Progressive Party (1912)

The Bull Moose party of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, the most successful third party bid since the Civil War.

Overview

Denied the 1912 Republican nomination by William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt bolted and formed the Progressive Party, which met in Chicago and adopted a sweeping platform: women suffrage, primary elections, workers compensation, social insurance, and direct democracy. Roosevelt declared himself as strong as a bull moose and won 27 percent of the vote and six states, splitting the GOP and handing Woodrow Wilson the presidency. The party lingered under Hiram Johnson in 1916 and faded as Roosevelt reconciled with Republicans. Its program, radical in 1912, became the mainstream of American reform over the next three decades.