The 1912 Presidential Election

Dylan Cook

POLI 423

• Incumbent William Howard Taft (R) sought re-election in 1912, although major divisions were emerging within the Republican Party throughout his previous administration.

o Republicans were divided between the Conservatives, led by Taft, and the Progressives, led by Former President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909).

o From 1907-1909, Republicans had a majority in both the House and the Senate - but lost their majority in the House to the Democrats as a result of the 1910 mid-term elections.

o At the time, three major issues divided the nation - labor unions, employment regulations (especially for women and children), and tariff reform. Progressives favored more loose regulations on labor

unions, restrictions on employment, etc., while Conservatives sought higher tariffs and stronger business leaders

Context of the Election

• Democrats, at the time, favored many policies regarding employment and labor unions that most Progressives identified with. Although, they disagreed that increased government control should be the catalyst for these changes.o Much of the party also identified with the

political ideals established by William Jennings Bryan - trust-busting, opposition to banks, and the general limitation of corporate control.

• Since 1860, the only Democrat to be successfully elected President was Grover Cleveland. o Demonstrated a dominance of Republican

control in the Presidency.

Context of the Election

•The 1912 Presidential election was strongly influenced by the fact that it involved the first modern party primaries.o Republicans had their first ever primaries in

this election, with 12 states participating Other States selected candidates through

state conventions, not by the popular vote of citizens

Roosevelt won 9 of these voter-primaries, while Taft only won the state of Massachusetts.• Senator Robert LaFollette from

Wisconsin won the other two primaries

Party Primaries and Nominations

•At the 1912 Republican National Convention (RNC), delegates chose between Taft, Roosevelt, and LaFollette. o Many of the delegates chosen by state

conventions were heavily contested. Taft was very much in control of the RNC at

the time, and as such nearly all contested delegates were awarded to Taft.• Roosevelt responded by creating a

convention of his own, forming the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull-Moose Party).

Party Primaries and Nominations

•The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was, for the most part, a competition between Governor Woodrow Wilson (New Jersey), and Speaker Champ Clark (Missouri).o Clark won more delegates than any other

candidate in the primaries, but lacked the two-third majority necessary to clinch a victory. Clark would eventually lose to Wilson, as

the political machine Tammany Hall endorsed Clark• William Jennings Bryan saw this as Clark

being endorsed by Wall Street, and urged delegates to support Wilson instead.

Party Primaries and Nominations

Thomas Woodrow Wilson(V.P. Thomas R. Marshall)

Governor of New Jersey

Former President of Princeton University Championed Policies of limited government and the breaking of monopolies

Famously stated "it is getting harder to run a Constitution than to frame one"

Candidate Profiles - The Democratic Party

William Howard Taft(V.P. James S. Sherman)

Judge, Superior Court of Cincinnati (1887)

Solicitor General of the United States (1890)

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals (1891)

Secretary of War (1904)Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt

President of the United States (1908-1912)

Chief Justice, Supreme Court (1921-1930)

Candidate Profiles - The Republican Party

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt(V.P. Hiram Johnson)

Born into a wealthy family, a Harvard educatedBiologist and Historian

Member, New York State Assembly (1882-1884)

Left politics from 1884-1886 to become a Rancher in South Dakota

Governor of New York (1898)

Vice President of the United States (1900-1901)

President of the United States (1901-1908)

Candidate Profiles - The Progressive Party

Eugene V. Debs(V.P. Emil Seidel)

Terre-Haute City Clerk (1879-1883)

Member, Indiana General Assembly (1884-1886)

Founder, American Railway Union (ARU)

Sent to federal prison due to involvement in The Pullman Strike

Founder, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Ran for President as the Social Party Candidiatein 1900, 1904, and 1908

Candidate Profiles - The Socialist Party

•The two major candidates in the election, Wilson and Roosevelt, campaigned on a collection of policy reforms that served to distinguish between their Progressive similarities:o Roosevelt's plan was known as "The New

Nationalism," and called for the federal government to take firm control over economic regulation and corporate reform

o Wilson's plan was known as "The New Freedom," and called for less government control, but an increased focus on tarriff, business, and banking reform.

The General Election Campaign

•Among the other two candidates -o Taft's campaign was extremely reserved, knowing that

progressive reform was dominating the discussions surrounding the election. Instead, he spent a great deal of

time calling for increased power for federal judges.o Debs and the Socialist Party spent most of their funds on

purchaing pamphlets to spread the word about how the Socialists, not the Democrats, truly represented labor unions. They frequently accused the other three parties and their candidates as being supported by the very corporations they sought to bring down.

The General Election Campaign

•Other major events of note:o Vice President James S. Sherman died a week

before the election was held, essentially leaving Taft without a running-mate (although Nicholas Butler would eventually be tapped by the RNC to serve in Sherman's absence).

o Roosevelt was shot while giving a campaign speech in Milwaukee, but nonetheless finished his talk due to the fact that his eyeglass case and a copy of his speech were hit by the bullet first.

The General Election CampaignThe General Election CampaignThe General Election Campaign

The Election Outcome

Electoral Votes: Wilson (D) - 435Roosevelt (P)- 88Taft (R) - 8 (Utah and Vermont)Debs (S) - 0

Popular Vote: Wilson (D) - 41.8%

Roosevelt (P)- 27.4%Taft (R) - 23.2%Debs (S) - 6.0%

The Election Outcome

•Last election in which a Republican or Democratic candidate placed below 2nd in either the Popular Vote or the Electoral College

•First election in which all 48 contiguous States participated

•Wilson would remain the only Democratic President elected between 1892 and 1932

•The Progressive Party, having lost despite a strong outcome in the election, slowly dissolved and its members re-joined the Republican Party

•This election marked the first time that a majority of New England States were won by a Democrat since 1852 (and the first time Oregon was won by a Democrat since 1868)

o This did not occur again until FDR's victory in 1932

Legacy of the 1912 Election