The 1912 Republican National Convention was held at the Chicago Coliseum,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

and

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

James S. Sherman James Schoolcraft Sherman (October 24, 1855 – October 30, 1912) was the 27th vice president of the United States, serving from 1909 until his death in 1912, under President William Howard Taft. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

for re-election for the 1912 United States presidential election. Sherman died days before the election, and was replaced as Republican vice-presidential nominee by Nicholas Murray Butler of New York. The ticket went on to place 3rd in the November election behind former president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, who ran under the banner of the new Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party, and Democratic governor

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

Background

This convention marked the climax of a split in the party, resulting from a power struggle between incumbent Taft and former president

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 (along with Roosevelt's increasingly more Progressive ideas) 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.

Convention

Entering the convention, the Roosevelt and Taft forces seemed evenly matched, and a compromise candidate seemed possible. Taft was willing to compromise with Missouri governor Herbert S. Hadley as presidential nominee; Roosevelt said no. The Taft and Roosevelt camps engaged in a fight for the delegations of various states, with Taft emerging victorious, and Roosevelt claiming that several delegations were fraudulently seated because of the machinations of conservative party leaders including William Barnes Jr. and Boies Penrose. Roosevelt then accused Taft of steamroller tactics and ordered his supporters to take no further part in the convention. Following the seating of the anti-Roosevelt delegations, California governor

Hiram Johnson Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in the U.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johns ...

proclaimed that progressives would form a new party to nominate Roosevelt. Roosevelt ultimately ran a third party campaign as part of the Progressive Party (nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party"). Taft and Roosevelt both lost the 1912 election to the Democratic nominee,

. Delegations from the south acted as

rotten boroughs A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

due to their size despite having no influence in elections. An attempt to reduce their influence failed in 1908, with Roosevelt having fought against it. The southern delegations, whose 252 delegates accounted for almost half of the number needed to win the nomination, almost entirely supported Taft.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Image:Unsuccessful 1912.jpg, President

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Image:T Roosevelt (closeincropped 3x4).jpg, Former President

of New York
''(not nominated)'' Image:Famous Living Americans - Robert M. LaFollette.jpg,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Robert M. La Follette
of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Image:Albert Baird Cummins circa 1917 (1).jpg,

Albert B. Cummins
of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

''(not nominated)'' Image:Charles Evans Hughes cph.3b15401 (cropped2).jpg,

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

of New York
''(not nominated)'' Republican National Convention 1912

Though many of Roosevelt's delegates remained at the convention, most refused to take part in the presidential ballot in protest of the contested delegates. Additionally, Roosevelt's name was not placed in nomination. Thus, Taft was re-nominated handily on the first ballot.
Presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912) File:1912RepublicanPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st presidential ballot The balloting by states was as follows:

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

Image:James S. Sherman 1909.jpg,

of New York Image:William Edgar Borah cph.3b46014.jpg,

William Borah
of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

''(not nominated -
declined consideration)'' Like Taft, Vice President

of New York was renominated by the party. Though Taft and Sherman did not get along early in their tenure, the two became closer allies as Taft's split with Roosevelt deepened, and Taft did not object to the re-nomination of Sherman. Taft's allies sought progressive leaders such as Idaho senator William E. Borah or Vermont governor John A. Mead to join the ticket, but both declined to be considered. Missouri governor Herbert S. Hadley and former vice president Charles Fairbanks were also mentioned as possibilities. Sherman died shortly before the election, and was not replaced on the ticket. In January, after the election had already been decided, Republican leaders appointed Columbia University president Nicholas Butler to fill out the ticket for the purposes of receiving electoral votes.
Vice presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912) File:1912RepublicanVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st
vice presidential ballot

References

Works cited

External links

''The Political Graveyard''. Accessed February 1, 2006

''1912 Presidential Election Project'', Department of History,

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Accessed February 1, 2006
"1912: A Party Splits"
''Parades, Protests & Politics in Chicago''. Accessed February 1, 2006

External links

Republican Party platform of 1912
at ''The American Presidency Project''
1912 Republican National Convention
at Smithsonian Magazine {{Authority control 1912 United States presidential election Political conventions in Chicago Republican National Conventions 1912 in Illinois 1912 conferences June 1912 in the United Kingdom 1910s political conferences 1910s in Chicago Events at Chicago Coliseum William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt James S. Sherman

Background

Convention

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading

Primary sources

External links

External links