Progressive Party

The Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party, was a United States third party formed by supporters of former president Theodore Roosevelt to act as an independent vehicle for his campaign for the 1912 presidential election. After losing the presidential nomination of the Republican Party to incumbent William Howard Taft at the 1912 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt's supporters nominated him on the Bull Moose ticket in every state except Oklahoma. Its nickname comes from a statement Roosevelt made following his loss at the 1912 convention, boasting that he felt "strong as a bull moose." The party attracted progressives, reformers, and classical radicals. In addition to Roosevelt, it also fielded candidates for United States Congress and state and local office through the 1910s. After Roosevelt's defeat, however, the party went into rapid decline and dissolved shortly after his death in 1919.