Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

HISTORY – PROGRESSIVE PARTY 1912

The Progressive 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 and conservative rival, incumbent President William Howard Taft. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive and populist reforms and attracting leading national reformers. After the party’s defeat in the 1912 presidential election, it went into rapid decline in elections until 1918, disappearing by 1920. The Progressive Party was popularly nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party” since Roosevelt often said that he felt “strong as a bull moose” both before and after an assassination attempt on the campaign trail.

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.

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