ABSTRACT
The Taft presidency, in its single term, demonstrated the Progressive Era’s shifting political alliances. Theodore Roosevelt, who had promised to step back from politics, grew frustrated with Taft’s unwillingness to continue Roosevelt’s policy plans. By 1912, Roosevelt threatened Republican unity, such as it was, and the party split cleared a path for the emergence of the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson.
The multi-pronged political machinations in electoral politics reflected the activism of progressives across the country, representing a variety of issues. Prohibition and woman suffrage continued to gain ground as national movements, as did organization to represent the interests of Native Americans. Immigration restriction expanded with the Dillingham Commission. The Triangle Fire dramatically illustrated workers’ and women’s concerns about social welfare in industrial America. Wilson’s campaign slogan, the New Freedom, accepted as commonplace the role of the government to improve the welfare of the American people. The tide of progressivism seemed triumphant in 1912 with the election of Wilson.
