It’s not every day that you get to hear a first-hand account of what political conventions used to be like when a floor fight an expected part of the proceedings. On today’s show, Leonard spoke to Diana Serra Cary, who had been a child star in Hollywood during the Silent Era. Now 93, she was hired by the Democrats as a kind of mascot to appear alongside Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the 1924 Convention. Hear her describe the chaotic scene on the floor that she saw, far different from the carefully choreographed events we see today.

Find more of WNYC's coverage of the 2012 conventions at It's a Free Country.