1912 Republican Party Candidate and Platform:
The 1912 Republican Party candidate was William Howard Taft who was seeking another term of presidency. He was previously backed by Theodore Roosevelt prior to his presidential term, during which he supposedly became a conservative and went against everything Theodore Roosevelt had hoped he would do during his term. This prompted Theodore Roosevelt to run against Taft for the Republican Nomination. Taft won the nomination and ran for president against Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) and Theodore Roosevelt (who had started the Progressive Party in an effort to stay in the race).
Taft’s platform involved breaking up monopolies, keeping a reasonable tariff, and increasing military size (specifically the Navy). He also wanted to limit, or regulate, child labor in factories, and he wanted to conserve the environment while still taking resources from it at a reasonable pace. Taft’s platform was similar to Roosevelt’s in small areas, but they had different viewpoints in larger issues. Where Taft wanted to get rid of monopolies, Roosevelt only wanted to regulate them and strengthen the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. In the end, however, neither of them won the election.
In my opinion Taft and Roosevelt spent too much time on each other and basically forgot about Woodrow Wilson who eventually won the election. If Taft spent more time focused on Wilson than Roosevelt and vice versa the results of the election might’ve been a little closer.
1912 Progressive Party (Bull-Moose Party) Candidate and Platform
The 1912 Progressive Party candidate was Theodore Roosevelt (who previously belonged to the Republican Party). Having served two terms of presidency, Roosevelt felt safe handing over the torch to his predecessor, William Howard Taft. During Taft’s presidency, he tended to be more of a conservative, which Roosevelt didn’t like (Roosevelt was considered a Radical). Roosevelt regretting his decision decided to run against Taft for the republican nomination. Things got pretty heated between the two and eventually Taft took the nomination. Roosevelt stormed out of the convention with his supporters and formed the Progressive Party. The Progressive Party was nicknamed the Bull-Moose Party after Roosevelt said he felt as fit as a bull-moose.
Theodore Roosevelt’s platform involved regulating monopolies and strengthening the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It also included setting minimum wage standards, pushing for an 8-hour workday, and constructing national highways. Roosevelt also wanted a reasonable Tariff, wanted to make child labor illegal, and wanted to do more for immigrants. Roosevelt continued to campaign for president and during the election Roosevelt/Progressive Party had the strongest showing of any third party candidate ever in the presidential election. It wasn't enough, however, and Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) won the presidency.
Works Cited
"1912 Republican Convention." Smithsonian Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/>;.
"Progressive Party Platform of 1912." Teaching American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://teachingamericanhistory.org/>;.
"Remembering the 1912 Presidential Election." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.history.com/>;.
Comments
Well done Levi!