The "Bull Moose" Party.

Theodore Roosevelt's political difficulties in 1912 were of his own making. On election night 1904, amid the excitement of his landslide victory, Roosevelt had pledged himself not to run for another term as president. By 1910, however, he was reconsidering a bid for another term, and in his "New Nationalism" speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, that August he stunned conservative Republicans with his attack on "the sinister control of special interests" and his call for reforms such as income and inheritance taxes, aid to farmers, and improved working conditions. When he formally entered the race as the Progressive Party candidate in 1912, his campaign proved to be one of the most reformist and progressive in the history of the United States.

Progressive Party Convention.

In early August 1912 the Progressive Party held its nominating convention. By then, however, it was clear that...