Bull Moose

''In the Bull Moose timeline, Theodore Roosevelt serves a third, and then a fourth, term as President of the United States, from 1912 to his death in 1919.

Taft, after agonising over the decision and arguing with his wife, agrees and announces, in December 1911, that he will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination.
 * In 1908, Republican Theodore Roosevelt declines to run for a third term as President. He endorses fellow Republican William Howard Taft, his own Secretary of War, for the Republican nomination. Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan in the general election but proves to be less able and certainly less popular than Roosevelt. A rift grows between Taft and Roosevelt over policy and leadership. Roosevelt begins to regret leaving office.
 * Late 1911 - Roosevelt and Taft meet and have a candid conversation. Roosevelt has not formally announced his candidacy, but another Progressive politican, Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, has. Taft is worried and weary. Though he intends to stand for a second term, largely due to the influence of his wife, Helen Taft, he tells Roosevelt that the job he truly always wanted was Chief Justice of the United States. Roosevelt, cunningly, suggests they could do business. He makes a proposal to Taft - if the President will withdraw from the nomination battle and allow Roosevelt to become the Republican nominee, he, Roosevelt, will appoint Taft to the Supreme Court bench at the earliest opportunity, paving the way for Taft's own ambition to come true.
 * In January 1912, Roosevelt and LaFollette agree to a deal that will see them both nominated to the national ticket - Roosevelt for President and LaFollette as Vice President.
 * At the 1912 Republican convention, Roosevelt and LaFollette are duly nominated, with the right-wing of the party supporting Charles Fairbanks, Roosevelt's former VP. The result is close, but the progressive wing win both ballots. Fairbanks and his supporters retire hurt, but they are not finished yet.
 * In the general election of November 5, 1912, the Republican ticket of Roosevelt/LaFollette defeats the Democratic ticket of Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall. Roosevelt wins almost seven million votes, a plurality of about four hundred thousand.
 * Roosevelt is inaugurated on March 4, 1913. He thus becomes the second President to serve non-consecutive terms in office, being considered both the 26th and 28th Presidents.