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
William Loeb Jr. report on his meeting. Roosevelt accepted Root's decision and told Loeb that his choice then was William Howard Taft, saying that he had the experience to run the government. From March 1909 to 1913 He was appointed by President Taft Collector of the Port of New York. He later went on to become Vice President of the American Smelting and Refining Company and retired to a quiet life in Oyster Bay where he lived with his wife and son, William Loeb III. William Loeb Jr. died on 19 September 1937 in Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York, at age 70.