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Summary
Summary
Four extraordinary men sought the presidency in 1912. Theodore Roosevelt was the charismatic and still wildly popular former president who sought to redirect the Republican Party toward a more nationalistic, less materialistic brand of conservatism and the cause of social justice.His handpicked successor and close friend, William Howard Taft, was a reluctant politician whose sole ambition was to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Amiable and easygoing, Taft was the very opposite of the restless Roosevelt. After Taft failed to carry forward his predecessor's reformist policies, an embittered Roosevelt decided to challenge Taft for the party's nomination. Thwarted by a convention controlled by Taft, Roosevelt abandoned the GOP and ran in the general election as the candidate of a third party of his own creation, the Bull Moose Progressives.Woodrow Wilson, the former president of Princeton University, astonished everyone by seizing the Democratic nomination from the party bosses who had made him New Jersey's governor. A noted political theorist, he was a relative newcomer to the practice of governing, torn between his fear of radical reform and his belief in limited government.The fourth candidate, labor leader Eugene V. Debs, had run for president on the Socialist ticket twice before. A fervent warrior in the cause of economic justice for the laboring class, he was a force to be reckoned with in the great debate over how to mitigate the excesses of industrial capitalism that was at the heart of the 1912 election.Chace recounts all the excitement and pathos of a singular moment in American history: the crucial primaries, the Republicans' bitter nominating convention that forever split the party, Wilson's stunning victory on the forty-sixth ballot at the Democratic convention, Roosevelt's spectacular coast-to-coast whistle-stop electioneering, Taft's stubborn refusal to fight back against his former mentor, Debs's electrifying campaign appearances, and Wilson's "accidental election" by less than a majority of the popular vote.Had Roosevelt received the Republican nomination, he almost surely would have been elected president once again and the Republicans would likely have become a party of reform. Instead, the GOP passed into the hands of a conservative ascendancy that reached its fullness with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and the party remains to this day riven by the struggle between reform and reaction, isolationism and internationalism.The 1912 presidential contest was the first since the days of Jefferson and Hamilton in which the great question of America's exceptional destiny was debated. 1912 changed America.
Author Notes
James Chace is the Paul W. Williams Professor of Government and Public Law at Bard College.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Some histories interpret new evidence and add to our store of knowledge. Some, relying on others' research, simply tell a known story. Chace's work is the best of the latter kind: a lively, balanced and accurate retelling of an important moment in American history. Even though the 1912 election wasn't the election that changed the country (there have been several), it was a critical one. It gave us Woodrow Wilson, though only by a plurality of the popular vote (albeit a huge electoral majority) and so gave us U.S. intervention in WWI and Wilsonian internationalism. Because of former president Theodore Roosevelt's rousing candidacy as nominee of the short-lived Bull Moose, or Progressive, Party, the campaign deepened the public's acceptance of the idea of a more modern and activist presidency. Because Eugene Debs, the great Socialist, gained more votes for that party (6% of the total) than ever before or since, the election marked American socialism's political peak. What of the ousted incumbent, William Howard Taft? Chace (Acheson, etc.) succeeds in making him a believable, sympathetic character, if a lackluster chief executive. What made the 1912 campaign unusual was that candidates of four, not just two, parties vied for the presidency. The race was also marked by a basic decency, honesty and quality of debate not often seen again. Chace brings sharply alive the distinctive characters in his fast-paced story. There won't soon be a better-told tale of one of the last century's major elections. Agent, Suzanne Gluck, William Morris. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The extraordinary presidential election of 1912 featured four serious candidates: the incumbent William Howard Taft, a Republican; former president Theodore Roosevelt, who bolted the Republican Party and ran as the Bull Moose candidate; Woodrow Wilson, Democrat governor of New Jersey; and the Socialist candidate, Eugene Debs. Professor Chace asserts that the election was a defining moment in American political history. The Republican rejection of Roosevelt and his progressive policies placed power in the hands of conservatives and their big-business backers; Chace draws a direct line from them to the triumph of Reagan-style conservatism. Wilson's triumph committed the Democratic Party to an activist central government, nudged in that direction by the surprisingly strong showing of Debs. Chace's links between that election and present political stands are debatable, but his portrayals of the four players are fascinating. This is a valuable look at how and why our current political culture has evolved. --Jay Freeman Copyright 2004 Booklist
Choice Review
