1916 Republican National Convention
The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago from June 7 to June 10. A major goal of the party's bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the 1912 presidential campaign. In that year, Theodore Roosevelt bolted the GOP and formed his own political party, the Progressive Party, which contained most of the GOP's liberals. William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, won the nomination of the regular Republican Party. This split in the GOP ranks divided the Republican vote and led to the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
Nominees Hughes and Fairbanks
Image: Governor Charles Evans Hughes
Associate Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York
Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts
The Progressive Party, popularly nicknamed the Bull Moose 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 turned rival, incumbent president William Howard Taft. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive reforms and attracting leading national reformers. The party was also ideologically deeply connected with America's radical-liberal tradition.
The bull moose was the party's official mascot
The 1912 Progressive National Convention at the Chicago Coliseum
Theodore Roosevelt was the founder and dominant leader of the Progressive Party
Punch in May 1912 depicts no-holds-barred fight between Taft and Roosevelt