A Three-Way Battle.

The election of 1912 was bitterly fought. Taft attacked Roosevelt and the Progressives as "dangerous," while Wilson's progressive record as governor of New Jersey and the enormous difficulty of mounting an effective third-party challenge diminished Roosevelt's hopes for victory. Bryan successfully canvassed the West for Wilson, allowing Wilson to restrict his campaigning to the East and Midwest. On 14 October Roosevelt was shot before giving a speech in Milwaukee. The bullet traveled through his spectacle case and his folded speech before causing a deep flesh wound, but Roosevelt went on to deliver his prepared speech to an amazed audience. In the week prior to the election, Vice President James S. Sherman died, and the Republican National Committee named Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, as his eleventh-hour replacement on the ticket.

Results.

With the Republican Party split in two, Wilson...