The 1912 Democratic Party Presidential Nomination
The 1912 Presidential Election was unique in that the three major candidates were all Presidents; one past (Theodore Roosevelt), one present (William Howard Taft) and one future, the man who would eventually win it all that year, Woodrow Wilson. Although the Republicans had a sitting President in the oval office (Taft), both major parties had a contested nomination.
The Democrats had been out of office since 1896 when Grover Cleveland left office. After four terms of Republican Presidents (McKinley won in 1896 and 1900, Theodore Roosevelt won in 1904 and Taft won in 1908), and a split in the Republican party, the Democrats could smell the White House again, and this in turn made for their own spirited contest.
Seven serious contenders vied for the Democratic nomination for President: (1) Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey and a rising star in the party; (2) Champ Clark, Speaker of the House from Missouri; (3) Judson Harmon, Governor of Ohio; (4) Oscar Underwood, House Majority Leader from Alabama; (5) Thomas R. Marshall, Governor of Indiana; (6) Eugene Foss, Governor of Massachusetts; and (7) Simeon Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut.
The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. Both Speaker Clark and Woodrow Wilson had won primaries. Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson even though Wilson had won more votes during the primaries, but he lacked the two thirds vote that was then necessary to secure the nomination. Wilson had won primaries in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Jersey and South Dakota. Clark had won in Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska and California. Governor Harmon had won his home state of Ohio and North Dakota Governor John Burke had also won the primary in his home state.
1904 Presidential nominee Judge Alton B. Parker of New York served as the Temporary chairman and as Keynote Speaker, yielding the gavel to Representative Ollie M. James of Kentucky who served as Permanent Convention chairman.
Clark, received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor Harmon received 148 votes while Congressman Underwood received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among others. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the New York delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. But because of the two-thirds rule then used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory.
Clark hoped that once he received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination, as had occurred in previous contests. Clark's chances were sunk when Tammany Hall, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City, threw its support behind him. Although this gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, it turned out to be the kiss of death. Instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led William Jennings Bryan to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "Wall Street". Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once this political machine put itself behind Clark, Bryan threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer.
Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. Bryan's endorsement of Wilson influenced many other delegates, and Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the nomination on the 46th ballot. The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860. (The Democrats would break that record in 1924 in a contest that took 103 ballots to pick a winner.)
Thomas R. Marshall, the Governor of Indiana, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, was named as Wilson's running mate. Wilson and Marshall went on to win a landslide victory in the 1912 Presidential election against a split Republican Party.
Interestingly, the 1912 Democratic Convention was part of the story for Taylor Caldwell's 1972 novel Captains and the Kings. In the novel, the fictional Irish-Catholic Rory Daniel Armagh, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, emerges as the front-runner for the 1912 Democratic Presidential nomination after beating Woodrow Wilson in multiple primaries. But Armagh is assassinated as part of a conspiracy of international power brokers before the convention. The novel was made into a television miniseries in 1976.
The Democrats had been out of office since 1896 when Grover Cleveland left office. After four terms of Republican Presidents (McKinley won in 1896 and 1900, Theodore Roosevelt won in 1904 and Taft won in 1908), and a split in the Republican party, the Democrats could smell the White House again, and this in turn made for their own spirited contest.
Seven serious contenders vied for the Democratic nomination for President: (1) Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey and a rising star in the party; (2) Champ Clark, Speaker of the House from Missouri; (3) Judson Harmon, Governor of Ohio; (4) Oscar Underwood, House Majority Leader from Alabama; (5) Thomas R. Marshall, Governor of Indiana; (6) Eugene Foss, Governor of Massachusetts; and (7) Simeon Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut.
The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. Both Speaker Clark and Woodrow Wilson had won primaries. Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson even though Wilson had won more votes during the primaries, but he lacked the two thirds vote that was then necessary to secure the nomination. Wilson had won primaries in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Jersey and South Dakota. Clark had won in Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska and California. Governor Harmon had won his home state of Ohio and North Dakota Governor John Burke had also won the primary in his home state.
1904 Presidential nominee Judge Alton B. Parker of New York served as the Temporary chairman and as Keynote Speaker, yielding the gavel to Representative Ollie M. James of Kentucky who served as Permanent Convention chairman.
Clark, received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor Harmon received 148 votes while Congressman Underwood received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among others. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the New York delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. But because of the two-thirds rule then used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory.
Clark hoped that once he received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination, as had occurred in previous contests. Clark's chances were sunk when Tammany Hall, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City, threw its support behind him. Although this gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, it turned out to be the kiss of death. Instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led William Jennings Bryan to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "Wall Street". Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once this political machine put itself behind Clark, Bryan threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer.
Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. Bryan's endorsement of Wilson influenced many other delegates, and Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the nomination on the 46th ballot. The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860. (The Democrats would break that record in 1924 in a contest that took 103 ballots to pick a winner.)
Thomas R. Marshall, the Governor of Indiana, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, was named as Wilson's running mate. Wilson and Marshall went on to win a landslide victory in the 1912 Presidential election against a split Republican Party.
Interestingly, the 1912 Democratic Convention was part of the story for Taylor Caldwell's 1972 novel Captains and the Kings. In the novel, the fictional Irish-Catholic Rory Daniel Armagh, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, emerges as the front-runner for the 1912 Democratic Presidential nomination after beating Woodrow Wilson in multiple primaries. But Armagh is assassinated as part of a conspiracy of international power brokers before the convention. The novel was made into a television miniseries in 1976.