The Bull Moose Political Party was also known as the Progressive Party. It was created in 1912 due to a split about the Republican nominee for President. The Party was founded by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the nomination to Howard Taft. Roosevelt pulled all his delegates and formed the new party. Roosevelt stated:

“To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.”

Most Republican governors, congressmen and local leaders refused to join the new party. There were some prominent Republicans and Democrats that did join.

The Party platform called for the right for women to vote, easier way to amend the Constitution, health care for women and children, worker’s compensation, new inheritance and income taxes, recall of judicial decisions and limitations of naval armaments. Roosevelt believed that government should regulate industry to protect the public.

Because of this Republican split, Taft and Roosevelt both lost to Woodrow Wilson in 1912. In 1914, the Progressive Party again did poorly in the elections and faded away. Most Progressives rejoined the Republican Party, but the Party, controlled by Taft supporters, refused to nominate any prior Progressive member.

The Party might have been successful except that the Democratic Party was very united at the time. The Progressives had hoped to pull Democrats to their side, but this was not the case. Roosevelt did win 4.1 million votes for President (27%) compared to only 23% for Taft. But this was not enough to overtake Wilson’s 6.3 million votes (42%). Seventeen Progressives were elected to Congress and about 250 local leaders.

In 1916, Roosevelt was again nominated for President from the Progressive Party, but he refused. The party simply fell apart.