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1912 Republican National Convention

The 1912 Republican National Convention was held at the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated President William H. Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman for re-election for the 1912 United States presidential election.

Convention

June 18–22, 1912

Sherman died days before the election, and was replaced as Republican vice-presidential nominee by Nicholas M. Butler of New York. The ticket went on to place 3rd in the November election behind former president Theodore Roosevelt, who ran under the banner of the new Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party, and Democratic Governor Woodrow Wilson.

Background[edit]

This convention marked the climax of a split in the party, resulting from a power struggle between incumbent Taft and former president Theodore Roosevelt that started in 1910. Politically liberal states for the first time were holding Republican primaries. Though Roosevelt had endorsed Taft as his successor, Taft's drift to the right had alienated Roosevelt, who launched a challenge to Taft's re-nomination. Roosevelt overwhelmingly won the primaries — winning 9 out of 13 states. Both Taft and Roosevelt lost their home states to each other. Senator Robert M. La Follette, a reformer, won two states, including his home state of Wisconsin. Through the primaries, Senator La Follette won a total of 36 delegates; President Taft won 48 delegates; and Roosevelt won 278 delegates. However 36 more conservative states did not hold primaries, but instead selected delegates via state conventions. For years Roosevelt had tried to attract Southern white Democrats to the Republican Party, and he tried to win delegates there in 1912. However Taft had the support of black Republicans in the South, and defeated Roosevelt there.[1]

Former President
Theodore Roosevelt
of New York
(Not Nominated)

Former President Theodore Roosevelt of New York (Not Nominated)

Senator Albert B. Cummins of Iowa (Not Nominated)

Senator
William Borah
of Idaho
(Not Nominated -
Declined Consideration)

Senator William Borah of Idaho (Not Nominated - Declined Consideration)

History of the United States Republican Party

List of Republican National Conventions

United States presidential nominating convention

1912 Republican Party presidential primaries

1912 United States presidential election

1912 Democratic National Convention

1912 Progressive National Convention

Broderick, Francis L. Progressivism at risk: Electing a president in 1912 (Praeger, 1989).

Delahaye, Claire. "The New Nationalism and Progressive Issues: The Break with Taft and the 1912 Campaign," in Serge Ricard, ed., A Companion to Theodore Roosevelt (2011) pp 452–67.

online

Felt, Thomas E. "Organizing A National Convention: A Lesson From Senator Dick." Ohio Historical Quarterly (1958) 87#1 pp 50–62.

Gable, John A. The Bullmoose Years: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1978.

Gould, Lewis L. Four hats in the ring: The 1912 election and the birth of modern American politics (Univ Pr of Kansas, 2008).

Gould, Lewis L. "Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Disputed Delegates in 1912: Texas as a Test Case." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 80.1 (1976): 33-56 .

online

. History of the Progressive Party, 1912–1916. Introduction by Helene Maxwell Hooker. (New York University Press, 1958).

Pinchot, Amos

Selmi, Patrick. "Jane Addams and the Progressive Party Campaign for President in 1912." Journal of Progressive Human Services 22.2 (2011): 160–190.

Wilensky, Norman N. (1965). Conservatives in the Progressive Era: The Taft Republicans of 1912. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

The Political Graveyard. Accessed February 1, 2006

"1912 Republican National Convention"

1912 Presidential Election Project, Department of History, Ohio State University. Accessed February 1, 2006

"1912 Republican Convention"

Parades, Protests & Politics in Chicago. Accessed February 1, 2006

"1912: A Party Splits"

.

"Bull Moose years: Who Won the Presidential Primaries in 1912?"

at The American Presidency Project

Republican Party platform of 1912

at Smithsonian Magazine

1912 Republican National Convention