Election of 1912
Who were the candidates? → What were the issues? → Vote! → Who won? → What happened?
What were the issues?
Roosevelt and Johnson campaign poster proclaiming the platform for the Progressive Party
Roosevelt challenged Taft because he believed Taft was too conservative and not progressive enough. The Republicans re-nominated Taft, so Roosevelt and his supporters formed the Progressive Party, and he was chosen as its candidate for President. While accepting his nomination, he told reporters that he felt "as fit as a bull moose," leading to this third party candidacy nickname, Bull Moose Party.
Pamphlet reprinting acceptance speech of Eugene Debs, Socialist Party candidate
The election was largely between Roosevelt and Wilson. The incumbent, Taft, was never really a contender. Some of the major issues included trusts, women's suffrage, and tariffs: Wilson proposed the elimination of big, monopolistic businesses (trusts). Roosevelt wanted to preserve the trusts but regulate them. Wilson believed that each state should decide the issue of whether women should have the right to vote. Roosevelt openly campaigned on behalf of women's suffrage. Wilson criticized tariffs, or taxes on goods imported to America, as being a special interest program for big business. Roosevelt supported tariffs, believing they helped protect wages.