Pinback button promoting Theodore Roosevelt for president, 1912. Lucke Badge & Button Co., Baltimore.
No president since Washington enjoyed greater popularity upon leaving office than Theodore Roosevelt. Conscious of the fact that he could have easily won reelection in 1908, he nonetheless felt constrained by a pledge he had made in 1904 not to seek another term. His anointed successor, William Howard Taft, instead took his place in the Presidential Chair. Taft, however, did not follow in his predecessor's reformist mold, and TR withdrew support.
By 1912, with the likely prospect of Taft's reelection, Roosevelt had concluded that the only way to complete the unfinished work of his administration was to run again himself. Unable to deny Taft the Republican nomination, he quit the GOP, running as the nominee of the Progressive Party. Polling over 4 million votes nationwide and coming in second, Roosevelt drew enough support away from Taft to throw the election to the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.
Buttons from Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign are desirable, particularly those picturing the candidate. We offer a classic example.
