Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
The Progressive Party was a third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former President Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the presidential nomination of the Republican Party to his former protégé, incumbent President William Howard Taft. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive reforms and attracting some leading reformers. After the party's defeat in the 1912 presidential election, it went into rapid decline, disappearing by 1918. The Progressive Party was popularly nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party" since Roosevelt often said that he felt "strong as a bull moose" both before and after an assassination attempt on the campaign trail.
George Pardee
Railroad Republicans, now dominating the Santa Cruz convention due to intense lobbying by Ruef, denied Pardee the nomination. Instead, Republicans and Southern Pacific supporters nominated U.S. House Representative James Gillett, a pro-railroad supporter. Pardee's loss of the nomination sparked anger amongst many Progressive Republican circles, fueling desires for Progressives to reform the political nomination process or to break away from the Republicans altogether. In 1912, a party split occurred with the creation of the Bull Moose Party, led by Theodore Roosevelt and California Governor Hiram Johnson, who himself would lead Progressives to control the Legislature and Governor's Office throughout much of the 1910s.