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The United States Presidential Election of 1912, the 32nd US presidential election, took place on November 5, 1912. It was a four-way contest in which National American candidate Henry Cabot Lodge won a majority of electoral votes to become the 26th President of the United States.
Background[]
President Charles W. Fairbanks had led a very prosperous 8 years in office, with the United States experiencing its best economy since before the Civil War. This made him a very popular president while also leading to a period of conservative dominance in the US. Entering this election, progressives in both parties planned to make a major push for their respective nominations.
Democratic Nomination[]
The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held from June 29-July 3 in New York. Representative Champ Clark of Missouri, a prominent leader in the Democratic Party, was the front runner going into the proceedings. He did have opposition and weaknesses, though. His primary weakness was his background as a native of Kentucky and representative of Missouri. Democratic leaders were reluctant to nominate another Southerner for president after the mixed presidency of John G. Carlisle. The progressive wing of the party also planned to push for the nomination, rallying behind Governor John Burke of North Dakota.
Clark managed to win the nomination on the 9th ballot, causing a burst of frustration from the progressive delegates in the crowd. Many of these delegates left the convention before it ended, leading to the nomination of Thomas R. Marshall for vice president instead of a progressive alternative.
National American Nomination[]
The 1912 National American Convention was held from July 4-10 in Detroit. Like the Democrats, they were divided into conservative and progressive camps before the convention. The conservative front runner was Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, though he did not have united support due to his sometimes unlikable demeanor. The progressives seemed poised to united around Vice President Robert M. La Follette until Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York entered the race. Roosevelt, previously seen as a political looser, had managed to win election as governor on his second attempt. With many candidates in the race, the convention did not have a winner or clear front runner on the early ballots.
The conservatives began to fully unite around Lodge on the 18th ballot, and a near victory by him on ballot number 20 led to a deal between Roosevelt and La Follette. La Follette would drop out of the race and allow the charismatic Roosevelt to take all the progressive support. Even united, the progressives came just short of a majority for Roosevelt. A telegram from President Fairbanks came in before the 22nd ballot fully endorsing Lodge (the president had previously not made an endorsement), which united the remaining conservative holdouts and secured a majority for the Senator from Massachusetts. A motion to make his nomination unanimous did not pass, as the progressive delegates made their outrage known.
Roosevelt and La Follette were equally outraged, and after a short meeting in the backrooms of the convention center they agreed to walk out of the convention with all the progressive delegates. This allowed the remaining delegates of the convention to make Lodge's nomination unanimous and also nominate another conservative, Herbert S. Hadley of Missouri, for vice president.
Progressive Nomination[]
The 1912 Progressive National Convention was assembled on August 3 in Chicago. Theodore Roosevelt and Vice President La Follette had agreed to form a new Progressive Party in an attempt to finally get real change in the United States. All of the progressive delegates from the National American Convention reconvened here, along with some progressive Democrats and other assorted progressives from around the country. La Follette envisioned the new party as a party for all progressives, National American or Democrat, and thought that his nomination for president would make the ticket too politically charged towards the National Americans. Roosevelt, who was not vice president, made a better choice in his eyes and was thus nominated unanimously. John Burke, the unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate, was offered the vice presidential nomination. The convention was over before he responded, but after days of deliberation he agreed to leave the Democratic Party and run on the Progressive ticket.
Socialist Nomination[]
The Socialist Party had nominated Eugene V. Debs in each of the last three elections, and they did so again in 1912. Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee, was nominated for vice president.
The Campaign[]
The Progressives tried to project an image of unity, calling for people of all political backgrounds to join them and help forge a more just country. Roosevelt mounted one of his trademark vigorous campaigns, speaking at numerous locations around the nation and never remaining in one place for long. His running mate was less enthusiastic, as he was still unsure if he made the right choice in abandoning the Democrats. He did issue periodic statements saying that he fully supported Roosevelt and the progressive platform.
Lodge dismissed the progressives as a radical breakaway faction with overly idealistic goals. He had been a friend of Roosevelt's but did not hesitate to criticize his campaign and demeanor. He called his endless enthusiasm "childish" and a sign of a man who could never be an effective leader. The campaign as a whole was very traditional, and Lodge simply continued to work in the Senate while others campaigned on his behalf. The National American campaign often compared Clark to President Carlisle, subtly implying that Clark would start a war with the Confederacy if placed in office.
Clark also called the progressives childish rabble rousers, resenting the perceived attacks that Roosevelt made on his honor. He tried to present himself as a Southern gentlemen, someone who would continue the calm period of prosperity in the country. He mostly ignored the comparisons to Carlisle, but when he had to respond he simply said that Carlisle "was a fine president."
The socialists made a quiet rise as the race went on. The progressive movement's separation from the mainstream seemed to bring increased attention to all radical factions in the country. Debs attacked all of the other candidates, saying that they were all backed by corporate interests. His message gained momentum in cities, among ethnic communities of immigrants, and among some rural farmers in the plains states. Many of the socialist supporters were former progressives who were frustrated with the lack of progress in national politics. To them, it became increasingly apparent that real change would only come through drastic and radical means. The other candidates mostly ignored the socialist movement, not wanting to bring any more attention to them. When they did comment, the socialists were dismissed as discontent radicals who wanted to destroy the American way of life.
Results and Aftermath[]
Lodge managed to win enough electoral votes for a majority, mostly off the back of Fairbanks' popularity. Lodge himself did not have a distinctive personality or pleasant demeanor, but most of the voting populace was satisfied with National American rule. Clark came in second, winning the border states and also states in the Midwest. The progressives found most of their success in the Midwest and West, though the margin of defeat was close in several Eastern states. The socialists gained an unexpected 11% of the popular vote. Their best showing was in Nevada, where Debs garnered 29% of the vote and nearly won the state.
The Progressive Party continued past this election, as they had elected a few members to the US Congress. They split only two years later over the issue of US entry into World War I, which essentially spelled the end of the progressive movement in the United States. The remaining progressives either returned to their original party or joined the socialists.
The success of the socialists alarmed many of the political elite in the nation, who did not want it to turn into a wider movement. Some token reforms were made during President Lodge's tenure, as well as increased censorship measures meant to contain radical figures.
Lodge would go on to bring the US into World War I in early 1915, as he believed that winning the war would expand US influence worldwide. This led to war with the Confederacy just one year later, and for the first time since the Civil War the two countries raised arms against each other. Ironically, it was not Champ Clark who brought the country to war with the Confederates, but Henry Cabot Lodge.
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