Volume 12 , Issue 16

Theodore Rooseelt (1912)

Did you ever hear the saying where Theodore Roosevelt was concerned, "He was fit as a bull moose?"

It was the Republican party that denied Theodore Roosevelt its nomination for President and instead backed incumbent William Taft. Taft had been Teddy's handpicked successor for presidency four years earlier, but Teddy and Taft had a falling out.

Taft referred to Roosevelt has a "dangerous egotist" and a "demagogue." BUT -- Roosevelt countered by referring to Taft as a "fathead" and a puzzlewit." So -- Name calling is nothing new in the Republican! Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party after his defeat with Taft. Teddy Roosevelt ran under the banner of the Progressive party, which was named the Bull Moose Party in his honor.

It was President William Taft who broke with precedent and became the first President to actively campaigned on his own behalf while in office. this race became a two-way race between Roosevelt and Wilson with Taft running a distant third.

Roosevelt called for a "Square Deal" and would control monopoly by regulating it. Wilson spoke of the "New Freedom" and called for the break up of big business as a means of restoring economic competition.

Republicans split their vote between Roosevelt and Taft, which allowed Wilson to gain the presidency with a 42% plurality. wilson's win made him on the second Democrat to win the presidency since the Civil War. Taft was humiliated and gained only 8 electoral votes to Roosevelt's 88.
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