The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : He Was as Strong as a Bull Moose

On the evening of June 22, 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt asked his supporters to leave the floor of the Republican National Convention in Chicago. Roosevelt maintained that President William Howard Taft had allowed fraudulent seating of the delegates in order to capture the presidential nomination from progressive forces within the party. Taft's poor showing against Roosevelt in the primaries, the latter contended, evidenced popular support for the more progressive Republican agenda.

Theodore Roosevelt, three-quarter length portrait, standing, facing left, in uniform

William Taft, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left

Republican progressives reconvened in Chicago's Orchestra Hall and endorsed the formation of a national Progressive Party. When formally launched that summer, the new party chose Roosevelt as its presidential nominee. Questioned by reporters, Roosevelt said he felt as strong as a "bull moose." From that time forward, the Progressives became known as the Bull Moose Party and promised to increase federal regulation and protect the welfare of ordinary Americans.

You can read the full story of what happened on that day in Today in History, the Library's Web site that offers fascinating details about what happened in the past for every day of the year.

You can see films of T.R. in the American Memory presentation "Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film." Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to have his career and life chronicled on a large scale by motion picture companies (even though his predecessors Grover Cleveland and William McKinley were the first to be filmed). This presentation features 104 films that record events in Roosevelt's life from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919.

A. [Theodore Roosevelt, three-quarter length portrait, standing, facing left, in uniform], 1898. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-94051 (b&w film copy neg.); Call No.: LOT 13455, v. 2 [P&P]

B. [William Taft, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left], ca. 1908. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-13027 DLC (b&w film copy neg. of cropped image); Call No.: Item in PRES FILE -- Taft, William--Photo--Bust <P&P>