Badge, William Howard Taft, 1912
date: label: date made
content: 1912
label: associated date
content: 1912
name: label: associated person
content: Taft, William H.
label: associated institution
content: Republican National Party
notes: label: Description
content: The 1912 re-election campaign of President William Howard Taft and Vice President James Sherman promoted prosperity as proof that no change was needed in the White House. Voters clearly disagreed as Taft and Sherman finished third in a four-way race that was won by the Democratic ticket of Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall. Their victory kept an interesting situation from becoming serious. James Sherman died on October 30, less than a week before the election on November 5. His name stayed on the ballot and a replacement was to be named by the Republican National Committee a few days later. However, because Taft and Sherman won only eight electoral votes, the RNC decided no choice was necessary.
label: Description
content: The Republicans not only lost to the Democrats in 1912 but also to the newly formed Progressive Party which nominated former president Theodore Roosevelt and his running mate Hiram Johnson. Taft did finish ahead of the Socialist ticket of Eugene V. Debs and Emil Seidel. In spite of coming in fourth in his fourth attempt to win the White House, Debs received the largest segment of the electorate of any of his five races, just under six percent of the popular vote.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.315264.3140
label: catalog number
content: 315264.3140
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Badge