| Recap of the primaries and caucuses. Former President Theodore Roosevelt won an impressive series of victories in the presidential primaries in 1912. Overall, he won 286 delegates in the primaries, compared to 125 for President Taft and 41 for U.S. Senator LaFollette. [Note: these numbers have traditionally been reported as TR-236, Taft-34, and LaFollette-41; the reason for the undercount is uncertain.] By the time the convention assembled, it was still unclear whether Taft or Roosevelt had a majority of the delegates. Taft was in the lead, and Roosevelt was challenging as many delegations as possible in a last-ditch effort to gain a majority.
National Convention
The 15th Republican National Convention assembled in the Coliseum in Chicago IL. There were 1,078 delegates: two per electoral vote and from 2 to 6 for each territory.
Temporary & Permanent Chairman: Elihu Root
At the very beginning of the convention, a progressive delegate from Wisconsin nominated Governor Francis McGovern WI for temporary chairman instead of Elihu Root, who as the appointee of the National Committee would normally have taken the seat. Following a very tense debate and roll call, Root was chosen with 558 votes to 501 for McGovern and 19 for others.
The second item of contention was a motion to refine the list of delegates on the floor rather than through the Credentials Committee. Following a very long discussion and roll call, the Taft forces won a narrow 567-507 vote not to change the list of delegates.
After the Credentials Committee reported, recommending the seating of almost all the Taft contestants, another long series of debates began. Roosevelt's challenges to the Alabama delegation was defeated 597-472; his challenge to the Arizona delegation was defeated 564-497; and his challenge to the California delegation was defeated 542-529. After the California vote, the Roosevelt delegates realized that they were going to lose every contest and stopped voting.
Another debate followed the report of the Rules Committee, following the convention's established pattern.
Another long debate took place during the discussion of the platform. It was substantially a recap of the successes of the administrations of McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft. A LaFollette delegate proposed an entire minority platform - which the Roosevelt delegates were not prepared for. The chairman of the platform committee asked for a vote on the platform, although the minority platform lost a voice vote. The vote on the platform was Yea-666, Nay-53, Not voting-343, and Absent-16. Most of the nays were cast by LaFollette delegates.
Presidential Nomination. When the time came to nominate a candidate, the Roosevelt forces were aware of the outcome. TR asked his delegates to abstain in the roll call. Warren G. Harding placed Taft in nomination in a speech which the Roosevelt delegates mostly listened to without response. LaFollette's name was also placed in nomination. The result of the roll call was Taft 556, TR delegates not voting 349, Roosevelt 107, LaFollette 41, and 26 for others.
Vice Presidential Nomination. With a brief speech, VP James S. Sherman was placed in nomination for a second term. A Taft delegate moved that he be nominated by acclamation, but Root insisted on having a roll call instead. The result: Sherman 596, TR delegates not voting 352, Absent 72, others 58. Sherman was the first VP since 1828 to be re-nominated for a second consecutive term.
Republican Primaries of 1912
Popular Vote of 1912
Electoral Vote of 1912 | 
556 (51.58%)