The 1988 Republican National Convention was held in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 15 to August 18. The convention nominated Vice President George H. W. Bush for President and Dan Quayle, Senator from Indiana, for Vice President.

The convention is perhaps best known for Bush's "thousand points of light" speech accepting the nomination. It also included the "read my lips: no new taxes" pledge that was the most popular sound bite coming out of the convention. The successful speech gave him a "bounce" that he was able to capitalize on to win the 1988 presidential election.

Ronald Reagan also made a major speech on the opening night of the convention, as he would do in 1992.