From February 9 to June 6, through a series of primaries and caucuses, voters of the Republican Party elected delegates to the 1916 Republican National Convention, held June 7 to June 10, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois to choose the party's nominee for President of the United States. The delegate election process was inconclusive, with a large majority of delegates not pledged to any candidate and a small plurality supporting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes. Hughes eventually secured the nomination at the convention on the third ballot.
Several more conservative or progressive candidates received a large share of elected delegates. Conservatives split between Senator John W. Weeks, Senator Elihu Root, and former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks. Progressives rallied behind Senator Albert Cummins, who dominated the primaries, Senator Robert M. La Follette, and former President Theodore Roosevelt, who returned to the party after fatally splitting it in the 1912 election. Neither faction consolidated behind any one candidate, and the moderate Hughes, acceptable to all parties, prevailed.
Background 1912 presidential election
The 1912 presidential election was an epochal disaster for the Republican Party, which had won eleven of the previous thirteen elections, a period of dominance only interrupted by the two non-consecutive terms of Grover Cleveland and unequaled before or since in the history of the United States. Former President Theodore Roosevelt challenged William Howard Taft for the Republican nomination, dissatisfied with his successor's policies and encouraged by a groundswell of popular support. Despite this support, Roosevelt was unable to crack Taft's hold over the convention and caucus systems by which most delegates were selected and, declaring the nomination illegitimate, broke off to form the Progressive Party. With the Republicans split between Roosevelt and Taft, Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson easily won a landslide election, albeit with a plurality of the vote.
1914 midterms
The 1914 midterm elections were a disappointment for the Republicans; the Democratic Party retained control of both chambers for the first time since the American Civil War. Republicans were partly damaged by the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which required the direct popular election of United States Senators for the first time (despite opposition from many Republicans), and the continued presence of the Progressive Party.
The Democratic majority in the Senate was expanded to 56 seats, in many cases by a plurality, mirroring President Wilson's. In California, Colorado, Indiana, and Oregon, the Progressive vote more than accounted for the margin of Democratic victory.
The Progressive Party itself fared far worse. Only California, where Republican governor Hiram Johnson was re-elected on the Progressive ticket, presented any success whatsoever. The party's national vote was cut in half without Roosevelt to lead its ticket.
World War I
In July 1914, war broke out in Europe. At the start, Americans remained aloof from the conflict, even as naval warfare interrupted transatlantic shipping. News of German atrocities in Belgium did elicit support for the Allied side but did not alter the general national stance of neutrality.
Within the Republican Party, views of the war were mixed: Anglophiles, especially Eastern elites like Roosevelt and Senator Elihu Root, vigorously backed the Preparedness Movement and called for unambiguous support for Britain.Ross A. Kennedy, The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (Kent State University Press, 2009) Isolationists, especially Midwesterners and Westerners like Senators Robert M. La Follette and Albert Cummins, saw the war as irrelevant or hazardous to American interests. Internationalists such as A. Lawrence Lowell and Taft joined President Wilson in favoring the establishment of American-led institutions for arbitration to end the war.
After the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in May 1915, American public opinion turned decisively in favor of the Allied forces. Wilson's tepid response, which did not mention the Lusitania by name or threaten any retaliatory action, enraged Republican interventionists. Nevertheless, the mood of the country was "overwhelming antiwar," and Wilson won praise for his efforts to avoid war through strength. Theodore Roosevelt privately believed that Wilson's re-election was guaranteed by his policy of "waging peace."
Theodore Roosevelt and Progressive reconciliation
Entering the 1916 election, Republicans were aware that the greatest threat to victory was the continued opposition of the Progressive Party, and in particular Theodore Roosevelt, who remained immensely popular. Although he still harbored antipathy for the Republican Party's political bosses, who he believed had stolen his rightful nomination in 1912, both Roosevelt's personal enmity and the Progressive Party organization had weakened by 1914.
Upon Roosevelt's May 1914 return from his lengthy South American expedition, he affirmatively declined to speculate as to politics. He declined to run for Governor of New York that summer and instead endorsed moderate Harvey D. Hinman for the Republican nomination, in hopes that his Progressive Party would be able to cross-endorse the Republican nominee. Hinman lost the primary to Charles S. Whitman, but Progressives still endorsed Whitman for Governor.
After the Progressive defeats in 1914, Roosevelt became despondent and entered what he referred to as the "very nadir" of his life. He focused his writing in magazines, journals, and a twelve-chapter book, America and the World War, on criticizing the Wilson administration for neutrality. Much of his time was devoted to defending a libel suit brought by William Barnes Jr. In January 1916, Republicans and Progressives negotiated the possibility of fusion in the upcoming election. Roosevelt was floated as a Republican candidate in February, as he took more conservative stances on corporatism and wealth.
Procedure After 1912, several more states adopted direct primary systems, which were expected to favor progressives, or informal advisory primaries. Nearly all of the Northern United States permitted a public vote on the presidential nomination, with Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Montana, West Virginia adopting the practice between 1912 and 1916.
