Presidents and Populism: Theodore Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party
In some ways it seems strange to think of Theodore Roosevelt as being a populist, given his strong ties to the eastern establishment. He was born into a wealthy family in New York City, and although he was a sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt successfully overcame his health problems by embracing what he called the "strenuous life" in which he incorporated vigorous exercise and a strong learning routine. He entered politics, first at the state level, where he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. Following the deaths of his wife and mother, he dealt with his grief by escaping to the wilderness of the American West and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas for a time, before returning East to run unsuccessfully for Mayor of New York City in 1886.
Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under William McKinley, resigning after one year to serve with the Rough Riders, where he gained national fame for courage during the Spanish–American War. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. But the state party leadership distrusted him and thought they had a solution to put him where he could do no harm. They successfully promoted him for the prestigious but powerless role of vice president as William McKinley's running mate in the election of 1900. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously across the country, helping McKinley to win re-election in a landslide victory. Perhaps Roosevelt's populist appeal was able to offset some of that possessed by Democratic Party Candidate William Jennings Bryan.
Following the assassination of President McKinley in September 1901, Roosevelt succeeded to the office of President of the United States at the age of 42, becoming the youngest President in history. As President, Roosevelt championed a progressive agenda, or as he called it, the "Square Deal". He fought the power of monopolies known as "trusts", he called for the regulation of railroads, and for pure food and drugs. Conservation was one of his top priorities, and he was able to establish many new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources.
But he was also very tough when it came to foreign policy. He greatly expanded the United States Navy, and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States' naval power around the globe, and supported revolutionaries in order to broker a deal to build the Panama Canal. However his successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.
Roosevelt completed McKinley's second term in office and was elected in his own rite in 1904 to a full term as President. He continued to promote progressive policies, in spite of opposition in Congress. As his term came to a close, he opted not to run for re-election and instead chose his close friend, William Howard Taft, to succeed him in the presidency. After leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa and toured Europe. But when he returned home, he became frustrated with Taft's policies which tended more to the conservative side than the progressive.
In November of 1911, a group of Republicans from Taft's home state of Ohio endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president. Those supporting him included James R. Garfield (son of former President James A. Garfield) and Dan Hanna (son of McKinley's campaign manager Mark Hanna). Roosevelt responded with a statement critical of the sitting president, saying "I am really sorry for Taft. I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio. He identified himself as a progressive and he endorsed progressive reforms, including a call for review of state judicial decisions by popular vote, a highly populist position. Taft strongly believed in an independent judiciary. In response to this proposal, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee." Many Republicans realized that a nomination fight of this magnitude would badly wound their party's changes in the next election, and some establishment Republicans publicly criticized Roosevelt. Republican Senator Boies Penrose publicly criticized Roosevelt for taking a $150,000 donation from Standard Oil in the 1904 election. Roosevelt denied Penrose's accusation and insisted he told his campaign manager to return $100,000 of the donation. Penrose's allegation prompted a Senate investigation into campaign financing of the 1904 presidential election.
The 1912 primaries were the first extensive that presidential primaries were used in a multitude of states. The primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania and he also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections were not enough for any candidate to control the convention. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders who supported Taft.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, complaining that Taft had control of the credentials committee. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot.
Following his defeat as the GOP nominee, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". He acknowledged that "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive". At the GOP convention, Roosevelt asked his followers to leave the hall, and they moved to the Auditorium Theatre. Then Roosevelt, along with key allies such as Bronson Pinchot and Albert Beveridge, created the Progressive Party. It was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party", after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt famously told his audience, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate.
Roosevelt ran on a populist platform that called for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from the bankers, railroads and the trusts. He said:
"To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest."
Roosevelt told audiences that the powerful trusts were using their money to control one or the other of the two main political parties and that the Progressives were their only hope to break the control of the trusts. He found his supporters divided on the issue of race. Many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for African-Americans, while progressives in the South insisted the Progressive party had to be a "white man's party". Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention. Roosevelt was pragmatic and chose to seat the all-white delegations.
On October 14, 1912, while campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot by a saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick (50 pages) single-folded copy of the speech he was carrying in his jacket. Roosevelt concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung, and he refused to go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt. He spoke for 90 minutes. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."
An x-ray later showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura, and it would be less dangerous to leave it in place. Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Because of the wound, Roosevelt did not campaign trail during the final weeks of the race.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). But Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson received 6.3 million votes (42% of the total), enough to capture 435 electoral votes. Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, the most of any third party candidate for president since the Republicans and Democrats became the two main parties, while Taft won only 8 electoral votes. Wilson's victory was the first Democratic presidential election victory since Grover Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third party presidential candidate in history.
Despite the failure of 1912, the Progressive Party remained a political force in the next while. The party ran one hundred thirty eight candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1914, and 5 were elected. However, almost half the candidates failed to get more than 10% of the vote. Hiram Johnson was denied renomination for Governor of California that year as a Republican, so he ran as a Progressive and was re-elected. Seven other Progressives ran for governor, but none got more than 16%.
In 1916 the party held its second national convention. The convention was held in conjunction with the Republican national convention, in order to facilitate a possible reconciliation. Five delegates from each convention met to negotiate. The Progressives wanted reunification with Roosevelt as nominee, which the Republicans adamantly opposed. Charles Evans Hughes, a moderate progressive, became the front-runner at the Republican convention. Roosevelt sent a message proposing conservative Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. This upset Progressives, who immediately nominated Roosevelt again. Roosevelt refused to accept the nomination and endorsed Hughes, who was immediately approved by the Republican convention.
