The Election of 1916
~~~
The Republican Party was faced in 1916 with a serious decision. Robert Bacon, the sitting President, was wildly unpopular, but the party itself had avoided significant damage. The Republican Party was established as an institution in New England and the South-East, not even the disastrous presidency of Bacon was strong enough to drive the Republicans out. However the Mid-West was still the battle ground it had been for the last 4 elections. And here, Bacon’s failures were far more pronounced. Those socialist-leaning Republicans drifted further left in response to Bacon’s conservative economic program, and now had the opportunity to cross over and vote Socialist. The Socialist party was not going to let this opportunity pass them by. If they could carry New York, New Jersey and Ohio, the Republican bloc would be shattered. If the Socialists could also make up ground in the South-West, they might be able to win a majority.
So, the Republicans faced a very real threat from the Socialist Party. With the party leaders in retreat, the strongest voice would take command. That voice came from the 58 year old Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had been an on-again off-again leader of the party, always playing second fiddle. He had been defeated by Clough, and then Bacon. It was this second defeat that really angered Roosevelt, because it was not at the hands of the people but instead the machinations of the Republican Party. William McAdoo who had initially supported Roosevelt in 1912, again lent his support to the New York Republican. Taft, driven away from Bacon, latched on to Roosevelt in an attempt to keep the Party in power. Bacon, seeing the tide turn against him, mobilized his defenses. But the only Republican to rally to his cause was Warren G. Harding of Ohio. It was clear that Roosevelt was going to carry the Republican nomination, ousting the sitting President.
Warren G. Harding, Bacon’s only supporter.
The Socialists, in order to take advantage of the Republican disorder, would need to unify quickly. Unfortunately the division of 1912 still existed. Henry Ford and Francis McGovern took up the reigns of Fred Warner, while Debs, aged 60, continued to crusade in his own name. But the party was tired of the infighting from above. A groundswell, led by California Governor Hiram Johnson and former New Jersey governor Woodrow Wilson, forced the old party elite out. Debs, McGovern, Pardee and others were forced to step down from their leadership positions within the party. This new group of Socialists were ready to unit the party and move forward. But one of the old guard was unwilling to yield his power. George Wylie Paul Hunt, Governor of Arizona, had been a silent partner in the development of the Socialist Party since its rebirth in the late 19th century. Casting himself as a sort of modern Abraham Lincoln, who was involved in the very first Socialist party in the United States, Hunt attempted once more to assert the old-guard control over the party. He failed. But he did succeed in dragging out the nomination process, keeping the Socialists from focusing their energies on the Mid West and South.
Finally, the question of the Nationalists came to the front. Joseph Taylor Robinson, who ran in 1912, declined an invitation to run again, hoping to let a new group of Nationalists take over. The charge to prominence was led by Missouri governor Elliot Woolfolk Major, a lawyer and experienced politician who had worked with Clough’s administration in developing post-war plans for control of the Caribbean. Now, with the Republicans in disarray, Major turned his tools to the Nationalist Party. From 1913 to 1914 he scoured the party to find a ‘perfect’ candidate. His target, a forgotten soldier from the Spanish American war named John “Black Jack” Pershing. Pershing was a Medal of Honor winner for his service in the war, and had lived a relatively uneventful post-war life. His service record was spotless, and unlike many Southern candidates, he had appeal in the Mid-West, and among black voters in the far west (having led black soldiers during the war). The final element was a tragic one. In 1915, Pershing’s wife and children were killed in a fire. He was a political gold mine for a schemer like Elliot Major.
John J. Pershing
Roosevelt immediately went on the offensive, and wisely chose to keep some continuity in the government by endorsing Taft to be his running mate. Roosevelt campaigned in his native New York while Taft took to Ohio and Indiana, hoping to keep the states in Republican control. Meanwhile the Socialists directed their attention on combating Taft in Indiana and Illinois, as well as holding on to their gains in New Jersey and New York. The real swing came from Pershing. “Black Jack” was the dark horse, and when the election results came flowing in, he shocked both parties. New England went solidly Republican, with the exception of New Jersey. New York’s results were too close to call, but in the end fell to the Socialists in a major coup. The West went to the Socialists as per usual, although the Nationalists made it a fight in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Texas and the Deep South went to the Nationalists. It was the Mid West therefore where the election would be decided.
The Socialists took Michigan again, as well as the growing Socialist strongholds of Wisconsin and Minnesota. However the Republicans scored a big win in Ohio, with over 70% of the vote going to Roosevelt. The Republicans took Kentucky and Tennessee as well. But in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois, the Republicans and Socialists were both shocked. By slim margins, John Pershing emerged victorious. When the dust settled, the three parties were deadlocked. The Republicans had a slim lead in electoral votes with 196, but the Socialists 184 was a huge challenge. Pershing carried 148 of his own, and had Illinois, Indiana and Iowa gone Socialist, the election would have gone to Hiram Johnson. Instead, the House of Representatives had to decide the election. At first signs leaned towards Pershing, the popular unknown. But Pershing refused to accept an election by the House, and bowed out of the election. The result saw the Nationalist vote swing to Roosevelt, and the Republicans, if only by a hairs breath, held on to the White House for another four years.
Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft- Republican- 196
John Pershing and Jared Young Sanders- Nationalist- 148
Hiram Johnson and Woodrow Wilson- Socialist- 184
) party.
