United States presidential election, 1912 (The Misfire)

The United States presidential election of 1912 was the 32nd quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1912. It was a three-way contest, which was rare in American politics at the time. The Progressive ticket of Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson won by a small margin in both the popular vote and the electoral college, defeating the Republican ticket of incumbent President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman and the Democratic ticket of Champ Clark and Woodrow Wilson.

Champ Clark easily won the Democratic nomination, while there was a fierce battle for the Republican nomination. The conservative wing of the party supported incumbent President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman, but the progressive wing was unsupportive. Theodore Roosevelt, who was frustrated with the conservatism of his friend Taft, ran for the Republican nomination, but was too late, as Taft had amassed much support, and progressive Robert M. La Follete was already running against Taft. After falling short of the nomination, Theodore Roosevelt walked out of the Republican convention and formed his own political party, the Progressive Party. Many progressive Republicans joined the party, and it soon had gained nationwide support.