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Theodore Roosevelt Runs For A Third Term

1912

Theodore Roosevelt comes to the Presidency after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. He serves out the remainder of McKinley’s term and is reelected in 1905. After his reelection, he announces that he will honor the two-term tradition and not seek a third term in 1909. However, by 1912, he has fallen out with his successor President William Taft and challenges him for the Republican Presidential nomination. Roosevelt sweeps the primaries but is denied the nomination. He runs instead on the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party ticket. Although Roosevelt receives more votes than Taft, the split he causes within the Republican ranks hands the election to the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson.