Progressive Party | |
|---|---|
 The bull moose was the party's official mascot | |
| Chair | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Dissolved | 1920 |
| Split from | Republican Party |
| Preceded by | Lincoln–Roosevelt League |
| Merged into | Republican Party (majority) |
| Succeeded by | California Progressive Party |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Ideology | Progressivism[1] Radicalism[2][3] New Nationalism[4][5] |
| Political position | Left-wing[6] |
| Colors | Red[7] |
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33rd Governor of New York
25th Vice President of the United States
26th President of the United States
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The Progressive Party, popularly nicknamed the Bull Moose Party, was a third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former president Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the presidential nomination of the Republican Party to his former protégé turned rival, incumbent president William Howard Taft. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive reforms and attracting leading national reformers. The party was also ideologically deeply connected with America's radical-liberal tradition.[2] After the party's defeat in the 1912 United States presidential election, it went into rapid decline in elections until 1918, disappearing by 1920. The "Bull Moose" nickname originated when Roosevelt boasted that he felt "strong as a bull moose" after losing the Republican nomination in June 1912 at the Chicago convention.[8]
As a member of the Republican Party, Roosevelt had served as president from 1901 to 1909, becoming increasingly progressive in the later years of his presidency. In the 1908 presidential election, Roosevelt helped ensure that he would be succeeded by Secretary of War Taft. Although Taft entered office determined to advance Roosevelt's Square Deal domestic agenda, he stumbled badly during the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act debate and the Pinchot–Ballinger controversy. The political fallout of these events divided the Republican Party and alienated Roosevelt from his former friend.[9] Progressive Republican leader Robert M. La Follette had already announced a challenge to Taft for the 1912 Republican nomination, but many of his supporters shifted to Roosevelt after the former president decided to seek a third presidential term, which was permissible under the Constitution prior to the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment. At the 1912 Republican National Convention, Taft narrowly defeated Roosevelt for the party's presidential nomination. After the convention, Roosevelt, Frank Munsey, George Walbridge Perkins and other progressive Republicans established the Progressive Party and nominated a ticket of Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson of California at the 1912 Progressive National Convention. The new party attracted several Republican officeholders, although nearly all of them remained loyal to the Republican Party—in California, Johnson and the Progressives took control of the Republican Party.
The party's platform built on Roosevelt's Square Deal domestic program and called for several progressive reforms. The platform asserted that "to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day". Proposals on the platform included restrictions on campaign finance contributions, a reduction of the tariff and the establishment of a social insurance system, an eight-hour workday and women's suffrage. The party was split on the regulation of large corporations, with some party members disappointed that the platform did not contain a stronger call for "trust-busting". Party members also had different outlooks on foreign policy, with pacifists like Jane Addams opposing Roosevelt's call for a naval build-up.
In the 1912 election, Roosevelt won 27.4% of the popular vote compared to Taft's 23.2%, making Roosevelt the only third-party presidential nominee to finish with a higher share of the popular vote than a major party's presidential nominee. Both Taft and Roosevelt finished behind Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, who won 41.8% of the popular vote and the vast majority of the electoral vote. The Progressives elected several Congressional and state legislative candidates, but the election was marked primarily by Democratic gains. The 1916 Progressive National Convention was held in conjunction with the 1916 Republican National Convention in hopes of reunifying the parties with Roosevelt as the presidential nominee of both parties. The Progressive Party collapsed after Roosevelt refused the Progressive nomination and insisted his supporters vote for Charles Evans Hughes, the moderately progressive Republican nominee. Most Progressives joined the Republican Party, but some converted to the Democratic Party and Progressives such as Harold L. Ickes would play a role in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration. In 1924, La Follette set up another Progressive Party for his presidential run. A third Progressive Party was set up in 1948 for the presidential campaign of former vice president Henry A. Wallace.
- ^ "Transforming American Democracy: TR and The Bull Moose Campaign of 1912". Miller Center. February 13, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
- ^ a b Gilbert Abcarian, ed. (1971). American Political Radicalism: Contemporary Issues and Orientations. Xerox College Pub.
- ^ Jacob Kramer, ed. (2017). The New Freedom and the Radicals: Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Views of Radicalism, and the Origins of Repressive Tolerance. Temple University Press.
- ^ "The New Nationalism" Archived May 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, text of Theodore Roosevelt's August 31, 1910 speech in Osawatomie, Kansas
- ^ Stanley Nider Katz; Stanley I. Kutler, eds. (1972). New Perspectives on the American Past: 1877 to the present. p. 169.
On the Right, some Republican and Progressive nationalist spokesmen, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Beveridge, George Perkins, and Henry Cabot Lodge, were not willing to see tariffs lowered as a means of increasing exports ...
- ^ "Pushed Wilson in liberal directions," states Patrick Selmi, "Jane Addams and the Progressive Party Campaign for President in 1912." Journal of Progressive Human Services 22.2 (2011): 160-190.
- ^ "Raise Red Bandana as Roosevelt Battle Flag; Near Emblem of Socialism Gives Color to the New-Born Party". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Id. June 24, 1912. p. 4.
- Stromquist, Shelton (2006). Reinventing 'The People'. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780252030260.
When the Progressive convention opened in Chicago on August 5, 1912, it reminded many observers of a revival...The social reform community organized a 'Jane Addams chorus,' distributed bright red bandanas that became the party's symbol...
- The American Promise. Vol. II. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2012. p. 674. ISBN 9780312663148.
- Stromquist, Shelton (2006). Reinventing 'The People'. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780252030260.
- ^ Morris, Edmund. Colonel Roosevelt. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks. pp. 215, 646.
- ^ Arnold, Peri E. (October 4, 2016). "William Taft: Domestic Affairs". Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved February 20, 2019.