8 - The Split, 1912

Summary

Cushioning the Collision

On January 2, 1912, The New York Times published what Taft already knew. The headline read: “Teddy Envoy to Taft Says He Won’t Refuse to Run.” The unsigned report added that “there is no gainsaying the fact that the Roosevelt movement, which is going on more or less openly, is the only stone in the path of the President to renomination.” Regardless, the Taft administration sees “nothing in sight that in any way seriously menaces the prospects for success” at the forthcoming Convention. For his part, Roosevelt still took what he considered to be the high road concerning the election in 1912.

Two weeks after The Times announcement, TR wrote to the publisher Frank Munsey that “I am not and shall not be a candidate. I shall not seek the nomination, nor would I accept it if it came to me as the result of an intrigue.” TR did not specify what type of intrigue he meant. He added, however, that “I will not tie my hands by a statement which would make it difficult or impossible for me to serve the public by undertaking a great task if the people as a whole seemed definitely to come to the conclusion that I ought to do that task.” His verbiage to one side, again, Roosevelt failed to mention how he would assess when the “people” had so concluded, and he left himself plenty of latitude as to his future actions.