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 Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman 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, who ran under the banner of the new Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party, and Democratic governor Woodrow Wilson.
Background 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 (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. Adam Burns, "Courting white southerners: Theodore Roosevelt’s quest for the heart of the South." American Nineteenth Century History 20.1 (2019): 1-18.
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.Harlan Hahn "The Republican Party Convention of 1912 and the Role of Herbert S. Hadley in National Politics." Missouri Historical Review 59.4 (1965): 407-423.
The first major battle of the convention was won by Taft's camp, with Taft-ally Elihu Root (senator from New York) being elected the temporary chairman of the convention in a 558–502 vote. As temporary chairman, Root was able to deliver the convention's keynote address. In his address, Root touted successes of the Taft administration and called for party unity.
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 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, Woodrow Wilson.
Delegations from the south acted as rotten boroughs 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
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 Candidate 1stTaft561Roosevelt107La Follette41Cummins17Hughes2Not voting344Absent6
Presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912)
The balloting by states was as follows:
State Alabama 24 22 2 Arizona 6 6 Arkansas 18 17 1 California 26 2 24 Colorado 12 12 Connecticut 14 14 Delaware 6 6 Florida 12 12 Georgia 28 28 Idaho 8 1 7 Illinois 58 2 53 2 1 Indiana 30 20 3 7 Iowa 26 16 10 Kansas 20 2 18 Kentucky 26 24 2 Louisiana 20 20 Maine 12 12 Maryland 16 1 9 5 1 Massachusetts 36 20 16 Michigan 30 20 9 1 Minnesota 24 24 Mississippi 20 17 3 Missouri 36 16 20 Montana 8 8 Nebraska 16 2 14 Nevada 6 6 New Hampshire 8 8 New Jersey 28 2 26 New Mexico 8 7 1 New York 90 76 8 6 North Carolina 24 1 1 22 North Dakota 10 10 Ohio 48 14 34 Oklahoma 20 4 1 15 Oregon 10 8 2 Pennsylvania 76 9 2 2 62 1 Rhode Island 10 10 South Carolina 18 16 1 1 South Dakota 10 5 5 Tennessee 24 23 1 Texas 40 31 8 1 Utah 8 8 Vermont 8 6 2 Virginia 24 22 1 1 Washington 14 14 West Virginia 16 16 Wisconsin 26 26 Wyoming 6 6 Alaska 2 2 District of Columbia 2 2 Hawaii 6 6 Philippines 2 2 Puerto Rico 2 2 Total 1078 561 107 17 41 2 344 6
Vice presidential nomination Vice presidential candidates
Like Taft, Vice President James S. Sherman 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 ballot Candidate 1stSherman596Borah21Merriam20Hadley14Beveridge2Gillette1Not voting352Absent72
Vice presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912)
Notable speeches Warren G. Harding At Taft's request, Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio gave a nominating speech for the president ahead of the balloting. Harding delivered a speech peppered with fancy rhetoric, such as the declaration, "profession is not a proclamation nor palaver. It is not personal pronounces nor perennial pronouncement. Its not the perturbation of a people passionwrought, nor a promise proposed." Angry Roosevelt-supporting delegates were not receptive to Harding's oratory, and a heckler from the crowd audibly teased Harding, "Hey, senator, who are you nominating, Peter Piper?"
See also 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
References
Works cited
Further reading 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. Pinchot, Amos. History of the Progressive Party, 1912–1916. Introduction by Helene Maxwell Hooker. (New York University Press, 1958). Selmi, Patrick. "Jane Addams and the Progressive Party Campaign for President in 1912." Journal of Progressive Human Services 22.2 (2011): 160–190.
Primary sources Bryan, William Jennings. A Tale of Two Conventions: Being an Account of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions of June, 1912, with an Outline of the Progressive National Convention of August in the Same Year. Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1912. online Roosevelt, Theodore. Theodore Roosevelt's Confession of Faith Before the Progressive National Convention, August 6, 1912 (Progressive Party, 1912) online.
External links "1912 Republican National Convention", The Political Graveyard. Accessed February 1, 2006 "1912 Republican Convention", 1912 Presidential Election Project, Department of History, Ohio State University. Accessed February 1, 2006 "1912: A Party Splits", Parades, Protests & Politics in Chicago. Accessed February 1, 2006 "Bull Moose years: Who Won the Presidential Primaries in 1912?".
External links Republican Party platform of 1912 at The American Presidency Project 1912 Republican National Convention at Smithsonian Magazine