Synopses & Reviews
Four extraordinary men sought the presidency in 1912. Theodore Roosevelt was the charismatic and still wildly popular former president who sought to redirect the Republican Party toward a more nationalistic, less materialistic brand of conservatism and the cause of social justice.
His handpicked successor and close friend, William Howard Taft, was a reluctant politician whose sole ambition was to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Amiable and easygoing, Taft was the very opposite of the restless Roosevelt. After Taft failed to carry forward his predecessor's reformist policies, an embittered Roosevelt decided to challenge Taft for the party's nomination. Thwarted by a convention controlled by Taft, Roosevelt abandoned the GOP and ran in the general election as the candidate of a third party of his own creation, the Bull Moose Progressives.
Woodrow Wilson, the former president of Princeton University, astonished everyone by seizing the Democratic nomination from the party bosses who had made him New Jersey's governor. A noted political theorist, he was a relative newcomer to the practice of governing, torn between his fear of radical reform and his belief in limited government.
The fourth candidate, labor leader Eugene V. Debs, had run for president on the Socialist ticket twice before. A fervent warrior in the cause of economic justice for the laboring class, he was a force to be reckoned with in the great debate over how to mitigate the excesses of industrial capitalism that was at the heart of the 1912 election.
Chace recounts all the excitement and pathos of a singular moment in American history: the crucial primaries, the Republicans' bitter nominating convention that forever split the party, Wilson's stunning victory on the forty-sixth ballot at the Democratic convention, Roosevelt's spectacular coast-to-coast whistle-stop electioneering, Taft's stubborn refusal to fight back against his former mentor, Debs's electrifying campaign appearances, and Wilson's "accidental election" by less than a majority of the popular vote.
Had Roosevelt received the Republican nomination, he almost surely would have been elected president once again and the Republicans would likely have become a party of reform. Instead, the GOP passed into the hands of a conservative ascendancy that reached its fullness with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and the party remains to this day riven by the struggle between reform and reaction, isolationism and internationalism.
The 1912 presidential contest was the first since the days of Jefferson and Hamilton in which the great question of America's exceptional destiny was debated. 1912 changed America.
Review
One of the "Best Books of 2004."
-- Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
Ron Chernow
author of Titan and Alexander Hamilton
James Chace has served up a rich, irresistible slice of Americana in recounting the storied 1912 presidential campaign. He gives us red-blooded American politics as it was once practiced, complete with bunting and brass bands, whistle-stop tours and frenzied, whooping crowds, shady bosses and spirited reformers deadlocked in sweltering conventions. So many major themes of the coming century were first enunciated here. Best of all, Chace supplies sharply etched portraits of the four leather-lunged, barnstorming giants -- Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Eugene Debs -- who waged this most memorable contest. 1912 seems like the perfect home companion for this or any other presidential election year.
Review
David Fromkin
author of In the Time of the Americans and Europe's Last Summer
Roosevelt, Wilson, Taft, Debs -- four of America's political giants in the decades when the twentieth century was young -- each commanded the enthusiastic faith of millions. The country's two-party system, unable to contain the clashing ambitions of all four, broke down in the presidential election of 1912. This is the riveting story that James Chace tells in his important new book, 1912, which is peopled with outsized, colorful characters and punctuated by wonderful anecdotes. It has much to tell us that is of value today, and it abounds in 'what ifs': moments when, but for some minor accident, American, and even world, history might have turned around and gone the other way.
Review
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
In 1912, four formidable personalities of mythic proportions clashed in their quest for the presidency. This was a unique event in American history, and James Chace does full justice to a dramatic story.
Review
"Illuminating and absorbing....An engrossing narrative that is essential reading."andlt;BRandgt; -- Ronald Steel, andlt;Iandgt;The New York Review of Booksandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
Richard Norton Smith
author of Patriarch
James Chace is a great storyteller, capturing in prose as vivid as the year itself all the poignancy and egotism, crusading zeal and authentic passion of an electrifying contest for America's soul.
Review
"A brisk, consistently entertaining narrative that is alive both to politics and personality."andlt;BRandgt; -- Michael Kazin, andlt;Iandgt;Washington Post Book Worldandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
One of the "Best Books of 2004."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;Iandgt;Los Angeles Times Book Reviewandlt;/Iandgt;
Synopsis
Beginning with former president Theodore Roosevelt's return in 1910 from his African safari, Chace brilliantly unfolds a dazzling political circus that featured four extraordinary candidates. When Roosevelt failed to defeat his chosen successor, William Howard Taft, for the Republican nomination, he ran as a radical reformer on the Bull Moose ticket. Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson, the ex-president of Princeton, astonished everyone by seizing the Democratic nomination from the bosses who had made him New Jersey's governor. Most revealing of the reformist spirit sweeping the land was the charismatic socialist Eugene Debs, who polled an unprecedented one million votes. andlt;BRandgt; Wilson's "accidental" election had lasting impact on America and the world. The broken friendship between Taft and TR inflicted wounds on the Republican Party that have never healed, and the party passed into the hands of a conservative ascendancy that reached its fullness under Reagan and George W. Bush. Wilson's victory imbued the Democratic Party with a progressive idealism later incarnated in FDR, Truman, and LBJ. andlt;BRandgt; 1912 changed America.
Synopsis
Beginning with former president Theodore Roosevelt's return in 1910 from his African safari, Chace brilliantly unfolds a dazzling political circus that featured four extraordinary candidates. When Roosevelt failed to defeat his chosen successor, William Howard Taft, for the Republican nomination, he ran as a radical reformer on the Bull Moose ticket. Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson, the ex-president of Princeton, astonished everyone by seizing the Democratic nomination from the bosses who had made him New Jersey's governor. Most revealing of the reformist spirit sweeping the land was the charismatic socialist Eugene Debs, who polled an unprecedented one million votes.
Wilson's "accidental" election had lasting impact on America and the world. The broken friendship between Taft and TR inflicted wounds on the Republican Party that have never healed, and the party passed into the hands of a conservative ascendancy that reached its fullness under Reagan and George W. Bush. Wilson's victory imbued the Democratic Party with a progressive idealism later incarnated in FDR, Truman, and LBJ.
1912 changed America.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;James Chaceandlt;/Bandgt; was the Paul W. Williams Professor of Government and Public Law at Bard College. The former managing editor of andlt;Iandgt;Foreign Affairsandlt;/Iandgt; and the author of eight previous books, most recently andlt;Iandgt;Acheson,andlt;/Iandgt; he passed away in October 2004.
Table of Contents
andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Prologue: The Defining Momentandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part One: America's Destinyandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;One: "Back from Elba"andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Two: "The Ruthlessness of the Pure in Heart"andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Three: The Heirs of Hamilton and Jeffersonandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Four: The Debs Rebellionandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part Two: Chicago and Baltimoreandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Five: "Stripped to the Buff"andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Six: "A Rope of Sand"andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Seven: Standing at Armageddonandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Eight: The Fullness of Timeandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Nine: Baltimoreandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Ten: The Indispensable Manandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Eleven: To Make a Revolution: Debs and Haywoodandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part Three: The Contendersandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Twelve: The New Freedom vs. the New Nationalismandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Thirteen: The Crusaderandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fourteen: The Moralistandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fifteen: The Authentic Conservative and the Red Prophetandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Sixteen: "To Kill a Bull Moose"andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part Four: The Consequences of Victoryandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Seventeen: The Ironies of Fateandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Eighteen: Endgamesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Epilogue: The Inheritorsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Notesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Bibliographical Noteandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Acknowledgmentsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Index