U.S. presidential election, 1912
 Presidential electoral votes by state. The U.S. presidential election of 1912 was a duel between three Presidents. The establishment wing of the Republican party took control of the Republican convention and nominated incumbent President William Howard Taft, while its progressive wing split off and nominated former President Theodore Roosevelt. Woodrow Wilson defeated both to become the only Democratic President between 1897 and 1933.
Nominations
Republican Party nomination
The Republican Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois 8 June to 22 June, and was dramatically marked by Roosevelt bolting from the party to form the "Bull Moose Party" (see next section). Even though Roosevelt had won all but one of the primaries, Republicans renominated William Howard Taft and James S. Sherman, incidentally making Sherman the first vice president since John C. Calhoun to be nominated for reelection.
On the evening of June 22, 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt asked his supporters to leave the floor of the Republican National Convention in Chicago. Roosevelt maintained that President Taft had allowed fraudulent seating of delegates in order to capture the presidential nomination from progressive forces within the Party. Taft's poor showing against Roosevelt in the primaries, the latter contended, evidenced popular support for a more progressive Republican agenda.
The rift between progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party was apparent even before Roosevelt left office. Roosevelt's support of government regulation, his groundbreaking efforts in conservation and consumer protection, and his willingness to work with organized labor alienated pro-business party members. When Roosevelt tapped William Howard Taft as his successor in 1908, he had assumed Taft would continue to support his agenda. Although Taft's record suggested a leader sympathetic to reform, the former jurist's quiet demeanor and attention to the letter of the law irritated Roosevelt and disappointed Republican progressives.
Progressive Party nomination
Republican progressives reconvened in Chicago's Orchestra Hall and endorsed the formation of a national progressive party. When formally launched later that summer, the new Progressive Party chose Roosevelt as its presidential nominee. Questioned by reporters, Roosevelt said he felt as strong as a "bull moose." Thenceforth known as the "Bull Moose Party," the Progressives promised to increase federal regulation and protect the welfare of ordinary people.
Democratic Party nomination
The Democratic Convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland from 25 June to 2 July. After a long deadlock, former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan threw his support to Woodrow Wilson in order to defeat Missouri Representative Champ Clark. Wilson received the nomination on the 46th ballot.
General election
Campaign
The 1912 presidential campaign was bitterly fought and easily won on November 5. With the Republican Party divided, progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson captured the presidency handily. Although he failed to become chief executive again, Roosevelt succeeded in his vendetta against Taft who received just twenty-three percent of the popular vote compared to Roosevelt's twenty-seven percent.
Former President Theodore Roosevelt's formation of the Progressive or "Bull Moose" party resulted in the only instance in the 20th century of a candidate of neither the Republican nor Democratic party receiving more votes than one of the candidates of those two leading parties.
Despite an impressive showing in 1912, the Bull Moose failed to establish itself as a viable third party, especially after Roosevelt's death in 1919. Still active on the state level, Progressives did not put forward a presidential candidate again until the run of Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. in the election of 1924.
Vice President James S. Sherman died in office October 30, 1912, less than a week before the election, leaving Taft without a running mate. After the election, Nicholas Butler was selected to receive the electoral votes from Utah and Vermont that would have gone to Sherman.
