | William Butler | 2 |
| 1852 | Baltimore | Frankin Pierce | 49 | William R. King | 2 |
| 1856 | Cincinnati | James Buchanan | 17 | John C. Breckinridge | 2 |
| 1860 | Charleston & Baltimore |
Stephen Douglas & John Breckenridge |
57 | Herschel Johnson & Joseph Lane |
1 |
| 1864 | Chicago | George McClellan | 1 | George Pendleton | 1 |
| 1868 | New York | Horatio Seymour | 22 | Francis Blair, Jr. | 1 |
| 1872 | Baltimore | Horace Greeley | 1 | Benjamin Gratz Brown | 1 |
| 1876 | St. Louis | Samuel Tilden | 2 | Thomas Hendricks | 1 |
| 1880 | Cincinnati | Winfield S. Hancock | 2 | William English | 1 |
| 1884 | Chicago | Grover Cleveland | 2 | Thomas Hendricks | 1 |
| 1888 | St. Louis | Grover Cleveland | 1 | Allen Thurman | 1 |
| 1892 | Chicago | Grover Cleveland | 1 | Adlai E. Stevenson | 1 |
| 1896 | Chicago | William Jennings Bryan | 5 | Arthur Sewell | 5 |
| 1900 | Kansas City | William Jennings Bryan | 1 | Adlai E. Stevenson | 1 |
| 1904 | St. Louis | Alton B. Parker | 1 | Henry Davis | 1 |
| 1908 | Denver | William Jennings Bryan | 1 | John Kern | 1 |
| 1912 | Baltimore | Woodrow Wilson | 46 | Thomas Marshall | 1 |
| 1916 | St. Louis | Woodrow Wilson | 1 | Thomas Marshall | 1 |
| 1920 | San Francisco | James M. Cox | 44 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1 |
| 1924 | New York | John W. Davis | 103 | Charles W. Bryan | 1 |
| 1928 | Houston | Al Smith | 1 | Joseph Robinson | 1 |
| 1932 | Chicago | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 4 | John N. Garner | 1 |
| 1936 | Philadelphia | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1 | John N. Garner | 1 |
| 1940 | Chicago | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1 | Henry A. Wallace | 1 |
| 1944 | Chicago | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1 | Harry S Truman | 3 |
| 1948 | Philadelphia | Harry S. Truman | 1 | Alben W. Barkley | 1 |
| 1952 | Chicago | Adlai Stevenson | 3 | John Sparkman | 1 |
| 1956 | Chicago | Adlai Stevenson | 1 | Estes Kefauver | 1 |
| 1960 | Los Angeles | John F. Kennedy | 1 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1 |
| 1964 | Atlantic City | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1 | Hubert H. Humphrey | 1 |
| 1968 | Chicago | Hubert H. Humphrey | 1 | Edmund Muskie | 1 |
| 1972 | Miami Beach | George McGovern | 1 | Thomas Eagleton | 1 |
| 1976 | New York | Jimmy Carter | 1 | Walter Mondale | 1 |
| 1980 | New York | Jimmy Carter | 1 | Walter Mondale | 1 |
| 1984 | San Francisco | Walter F. Mondale | 1 | Geraldine Ferraro | 1 |
| 1988 | Atlanta | Michael Dukakis | 1 | Lloyd Bentsen | 1 |
| 1992 | New York | William J. Clinton | 1 | Albert Gore, Jr. | 1 |
| 1996 | Chicago | William J. Clinton | 1 | Albert Gore, Jr. | 1 |
| 2000 | Los Angeles | Albert Gore, Jr. | 1 | Joseph Lieberman | 1 |
| 2004 | Boston | John F. Kerry | 1 | John Edwards | 1 |
| 2008 | Denver | Barack Obama | 1 | Joseph Biden | 1 |