Nevertheless, the entire South, most of the Rocky Mountain states, and Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Washington maintained the use of closed delegate conventions or caucuses, which tended to favor conservatives.
Candidates Nominee CandidateMost recent positionHome stateCampaignPopular voteContests wonCharles Evans HughesAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States(1910–1916)New YorkNominated at convention:June 10, 1916—AL, AK, AR, CA, CT, ID, FL, KS, LA, ME, MD, MS, MO, NJ, NM, TN, UT, VT, VA, WY
Withdrew during convention CandidateMost recent positionHome stateCampaignPopular voteContests wonJohn W. WeeksU.S. Senator from Massachusetts(1913–1919)MassachusettsDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916—AK, AR, GA, HI, MA, NH, NM, OK, SCElihu RootU.S. Senatorfrom New York(1909–1915)New YorkDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916—AR, CT, NJ, NY, WATheodore RooseveltPresident of the United States(1901–1909)New York (Positions)Defeated at convention:June 10, 191680,019(4.2%)CO, ID, NJ*, NCRobert M. La FolletteU.S. Senator from Wisconsin(1906–1925) WisconsinDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916133,426(6.9%)ND, WIAlbert B. CumminsU.S. Senator from Iowa(1908–1926)IowaDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916191,950(10.0%)IA, MN, NM, ND, MT, SDTheodore BurtonU.S. Senator from Ohio(1909–1915)OhioDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916122,165(6.4%)HI, OH, WVCharles FairbanksVice President of the United States(1905–1909)IndianaDefeated at convention:June 10, 1916(nominated for vice president)176,078(9.2%)IN, KY
Favorite sons The following candidates entered only their home state's delegate selection contest for the purpose of controlling those delegates at the national convention: Governor Martin G. Brumbaugh of Pennsylvania Senator Lawrence Y. Sherman from Illinois Industrialist and peace activist Henry Ford of Michigan
Declined Senator William E. Borah of Idaho Governor Hiram Johnson of California (Progressive) Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts Former President William Howard Taft of Ohio Governor Charles S. Whitman of New York
Schedule and results DateTotal pledgeddelegatesContestDelegates won and popular vote February 9 8 Floridaconvention8 March 1 21 North Carolinaconvention21 March 2 26 Kentuckyconvention 26 March 7 30 Indianaprimary 30 11 South Carolinaconvention11 March 14 24 Minnesotaprimary70,617 24 8 New Hampshireprimary8 March 21 10 North Dakotaprimary33,225 10 March 22 20 Kansasconvention20 March 23 12 Maineconvention12 20 Oklahomaconvention20 March 29 12 Louisianaconvention12 March 30 15 Virginiaconvention15 April 3 30 Michiganprimary 30 April 4 87 New Yorkprimary87 26 Wisconsinprimaries 11 15 April 7 36 Missouriconvention36 April 10 26 Iowaprimary 26 April 11 58 Illinoisprimaries 2 56 April 12 6 Delawareconvention 6 17 Georgiaconvention17 April 13 14 Connecticutconvention14 April 17 10 Rhode Islandconvention10 April 18 16 Nebraskaprimary 14 2 April 19 2 Alaska Territoryconvention2 April 21 8 Idahoconvention8 8 Montanaprimary 8 April 25 36 Massachusettsprimary36 28 New Jerseyprimaries26 2 48 Ohioprimary 48 April 27 15 Arkansasconvention15 6 New Mexicoconvention6 May 1 12 Mississippiconvention12 May 2 26 Californiaprimary26 8 Utahconvention8 May 3 12 Coloradoconvention12 May 4 21 Tennesseeconvention21 May 5 16 West Virginiaconvention16 May 6 6 Arizonaconvention6 14 Washingtonconvention14 May 8 6 Wyomingconvention6 May 9 16 Marylandconvention16 May 16 72 Pennsylvaniaprimaries55 17 0 (of 8) Vermontprimary May 19 10 Oregonprimary 10 May 20 16 Alabamaconvention16 May 23 10 South Dakotaprimary 10 May 24 26 Texasconvention26 May 26 8 Vermontconvention 8 June 6 0 (of 16) West Virginiaprimary June 7Pledged Delegates629 82 4 18 48 56 25 126Delegate EstimatesLine up The New York Times June 7, 1916144 89 60 224 70 65 36 239
Campaign Delegate selections began as early as March.
Early in the campaign, Theodore Roosevelt attempted to dampen widespread hopes that he would accept a joint Republican and Progressive nomination. On March 9, he issued a statement to the press insisting that his name "not be brought into the Massachusetts primaries" and "emphatically" declining to be a candidate. However, he declined to issue a Shermanesque statement and declared that his nomination would be a mistake "unless the country had in its mood something of the heroic." The New York Times reported the statement under the headline "ROOSEVELT'S HAT AGAIN IN THE RING."