Source: Library of Congress
Results
|-
| Theodore Roosevelt
| Progressive
| New York
| style="text-align:right;" | 4,119,207
| style="text-align:right;" | 27.4%
| style="text-align:right;" | 88
| Hiram Warren Johnson
| California
| style="text-align:right;" | 88
|-
| William Howard Taft
| Republican
| Ohio
| style="text-align:right;" | 3,486,333
| style="text-align:right;" | 23.1%
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| Nicholas Murray Butler
| New York
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
|-
| Eugene Victor Debs
| Socialist
| Indiana
| style="text-align:right;" | 900,369
| style="text-align:right;" | 6.0%
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
| Emil Seidel
| Wisconsin
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
|-
| Eugene Wilder Chafin
| Prohibition
| Illinois
| style="text-align:right;" | 207,972
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.4%
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
| Aaron Sherman Watkins
| Ohio
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
|-
| Arthur Elmer Reimer
| Socialist Labor
| Massachusetts
| style="text-align:right;" | 29,374
| style="text-align:right;" | 0.2%
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
| August Gilhaus
| New York
| style="text-align:right;" | 0
(a) '
State by state results
| Woodrow Wilson
| Theodore Roosevelt
| William Taft
| Eugene V. Debs
|
electoral
votes
| State
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
|
| 12
| Alabama
| 82,438
| 69.9
| 12
| 22,680
| 19.2
|
| 9,807
| 8.3
|
| 3,029
| 2.6
|
|
| 3
| Arizona
| 10,324
| 44.1
| 3
| 6,949
| 29.7
|
| 2,986
| 12.7
|
| 3,163
| 13.5
|
|
| 9
| Arkansas
| 68,814
| 55.4
| 9
| 21,644
| 17.4
|
| 25,585
| 20.6
|
| 8,153
| 6.6
|
|
| 13
| California
| 283,436
| 43.6
| *2
| 283,610
| 43.6
| *11
| 3,847
| 0.6
|
| 79,201
| 12.2
|
|
| 6
| Colorado
| 113,912
| 43.7
| 6
| 71,752
| 27.6
|
| 58,386
| 22.4
|
| 16,366
| 6.3
|
|
| 7
| Connecticut
| 74,561
| 39.9
| 7
| 34,129
| 18.2
|
| 68,324
| 36.5
|
| 10,056
| 5.4
|
|
| 3
| Delaware
| 22,631
| 47.1
| 3
| 8,886
| 18.5
|
| 15,997
| 33.3
|
| 556
| 1.2
|
|
| 6
| Florida
| 35,343
| 72.2
| 6
| 4,555
| 9.3
|
| 4,279
| 8.7
|
| 4,806
| 9.8
|
|
| 14
| Georgia
| 93,087
| 76.7
| 14
| 21,985
| 18.1
|
| 5,191
| 4.3
|
| 1,058
| 0.9
|
|
| 4
| Idaho
| 33,921
| 32.5
| 4
| 25,527
| 24.5
|
| 32,810
| 31.5
|
| 11,960
| 11.5
|
|
| 29
| Illinois
| 405,048
| 36.0
| 29
| 386,478
| 34.3
|
| 253,593
| 22.5
|
| 81,278
| 7.2
|
|
| 15
| Indiana
| 281,890
| 44.6
| 15
| 162,007
| 25.6
|
| 151,267
| 23.9
|
| 36,931
| 5.8
|
|
| 13
| Iowa
| 185,322
| 38.3
| 13
| 161,819
| 33.4
|
| 119,805
| 24.8
|
| 16,967
| 3.5
|
|
| 10
| Kansas
| 143,663
| 39.3
| 10
| 120,210
| 32.9
|
| 74,845
| 20.5
|
| 26,779
| 7.3
|
|
| 13
| Kentucky
| 219,484
| 48.9
| 13
| 101,766
| 22.7
|
| 115,510
| 25.8
|
| 11,646
| 2.6
|
|
| 10
| Louisiana
| 60,871
| 76.8
| 10
| 9,283
| 11.7
|
| 3,833
| 4.8
|
| 5,261
| 6.6
|
|
| 6
| Maine
| 51,113
| 39.7
| 6
| 48,495
| 37.7
|
| 26,545
| 20.6
|
| 2,541
| 2.0
|
|
| 8
| Maryland
| 112,674
| 49.1
| 8
| 57,789
| 25.2
|
| 54,956
| 24.0
|
| 3,996
| 1.7
|
|
| 18
| Massachusetts
| 173,408
| 35.8
| 18
| 142,228
| 29.4
|
| 155,948