The national Progressive party fell apart after this. Most Progressives reverted to the Republican Party, including Roosevelt, and Hiram Johnson, who was elected to the Senate as a Republican. All the remaining "Progressives" in Congress rejoined the Republican Party, except Whitmell Martin, who became a Democrat. No candidates ran as Progressives for governor, Senator, or Representative.
Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under William McKinley, resigning after one year to serve with the Rough Riders, where he gained national fame for courage during the Spanish–American War. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. But the state party leadership distrusted him and thought they had a solution to put him where he could do no harm. They successfully promoted him for the prestigious but powerless role of vice president as William McKinley's running mate in the election of 1900. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously across the country, helping McKinley to win re-election in a landslide victory. Perhaps Roosevelt's populist appeal was able to offset some of that possessed by Democratic Party Candidate William Jennings Bryan.
Following the assassination of President McKinley in September 1901, Roosevelt succeeded to the office of President of the United States at the age of 42, becoming the youngest President in history. As President, Roosevelt championed a progressive agenda, or as he called it, the "Square Deal". He fought the power of monopolies known as "trusts", he called for the regulation of railroads, and for pure food and drugs. Conservation was one of his top priorities, and he was able to establish many new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources.
But he was also very tough when it came to foreign policy. He greatly expanded the United States Navy, and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States' naval power around the globe, and supported revolutionaries in order to broker a deal to build the Panama Canal. However his successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.
Roosevelt completed McKinley's second term in office and was elected in his own rite in 1904 to a full term as President. He continued to promote progressive policies, in spite of opposition in Congress. As his term came to a close, he opted not to run for re-election and instead chose his close friend, William Howard Taft, to succeed him in the presidency. After leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa and toured Europe. But when he returned home, he became frustrated with Taft's policies which tended more to the conservative side than the progressive.
In November of 1911, a group of Republicans from Taft's home state of Ohio endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president. Those supporting him included James R. Garfield (son of former President James A. Garfield) and Dan Hanna (son of McKinley's campaign manager Mark Hanna). Roosevelt responded with a statement critical of the sitting president, saying "I am really sorry for Taft. I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio. He identified himself as a progressive and he endorsed progressive reforms, including a call for review of state judicial decisions by popular vote, a highly populist position. Taft strongly believed in an independent judiciary. In response to this proposal, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee." Many Republicans realized that a nomination fight of this magnitude would badly wound their party's changes in the next election, and some establishment Republicans publicly criticized Roosevelt. Republican Senator Boies Penrose publicly criticized Roosevelt for taking a $150,000 donation from Standard Oil in the 1904 election. Roosevelt denied Penrose's accusation and insisted he told his campaign manager to return $100,000 of the donation. Penrose's allegation prompted a Senate investigation into campaign financing of the 1904 presidential election.
The 1912 primaries were the first extensive that presidential primaries were used in a multitude of states. The primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania and he also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections were not enough for any candidate to control the convention. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders who supported Taft.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, complaining that Taft had control of the credentials committee. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot.
Following his defeat as the GOP nominee, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". He acknowledged that "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive". At the GOP convention, Roosevelt asked his followers to leave the hall, and they moved to the Auditorium Theatre. Then Roosevelt, along with key allies such as Bronson Pinchot and Albert Beveridge, created the Progressive Party. It was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party", after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt famously told his audience, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate.
Roosevelt ran on a populist platform that called for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from the bankers, railroads and the trusts. He said:
"To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest."
Roosevelt told audiences that the powerful trusts were using their money to control one or the other of the two main political parties and that the Progressives were their only hope to break the control of the trusts. He found his supporters divided on the issue of race. Many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for African-Americans, while progressives in the South insisted the Progressive party had to be a "white man's party". Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention. Roosevelt was pragmatic and chose to seat the all-white delegations.
On October 14, 1912, while campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot by a saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick (50 pages) single-folded copy of the speech he was carrying in his jacket. Roosevelt concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung, and he refused to go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt. He spoke for 90 minutes. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."
An x-ray later showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura, and it would be less dangerous to leave it in place. Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Because of the wound, Roosevelt did not campaign trail during the final weeks of the race.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). But Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson received 6.3 million votes (42% of the total), enough to capture 435 electoral votes. Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, the most of any third party candidate for president since the Republicans and Democrats became the two main parties, while Taft won only 8 electoral votes. Wilson's victory was the first Democratic presidential election victory since Grover Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third party presidential candidate in history.
Despite the failure of 1912, the Progressive Party remained a political force in the next while. The party ran one hundred thirty eight candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1914, and 5 were elected. However, almost half the candidates failed to get more than 10% of the vote. Hiram Johnson was denied renomination for Governor of California that year as a Republican, so he ran as a Progressive and was re-elected. Seven other Progressives ran for governor, but none got more than 16%.
In 1916 the party held its second national convention. The convention was held in conjunction with the Republican national convention, in order to facilitate a possible reconciliation. Five delegates from each convention met to negotiate. The Progressives wanted reunification with Roosevelt as nominee, which the Republicans adamantly opposed. Charles Evans Hughes, a moderate progressive, became the front-runner at the Republican convention. Roosevelt sent a message proposing conservative Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. This upset Progressives, who immediately nominated Roosevelt again. Roosevelt refused to accept the nomination and endorsed Hughes, who was immediately approved by the Republican convention.
The national Progressive party fell apart after this. Most Progressives reverted to the Republican Party, including Roosevelt, and Hiram Johnson, who was elected to the Senate as a Republican. All the remaining "Progressives" in Congress rejoined the Republican Party, except Whitmell Martin, who became a Democrat. No candidates ran as Progressives for governor, Senator, or Representative.