Changes

Roosevelt succeeded in his main goal of punishing Taft; with 4.1 million votes (27%) he ran well ahead of Taft's 3.5 million (23%). However, Wilson's 6.3 million votes (42%) was enough to garner 435 electoral votes. Taft, with two small states, Vermont and Utah, had 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt had 88: Pennsylvania was his only Eastern state; in the Midwest he carried Michigan, Minnesota and South Dakota; in the West, California and Washington; in the South, nothing. The Democrats gained ten seats in the Senate, just enough to form a majority, and 63 new House seats to solidify their control  there. Progressive statewide candidates trailed about 20 percent behind Roosevelt's vote. Almost all, including Beveridge of Indiana, went down to defeat; the only governor elected was Johnson of California. Seventeen Bull Moosers were elected to Congress, and perhaps 250 to local office. Outside California there obviously was no real base to the party beyond the personality of himself.

Roosevelt succeeded in his main goal of punishing Taft; with 4.1 million votes (27%) he ran well ahead of Taft's 3.5 million (23%). However, Wilson's 6.3 million votes (42%) was enough to garner 435 electoral votes. Taft, with two small states, Vermont and Utah, had 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt had 88: Pennsylvania was his only Eastern state; in the Midwest he carried Michigan, Minnesota and South Dakota; in the West, California and Washington; in the South, nothing. The Democrats gained ten seats in the Senate, just enough to form a majority, and 63 new House seats to solidify their control  there. Progressive statewide candidates trailed about 20 percent behind Roosevelt's vote. Almost all, including Beveridge of Indiana, went down to defeat; the only governor elected was Johnson of California. Seventeen Bull Moosers were elected to Congress, and perhaps 250 to local office. Outside California there obviously was no real base to the party beyond the personality of himself.

===Bull Moose party disintegrates===

===Bull Moose party disintegrates===

Roosevelt had scored a second-place finish, but he trailed so far behind Wilson that everyone realized his party would never win the White House. With the poor performance at state and local levels in 1912, the steady defection of top supporters, the failure to attract any new support, and a pathetic showing in 1914, the Bull Moose party disintegrated. Some leaders, such as [[Harold Ickes]] of Chicago, supported Wilson in 1916.  Most followed Roosevelt back into the GOP, which nominated [[Charles Evans Hughes]]. Hughes had a progressive record in New York, and sat out the divisive years of 1910-1916 on the Supreme Court, so he was acceptable to all factions. The ironies were many: Taft had been Roosevelt's hand-picked successor in 1908 and the split between the two men was personal and bitter; if Roosevelt had just waited he probably would have been nominated and elected in 1916; his schism allowed the conservatives to gain control of the Republican party and left Roosevelt and his followers drifting in the wilderness.  Out in California, Johnson snubbed Hughes in 1916 and threw the election to Wilson. During the Great War, Roosevelt himself moved to the right, stressing Americanism and denouncing Wilson's weak military policies. He probably would have been the 1920 GOP nominee, but he had aged rapidly and died early in 1919, aged 60, from the effects of a tropical disease. Taft went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the position he wanted far more than President.  Although Franklin Roosevelt attracted Ickes and a few other prominent Bull Moosers to his cause in the 1930s, two-thirds of those still politically active rejected the New Deal.

Roosevelt had scored a second-place finish, but he trailed so far behind Wilson that everyone realized his party would never win the White House. With the poor performance at state and local levels in 1912, the steady defection of top supporters, the failure to attract any new support, and a pathetic showing in 1914, the Bull Moose party disintegrated. Some leaders, such as [[Harold L. Ickes|Harold Ickes]] of Chicago, supported Wilson in 1916.  Most followed Roosevelt back into the GOP, which nominated [[Charles Evans Hughes]]. Hughes had a progressive record in New York, and sat out the divisive years of 1910-1916 on the Supreme Court, so he was acceptable to all factions. The ironies were many: Taft had been Roosevelt's hand-picked successor in 1908 and the split between the two men was personal and bitter; if Roosevelt had just waited he probably would have been nominated and elected in 1916; his schism allowed the conservatives to gain control of the Republican party and left Roosevelt and his followers drifting in the wilderness.  Out in California, Johnson snubbed Hughes in 1916 and threw the election to Wilson. During the Great War, Roosevelt himself moved to the right, stressing Americanism and denouncing Wilson's weak military policies. He probably would have been the 1920 GOP nominee, but he had aged rapidly and died early in 1919, aged 60, from the effects of a tropical disease. Taft went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the position he wanted far more than President.  Although Franklin Roosevelt attracted Ickes and a few other prominent Bull Moosers to his cause in the 1930s, two-thirds of those still politically active rejected the New Deal.

==Notable Progressive political leaders==

==Notable Progressive political leaders==