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.
Benjamin Bull
Born in Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), Bull moved with his parents to Xenia, Ohio. He went to school there, studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar. He then moved to Martinsville, Indiana, in 1824, practiced law, and was a probate judge. In 1848 he moved to Mineral Point, Wisconsin and then to Grant County, Wisconsin where he practiced law. He then moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and practiced law. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1865–1866 as a member of the National Union Party.