| 2012 | Charlotte | Barack Obama | 1 | Joseph Biden | 1 |
| 2016 | Philadelphia | Hillary Clinton | 1 | Tim Kaine | 1 |
| 2020 | Milwaukee | Joseph Biden | 1 | Kamala Harris | 1 |
Republican Party
| Year | Location | Presidential Nominee | Ballots | V.P. Nominee | Ballots |
| 1856 | Pittsburgh | John C. Fremont | 1 | William L. Dayton | 1 |
| 1860 | Chicago | Abraham Lincoln | 3 | Hannibal Hamlin | 2 |
| 1864 | Baltimore | Abraham Lincoln | 1 | Andrew Johnson | 1 |
| 1868 | Chicago | Ulysses S. Grant | 1 | Schuyler Colfax | 5 |
| 1872 | Philadelphia | Ulysses S. Grant | 1 | Henry Wilson | 1 |
| 1876 | Cincinnati | Rutherford B. Hayes | 7 | William Wheeler | 1 |
| 1880 | Chicago | James A. Garfield | 36 | Chester A. Arthur | 1 |
| 1884 | Chicago | James G. Blane | 4 | John A. Logan | 1 |
| 1888 | Chicago | Benjamin Harrison | 8 | Levi Morton | 1 |
| 1892 | Minneapolis | Benjamin Harrison | 1 | Whitelaw Reid | 1 |
| 1896 | St. Louis | William McKinley | 1 | Garret A. Hobart | 1 |
| 1900 | Philadelphia | William McKinley | 1 | Theodore Roosevelt | 1 |
| 1904 | Chicago | Theodore Roosevelt | 1 | Charles Fairbanks | 1 |
| 1908 | Chicago | William Howard Taft | 1 | James S. Sherman | 1 |
| 1912 | Chicago | William Howard Taft | 1 | James S. Sherman | 1 |
| 1916 | Chicago | Charles E. Hughes | 3 | Charles W. Fairbanks | 1 |
| 1920 | Chicago | Warren G. Harding | 10 | Calvin Coolidge | 1 |
| 1924 | Cleveland | Calvin Coolidge | 1 | Charles G. Dawes | 3 |
| 1928 | Kansas City | Herbert Hoover | 1 | Charles Curtis | 1 |
| 1932 | Chicago | Herbert Hoover | 1 | Charles Curtis | 1 |
| 1936 | Cleveland | Alfred Landon | 1 | Frank Knox | 1 |
| 1940 | Philadelphia | Wendell L. Willkie | 6 | Charles L. McNary | 1 |
| 1944 | Chicago | Thomas E. Dewey | 1 | John W. Bricker | 1 |
| 1948 | Philadelphia | Thomas E. Dewey | 3 | Earl Warren | 1 |
| 1952 | Chicago | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1 | Richard Nixon | 1 |
| 1956 | San Francisco | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1 | Richard Nixon | 1 |
| 1960 | Chicago | Richard Nixon | 1 | Henry Cabot Lodge | 1 |
| 1964 | San Francisco | Barry Goldwater | 1 | William E. Miller | 1 |
| 1968 | Miami Beach | Richard Nixon | 1 | Spiro Agnew | 1 |
| 1972 | Miami Beach | Richard Nixon | 1 | Spiro Agnew | 1 |
| 1976 | Kansas City | Gerald R. Ford | 1 | Robert Dole | 1 |
| 1980 | Detroit | Ronald Reagan | 1 | George Bush | 1 |
| 1984 | Dallas | Ronald Reagan | 1 | George Bush | 1 |
| 1988 | New Orleans | George Bush | 1 | Dan Quayle | 1 |
| 1992 | Houston | George Bush | 1 | Dan Quayle | 1 |
| 1996 | San Diego | Robert Dole | 1 | Jack Kemp | 1 |
| 2000 | Philadelphia | George W. Bush | 1 | Richard Cheney | 1 |
| 2004 | New York | George W. Bush | 1 | Richard Cheney | 1 |
| 2008 | St. Paul | John McCain | 1 | Sarah Palin | 1 |
| 2012 | Tampa | Mitt Romney | 1 | Paul Ryan | 1 |
| 2016 | Cleveland | Donald J. Trump | 1 | Mike Pence | 1 |