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
Presidency of William Howard Taft As Taft moved to the right during his presidency, he became an important ally. Nominated for a second term at the 1912 Republican National Convention, he became ill during the campaign and died on October 30, 1912, just prior to the election. As the Constitution then lacked a mechanism for choosing an intra-term replacement (prior to ratification of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967), the vice presidency remained vacant for the final days of Taft's presidency. During that time Secretary of State Philander C. Knox was next in line to the presidency, per the Presidential Succession Act of 1886. Taft did