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Full Title: 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs - the Election that Changed a Country

Four years and a few months ago, my voting options were Al Gore, George W. Bush, Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader. I wrote this on my webpage:
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My mind keeps going back to the election of 1912. Think about what it would have been like to have had to vote in that election. The candidates were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Howard Taft. Leaving Taft aside for the moment, think about TR and Wilson: Both of whom are considered by many people to be among our greatest presidents ever. And even the people who disagree with their policies tend to admit that they had incredible amounts of intelligence, scholarship, vision, courage, honesty, and leadership. I also believe that while it is true that Taft doesn't really compare to these two, if you look at him objectively, he was also a man of incredible intelligence, scholarship, and honesty. Even people like Rush Limbaugh, who has come out against pretty much everything Theodore Roosevelt was for, claim to admire the man.

During the election, Roosevelt was shot in the chest. He didn't allow anyone to take him to the hospital, because he had a speech to make, and he insisted on giving it. (To be fair, he did play it up. He opened his coat so people could see the blood and said, "It will take more than THIS to stop us!" or something like that) He needed a few weeks to recuperate from his wound. Wilson and Taft respected him so much that they stopped their campaigns while he recovered. For a few weeks, the three campaigns just ...stopped... until TR got better.

I look at Buchanan, Bush Jr., and Gore, and I think about 1912. Can anybody seriously believe that any one of the 2000 candidates has the integrity, knowledge, or (for want of a better word) maturity of the least of the 1912 candidates? Even if you toss in Ralph Nader of the Green Party, and whoever is running for the other parties, I still would take Taft, Wilson, or Roosevelt over any of them. I normally don't obsess over history like this; I don't know nearly as much about the subject as I should. But for some reason, whenever I hear about our current election, my mind keeps going back to that one.

During the election, Theodore Roosevelt launched into a particularly nasty attack on the incumbent, Taft. Reporters on Taft's campaign trail wanted a rebuttal. The problem was, nobody could find Taft. They finally found him holed up in one of the cars on the back of the train, looking out the window. When they called to him, he turned around and was weeping. "He used to be my friend," was all he would say. A few years later, Taft was in a restaurant, and a voice behind him said something mocking, and there was TR, slapping him on the back with his big ol' chop-chop smile on his face, and all was forgotten. I'm not sure why I am telling you this story now.

I look at Buchanan, Bush Jr., and Gore, and I think about 1912. I don't know who I would have voted for in 1912. And I don't know who I'm going to vote for in 2000. But the reason for my indecision in 1912 is entirely the opposite of my reason in 2000.
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All I knew about that election was the odd chapter here and there in my Theodore Roosevelt biographies. I was very excited that there was a whole book about JUST THAT ELECTION. To see this standard book-chapter expanded was wonderful. I learned a lot about Wilson and Taft, without the taint of "roosevelt biography" making them smaller.

James Cache is a great historical writer. He keeps it moving, like a story with plot, setting, and characters, leaving all the "this is how I know it is true" stuff to footnotes. We learn that the Dems and Repubs were almost completely taken over by corporations and political machines, and Wilson and Theodore both were trying to take their party back. Wilson succeeded. Theodore was booted from the ticket, even though he had more votes, more delegates, etc. He formed his own party, taking the independent republicans with him. In the meantime, the Socialists were having a major schism as well.

I'm not normally a history fan. If you weren't either, I wouldn't start with this book. But if you've read a few books that mention this election, and are intrigued by it, this is a very readable, fun book.