| 32.2
|
| 12,616
| 2.6
|
|
| 15
| Michigan
| 150,201
| 27.9
|
| 213,243
| 39.6
| 15
| 151,434
| 28.2
|
| 23,060
| 4.3
|
|
| 12
| Minnesota
| 106,426
| 32.8
|
| 125,856
| 38.8
| 12
| 64,334
| 19.8
|
| 27,505
| 8.5
|
|
| 10
| Mississippi
| 57,324
| 88.9
| 10
| 3,549
| 5.5
|
| 1,560
| 2.4
|
| 2,050
| 3.2
|
|
| 18
| Missouri
| 330,746
| 47.8
| 18
| 124,375
| 18.0
|
| 207,821
| 30.1
|
| 28,466
| 4.1
|
|
| 4
| Montana
| 28,129
| 35.1
| 4
| 22,709
| 28.3
|
| 18,575
| 23.2
|
| 10,811
| 13.5
|
|
| 8
| Nebraska
| 109,008
| 44.3
| 8
| 72,681
| 29.5
|
| 54,226
| 22.0
|
| 10,185
| 4.1
|
|
| 3
| Nevada
| 7,986
| 39.7
| 3
| 5,620
| 27.9
|
| 3,196
| 15.9
|
| 3,313
| 16.5
|
|
| 4
| New Hampshire
| 34,724
| 39.7
| 4
| 17,794
| 20.4
|
| 32,927
| 37.7
|
| 1,981
| 2.3
|
|
| 14
| New Jersey
| 178,638
| 41.6
| 14
| 145,679
| 33.9
|
| 89,066
| 20.7
|
| 15,948
| 3.7
|
|
| 3
| New Mexico
| 20,437
| 41.9
| 3
| 8,347
| 17.1
|
| 17,164
| 35.2
|
| 2,859
| 5.9
|
|
| 45
| New York
| 655,573
| 41.9
| 45
| 390,093
| 24.9
|
| 455,487
| 29.1
|
| 63,434
| 4.1
|
|
| 12
| North Carolina
| 144,407
| 59.3
| 12
| 69,135
| 28.4
|
| 29,129
| 12.0
|
| 987
| 0.4
|
|
| 5
| North Dakota
| 29,549
| 34.7
| 5
| 25,726
| 30.2
|
| 22,990
| 27.0
|
| 6,966
| 8.2
|
|
| 24
| Ohio
| 424,834
| 41.5
| 24
| 229,807
| 22.5
|
| 278,168
| 27.2
|
| 90,164
| 8.8
|
|
| 10
| Oklahoma
| 119,143
| 47.4
| 10
| not on ballot
| 90,726
| 36.1
|
| 41,630
| 16.6
|
|
| 5
| Oregon
| 47,064
| 35.5
| 5
| 37,600
| 28.3
|
| 34,673
| 26.1
|
| 13,343
| 10.1
|
|
| 38
| Pennsylvania
| 395,637
| 33.0
|
| 444,894
| 37.2
| 38
| 273,360
| 22.8
|
| 83,614
| 7.0
|
|
| 5
| Rhode Island
| 30,412
| 39.5
| 5
| 16,878
| 21.9
|
| 27,703
| 36.0
|
| 2,049
| 2.7
|
|
| 9
| South Carolina
| 48,355
| 96.0
| 9
| 1,293
| 2.6
|
| 536
| 1.1
|
| 164
| 0.3
|
|
| 5
| South Dakota
| 48,942
| 43.5
|
| 58,811
| 52.3
| 5
| not on ballot
| 4,664
| 4.1
|
|
| 12
| Tennessee
| 133,021
| 53.0
| 12
| 54,041
| 21.5
|
| 60,475
| 24.1
|
| 3,564
| 1.4
|
|
| 20
| Texas
| 218,921
| 73.3
| 20
| 26,715
| 8.9
|
| 28,310
| 9.5
|
| 24,884
| 8.3
|
|
| 4
| Utah
| 36,576
| 32.7
|
| 24,174
| 21.6
|
| 42,013
| 37.6
| 4
| 8,999
| 8.1
|
|
| 4
| Vermont
| 15,350
| 24.9
|
| 22,129
| 35.9
|
| 23,303
| 37.8
| 4
| 928
| 1.5
|
|
| 12
| Virginia
| 90,332
| 66.3
| 12
| 21,776
| 16.0
|
| 23,288
| 17.1
|
| 820
| 0.6
|
|
| 7
| Washington
| 86,840
| 27.9
|
| 113,698
| 36.5
| 7
| 70,445
| 22.6
|
| 40,134
| 12.9
|
|
| 8
| West Virginia
| 113,097
| 42.8
| 8
| 79,112
| 29.9
|
| 56,754
| 21.5
|
| 15,248
| 5.8
|
|
| 13
| Wisconsin
| 164,230
| 42.0
| 13
| 62,448
| 16.0
|
| 130,596
| 33.4
|
| 33,476
| 8.6
|
|
| 3
| Wyoming
| 15,310
| 36.6
| 3
| 9,232
| 22.1
|
| 14,560
| 34.8
|
| 2,760
| 6.6
|
|
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
| count
| %
| electoral
votes
|
| 531 | Totals:
| 6,293,152 | 42.5 | 435
| 4,119,207 | 27.8 | 88
| 3,486,333 | 23.6 | 8
| 900,369 | 6.1 | 0
|
| percentages in this table do not take into account other candidates
|
See also
Reference
- James Chace, 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft, and Debs--The Election That Changed the Country, Simon and Schuster, May, 2004, hardcover, 448 pages, ISBN 0743203941
External links
|
