1912 Republican National Convention take part in the presidential ballot in protest of the contested delegates. Roosevelt ultimately ran a third party campaign as part of the Progressive Party (nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party"). Taft and Roosevelt both lost the 1912 election to the Democratic nominee, Woodrow Wilson. Like Taft, Vice President James S. Sherman of New York was renominated by the party. Though Taft and Sherman did not get along early in their tenure, the two became closer allies as Taft's split with Roosevelt deepened, and Taft did not object to the re-nomination of Sherman. Taft's allies sought progressive leaders such as Idaho
Russell S. Taft Russell S. Taft Russell Smith Taft (January 28, 1835 – March 22, 1902) was a lawyer, politician and judge who served as Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. Russell Smith Taft was born in Williston, Vermont on January 28, 1835. He attended schools in Williston and Burlington, studied law with George F. Edmunds and others, and became an attorney in 1856. Among the prospective attorneys who learned the law in Taft's office was Rufus E. Brown, who later served as Vermont Attorney General. Taft was also the first President of the Vermont Life Insurance