Chace (formerly, government and public law, Bard College) maintains that the candidates in the 1912 presidential election discussed issues that helped establish much of the political agenda of the 20th-century US. Progressive idealism proposed by Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson clashed with conservative values espoused by William Howard Taft. Eugene Debs attracted more votes for the radical proposals of socialism than had been garnered in any previous election. The issues and their resolution determined how, or even whether, the country would adapt to the demands of the new century yet maintain the democratic principles established by the founders. Would pollution from increased industrialization and population choke the environment? How should the government act to regulate or break down the gigantic business interests created by the trusts? Should women vote? Chace does not ignore the personalities involved in this campaign. They all receive their due: Roosevelt, eager to return to the presidency and lead the country in a more progressive direction; Taft, torn between progressive impulses and his conservative foundations; Wilson, ambitious political newcomer; and Debs, veteran labor leader and Socialist Party candidate. This book is a welcome addition to studies of the US during the early 20th century. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels and libraries. J. P. Sanson Louisiana State University at Alexandria
School Library Journal Review
Adult/High School-According to Chace, the election of 1912 was "a defining moment in American history." When Theodore Roosevelt's choice for successor, William Howard Taft, failed to support his reforms, Roosevelt left the GOP convention to run against Taft on the Bull Moose Progressive ticket. This bitter split in the Republican party was ultimately responsible for Woodrow Wilson's unexpected victory. A fourth candidate, Eugene V. Debs, an experienced and influential orator who was later imprisoned for espionage, ran as a Socialist representing labor. Chace makes this election come alive through careful research and clear writing. Describing the primaries, the personalities, the conventions, the campaigns, the issues, the race, and the aftermath, the book often reads like a suspense novel. Readers will be able to make valid comparisons between the 2004 presidential race and the 1912 election. Illustrations include good-quality, black-and-white photos of the candidates, their wives, and their families; several political cartoons; and a campaign poster of Debs. This is a valuable resource for those interested in the American electoral process and for American history and government students.-Pat Bender, The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Presidential politics in one crucial year of the Progressive Era--before TV, polls, and consultants: not a horse race so much as a contact sport. Veteran journalist and editor Chace (Govt. and International Affairs/Bard Coll.; Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World, 1998, etc.) does not present a fresh interpretation of the 1912 election, but he offers a lively recounting of this pivotal, bitter contest that hinged on how to overcome economic inequality and featured significant third-party involvement. The rivals included conservative Republican President William Howard Taft; his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, who broke with his old friend over conservation and trust-busting issues, then bolted the GOP to form the Progressive Party; New Jersey governor Woodrow Wilson, whose brilliant oratory called for more stringent antitrust legislation; and fiery socialist Eugene Debs, who preached trade unionism to audiences as large as 100,000. Chace captures the way that rivals' egos could shade into substantive quarrels over the use of presidential power. He conveys a pre-photo-op era of candidates' barnstorming coast to coast by train with messianic zeal, with Roosevelt even delivering one speech after being wounded by a would-be assassin. The nation depicted here seems more divided than the ballyhooed "red" and "blue" America of 2000. Debs took six percent of the vote--the highest proportion ever given to a Socialist candidate. TR split the GOP vote with Taft, helping to usher in the eight-year Wilson administration. With perfectly chosen anecdotes, Chace moves nimbly among the candidates, their advisers, and diehard supporters (at a Michigan GOP meeting, a Taft supporter threw a body block at a Roosevelt speaker). At the same time, he underscores the race's larger, often enduring, issues (far ahead of their time, the Progressive platform called for limits on campaign spending). Twenty years later, the New Deal incorporated elements of Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" with Wilson's "New Freedom" programs. Yet another consequence of the race was more fateful, Chace notes: TR's loss meant that for the next century, the GOP would be riven between "reform and reaction." Entertaining, insightful history about a defining moment in 20th-century politics. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Bard professor Chace reconstructs yet another controversial race for the presidency. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Prologue: The Defining Moment | p. 1 |
| Part 1 America's Destiny | p. 9 |
| 1 "Back from Elba" | p. 11 |
| 2 "The Ruthlessness of the Pure in Heart" | p. 39 |
| 3 The Heirs of Hamilton and Jefferson | p. 55 |
| 4 The Debs Rebellion | p. 67 |
| Part 2 Chicago and Baltimore | p. 91 |
| 5 "Stripped to the Buff" | p. 93 |
| 6 "A Rope of Sand" | p. 107 |
| 7 Standing at Armageddon | p. 115 |
| 8 The Fullness of Time | p. 125 |
| 9 Baltimore | p. 143 |
| 10 The Indispensable Man | p. 161 |
| 11 To Make a Revolution: Debs and Haywood | p. 169 |
| Part 3 The Contenders | p. 189 |
| 12 The New Freedom vs. the New Nationalism | p. 191 |
| 13 The Crusader | p. 199 |
| 14 The Moralist | p. 209 |
| 15 The Authentic Conservative and the Red Prophet | p. 219 |
| 16 "To Kill a Bull Moose" | p. 227 |
| Part 4 The Consequences of Victory | p. 241 |
| 17 The Ironies of Fate | p. 243 |
| 18 Endgames | p. 261 |
| Epilogue: The Inheritors | p. 277 |
| Notes | p. 285 |
| Bibliographical Note | p. 305 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 307 |
| Index | p. 309 |
