Lesson 3: The Election of 1912

Lesson Focus

A major split in the Republican party sets the stage for a dramatic three-way presidential race. We'll explore how Theodore Roosevelt's ambition challenged President Taft, creating a new party and leading to an unexpected outcome.

People to Know

Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson

Learning Objectives

• Trace the events that caused Theodore Roosevelt to break from the Republicans and form the new Progressive Party.
• Explain how the split Republican vote between Roosevelt and Taft directly contributed to Woodrow Wilson’s victory in the 1912 election.

Unhappy with President Taft's conservatism, Theodore Roosevelt challenged him for the Republican nomination in 1912. At the convention, Taft's allies controlled the process and awarded him the nomination over Roosevelt. Believing the nomination was stolen, Roosevelt and his progressive supporters stormed out of the convention. This act fractured the Republican party, setting the stage for a three-way presidential race and guaranteeing a split in the Republican vote. This split would ultimately change the election's outcome.

In response to losing the Republican nomination, Roosevelt's supporters formed the Progressive party in August 1912. This new party, made of reformers and social workers, nominated Roosevelt for president. He famously declared he felt "as strong as a bull moose," giving the party its nickname, the Bull Moose party. The party's platform called for social brotherhood and a government that represents the people, not corrupt special interests.

The Progressive party platform demanded major reforms to create a "nobler America." It championed a more direct democracy through initiatives and referendums, conservation of natural resources, and woman suffrage. Note that it also focused heavily on labor rights, calling for the prohibition of child labor, minimum wage standards for women, and an eight-hour workday. These ideas positioned the party as a powerful voice for social justice and human welfare.

The Democrats also nominated a progressive candidate, Woodrow Wilson, the reform governor of New Jersey. Wilson campaigned on his own progressive platform, which he called the "New Freedom." This created an unusual election where the main contest was not between a conservative and a progressive, but between two different progressive leaders. Both Roosevelt and Wilson agreed on the need for change but disagreed on the best way to achieve it.

The election became a debate between two competing progressive philosophies. Roosevelt’s New Nationalism accepted big business as a reality and proposed using a powerful federal government to regulate it. In contrast, Wilson’s New Freedom viewed monopolies as an absolute evil that must be broken up to restore free competition. This forced voters to decide not just if the government should act, but how it should use its power to reform the nation.

The split in the Republican party determined the outcome of the election of 1912. Republican voters were divided between President Taft and the Progressive candidate, Roosevelt. This division allowed Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency with an overwhelming 435 electoral votes. Pay special attention to the fact that Wilson won with fewer popular votes than Roosevelt and Taft combined, proving that the Republican split was the direct cause of the Democratic victory.