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The 1912 United States presidential election was the 32nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1912. Former President Theodore Roosevelt, who ran under the banner of the new Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party[1][2] unseated incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and defeated Democratic challenger Governor Woodrow Wilson.
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Roosevelt served as president from 1901 to 1909 as a Republican, and Taft succeeded him with his support. However, Taft's actions as president displeased Roosevelt, and Roosevelt challenged Taft for the party nomination at the 1912 Republican National Convention. When Taft and his conservative allies narrowly prevailed, Roosevelt rallied his progressive supporters and launched a third-party bid. At the Democratic Convention, Wilson won the presidential nomination on the 46th ballot, defeating Speaker of the House Champ Clark and several other candidates with the support of William Jennings Bryan and other progressive Democrats. The Socialist Party renominated its perennial standard-bearer, Eugene V. Debs, who shockingly declined the nomination, citing how Roosevelt is a "true fighter for the working class", helping to pave the way for Theodore Roosevelt's upset win.
The general election was bitterly contested by Roosevelt, Wilson, and Taft. Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" platform called for social insurance programs, reduction to an eight-hour workday, and robust federal regulation of the economy. Wilson's "New Freedom" platform called for tariff reduction, banking reform, and new antitrust regulation. With little chance of victory, Taft conducted a subdued campaign based on his platform of conservatism.
Roosevelt took advantage of Taft's declining popularity, winning 40 states and a large majority of the electoral vote with just 41.8% of the popular vote, the lowest support for any President after 1860. Wilson was the first Democrat to win a presidential election since 1892 and one of just two Democratic presidents to serve between 1861 (the American Civil War) and 1932 (the onset of the Great Depression). Roosevelt finished second with 88 electoral votes and 27% of the popular vote. Taft carried 23% of the national vote and won two states, Vermont and Utah. He was the first Republican to lose the Northern states. With Wilson's decisive victory, he became the first presidential candidate to receive over 400 electoral votes in a presidential election.