| 1912 presidential election | |
  Nominees Taft and Sherman | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 18–22, 1912 |
| City | Chicago,Illinois |
| Venue | Chicago Coliseum |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | William Howard Taft ofOhio |
| Vice-presidential nominee | James S. Sherman ofNew York |
| ‹ 1908 · 1916 › | |
The1912 Republican National Convention was held at theChicago Coliseum,Chicago,Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominatedPresidentWilliam Howard Taft andVice PresidentJames S. Sherman for re-election for the1912 United States presidential election.
Sherman died days before the election, and was replaced as Republican vice-presidential nominee byNicholas Murray Butler of New York. The ticket went on to place 3rd in the November election behind former presidentTheodore Roosevelt, who ran under the banner of the newProgressive or "Bull Moose" Party, andDemocratic governorWoodrow Wilson.
This convention marked the climax of a split in the party, resulting from a power struggle between incumbent Taft and former presidentTheodore Roosevelt that started in 1910. Politically liberal states for the first time were holding Republicanprimaries. Though Roosevelt had endorsed Taft as his successor, Taft's drift to the right (along with Roosevelt's increasingly more Progressive ideas) had alienated Roosevelt, who launched a challenge to Taft's re-nomination. Roosevelt overwhelmingly won the primaries — winning 9 out of 13 states. Both Taft and Roosevelt lost their home states to each other. SenatorRobert M. La Follette, a reformer, won two states, including his home state of Wisconsin. Through the primaries, Senator La Follette won a total of 36 delegates; President Taft won 48 delegates; and Roosevelt won 278 delegates. However, 36 more conservative states did not hold primaries, but instead selected delegates via state conventions. For years Roosevelt had tried to attract Southern white Democrats to the Republican Party, and he tried to win delegates there in 1912. However, Taft had the support of black Republicans in the South, and defeated Roosevelt there.[1]
Entering the convention, the Roosevelt and Taft forces seemed evenly matched, and a compromise candidate seemed possible. Taft was willing to compromise with Missouri governorHerbert S. Hadley as presidential nominee; Roosevelt said no.[2][3]
The Taft and Roosevelt camps engaged in a fight for the delegations of various states, with Taft emerging victorious, and Roosevelt claiming that several delegations were fraudulently seated because of the machinations of conservative party leaders includingWilliam Barnes Jr. andBoies Penrose.[4] Roosevelt then accused Taft of steamroller tactics and ordered his supporters to take no further part in the convention. Following the seating of the anti-Roosevelt delegations, California governorHiram Johnson proclaimed that progressives would form a new party to nominate Roosevelt.[4] Roosevelt ultimately ran a third party campaign as part of theProgressive Party (nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party"). Taft and Roosevelt both lost the 1912 election to the Democratic nominee,Woodrow Wilson.
Delegations from the south acted asrotten boroughs due to their size despite having no influence in elections. An attempt to reduce their influence failed in 1908, with Roosevelt having fought against it. The southern delegations, whose 252 delegates accounted for almost half of the number needed to win the nomination, almost entirely supported Taft.[5]
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Though many of Roosevelt's delegates remained at the convention, most refused to take part in the presidential ballot in protest of the contested delegates.[6] Additionally, Roosevelt's name was not placed in nomination. Thus, Taft was re-nominated handily on the first ballot.
| Presidential balloting[7][8][9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | |
| Taft | 561 | |
| Roosevelt | 107 | |
| La Follette | 41 | |
| Cummins | 17 | |
| Hughes | 2 | |
| Not voting | 344 | |
| Absent | 6 | |
Presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912)
The balloting by states was as follows:[10]
| State | Total delegates | Not voting | Absent | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 24 | 22 | 2 | |||||
| Arizona | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Arkansas | 18 | 17 | 1 | |||||
| California | 26 | 2 | 24 | |||||
| Colorado | 12 | 12 | ||||||
| Connecticut | 14 | 14 | ||||||
| Delaware | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Florida | 12 | 12 | ||||||
| Georgia | 28 | 28 | ||||||
| Idaho | 8 | 1 | 7 | |||||
| Illinois | 58 | 2 | 53 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Indiana | 30 | 20 | 3 | 7 | ||||
| Iowa | 26 | 16 | 10 | |||||
| Kansas | 20 | 2 | 18 | |||||
| Kentucky | 26 | 24 | 2 | |||||
| Louisiana | 20 | 20 | ||||||
| Maine | 12 | 12 | ||||||
| Maryland | 16 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | |||
| Massachusetts | 36 | 20 | 16 | |||||
| Michigan | 30 | 20 | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Minnesota | 24 | 24 | ||||||
| Mississippi | 20 | 17 | 3 | |||||
| Missouri | 36 | 16 | 20 | |||||
| Montana | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Nebraska | 16 | 2 | 14 | |||||
| Nevada | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| New Hampshire | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| New Jersey | 28 | 2 | 26 | |||||
| New Mexico | 8 | 7 | 1 | |||||
| New York | 90 | 76 | 8 | 6 | ||||
| North Carolina | 24 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||||
| North Dakota | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Ohio | 48 | 14 | 34 | |||||
| Oklahoma | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | ||||
| Oregon | 10 | 8 | 2 | |||||
| Pennsylvania | 76 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 62 | 1 | ||
| Rhode Island | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| South Carolina | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| South Dakota | 10 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Tennessee | 24 | 23 | 1 | |||||
| Texas | 40 | 31 | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Utah | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Vermont | 8 | 6 | 2 | |||||
| Virginia | 24 | 22 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Washington | 14 | 14 | ||||||
| West Virginia | 16 | 16 | ||||||
| Wisconsin | 26 | 26 | ||||||
| Wyoming | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Alaska | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| District of Columbia | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Hawaii | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Philippines | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Puerto Rico | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Total | 1078 | 561 | 107 | 17 | 41 | 2 | 344 | 6 |
Like Taft, Vice PresidentJames S. Sherman of New York was renominated by the party.[11] Though Taft and Sherman did not get along early in their tenure, the two became closer allies as Taft's split with Roosevelt deepened, and Taft did not object to the re-nomination of Sherman.[11] Taft's allies sought progressive leaders such as Idaho senatorWilliam E. Borah or Vermont governorJohn A. Mead to join the ticket, but both declined to be considered.[11] Missouri governorHerbert S. Hadley and former vice presidentCharles Fairbanks were also mentioned as possibilities.[11] Sherman died shortly before the election, and was not replaced on the ticket.[12] In January, after the election had already been decided, Republican leaders appointed Columbia University presidentNicholas Butler to fill out the ticket for the purposes of receiving electoral votes.[12]
| Vice presidential ballot | |
|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st |
| Sherman | 596 |
| Borah | 21 |
| Merriam | 20 |
| Hadley | 14 |
| Beveridge | 2 |
| Gillette | 1 |
| Not voting | 352 |
| Absent | 72 |
Vice presidential balloting / 5th day of convention (June 22, 1912)
| Preceded by 1908 Chicago, Illinois | Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1916 Chicago, Illinois |
