When Theodore Roosevelt gave us direct elections in Illinois

“The rule of the boss is the negation of democracy.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

Here’s a true story about Theodore Roosevelt and an experience he had in Illinois which I found quite interesting. Thought you might enjoy it as well.

And it just so happens to tie in nicely to the push so many outstanding people across the state are making right now to restore the vote to Republicans in their own state party.

This story plainly illustrates what happens when an organization like the Illinois Republican Party goes astray, when a few self-serving individuals are allowed to run roughshod over the voters they have a duty to serve, when those selfish few couldn’t care less about wiping out the progress principled leaders like Theodore Roosevelt delivered to us over a century ago.

But back to the story. I should say I only know this history because last year I finished Edmund Morris’s 3-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt. It is phenomenal. I can’t recommend it enough. The first volume, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt won the Pulitzer and the 2 later volumes seem equally deserving, but that’s probably just not how it works. Morris dedicated the biggest part of his adult life (he died in 2019) to researching and chronicling Roosevelt’s life, and it shows.

This particular story comes from the 3rd and final volume, Colonel Roosevelt, which is devoted to Roosevelt’s post-presidency years, ending with his death in 1919 at only 60 years old.

The year was 1912 and Roosevelt was running for President again. It wasn’t his original plan. He had left office in March 1909 after a remarkably successful tenure and after handing over the reins to his handpicked and personally groomed successor William Howard Taft.

While Roosevelt was only elected President once, he had served most of 2 terms. Chosen by President William McKinley to be his second term Vice President, Roosevelt became President  on September 14, 1901, when McKinley was assassinated just 6 months into his second term.

After serving out McKinley’s term, the highly popular Roosevelt was elected President in his own right to a full term in a 1904 national landslide.

At that point Roosevelt announced publicly he would not run again. While only elected President once, he wasn’t going to quibble. Recognizing he would be serving substantially 2 terms he was not going to be the first to break the custom every previous President had respected. That “honor” would of course eventually go to Theodore’s fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt. (The 22nd Amendment expressly prohibiting election to more than 2 presidential terms didn’t take effect until 1951.)

But things changed.

Roosevelt grew increasingly frustrated with Taft’s inability to successfully follow through on Roosevelt’s reform agenda. Taft was universally recognized as a nice and decent man, but he was a weak and ineffectual leader—and frankly, quite fat and lazy.

After much soul searching Roosevelt decided he would challenge his former protégé in the 1912 election. Most everyone has heard of Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party (the official name of that new 3rd party was the Progressive Party). But that only came later.

Before going the 3rd party route Roosevelt first tried to win the Republican Party nomination—and he nearly succeeded.

Except for a small handful of Taft strongholds, Roosevelt was far more popular with the people across America than Taft.

But that wasn’t good enough. The problem for Roosevelt was that at the time, only six states directly elected presidential delegates in primaries: California, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

In all other states, delegates were picked by the state parties in conventions or caucuses. And as Morris observed: “Since these proceedings were controlled by bosses, or manipulated by sit-pat officeholders in favor of the status quo, they were democratic shams.”

Gee, sound familiar?

Roosevelt was outraged that Taft was using his power as President and control over a massive patronage army to rig state conventions and lock-up delegates headed to the Republican National Convention, where of course the actual party nomination is made.

Morris quotes Roosevelt: “All I ask is a square deal  . . . I cannot and will not stand by while the opinion of the people is being suppressed and their will thwarted.”

In March of 1912, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 8,000 in the Chicago Auditorium (now part of Roosevelt University, unfortunately named after the other one). He railed on Republican establishment abuses against his delegates and voters and called the machine tactics “brutal and indecent.”

But of most significance, he urged the crowd to demand that the Illinois state legislature adopt a direct election primary so that their individual voices could be heard in a real election.

And Illinois did it! The state did adopt a direct primary for presidential delegates.

That Illinois law change must have already been far along when he spoke in Chicago because it wasn’t long after, on April 9, that word came that Roosevelt had won 56 of the state’s 58 delegates. And it was only thanks to the adoption of direct elections. It surely would have been a much different result if Illinois party bosses still had the power to rig the delegate selection.

According to Morris, the big Illinois win was the first really good news for Roosevelt’s campaign. Prior to that, most “experts” believed the incumbent Taft had nothing to worry about. Illinois changed the entire dynamic of the race – all because Republican primary voters were empowered just in time, at the expense of the bosses.

It is only too bad more states did not yet have a direct election primary. If more did, Roosevelt would have certainly easily won the Republican nomination in 1912. Even so, he made an extremely competitive race out of it.

It all came down to the Republican National Convention that year and it was particularly nasty with fraud accusations by both sides. And the many states which still picked delegates at state conventions created many disputes over competing delegate slates.   

In the end, Taft narrowly prevailed, at least officially. Roosevelt was convinced Taft loyalists unfairly shafted him at that National Convention, and he did have at least some credible evidence. That’s why he ran as a third party “Bull Moose” that same year (today of course that would not be possible because most states, including Illinois, have a “sore loser” law which prohibits an unsuccessful candidate for one party’s nomination from trying again in that same  election with a third party or as an independent).

The good news is Roosevelt did beat Taft that November, 27% to 23%. Bad news, the way was paved for the horribly racist Democrat Woodrow Wilson who won with 42% of the vote. Wilson’s electoral vote win was more commanding, he received 435, Roosevelt 88, and Taft 8.

Maybe it’s fair to call Roosevelt a spoiler in that race. Most establishment Republicans at the time certainly did. But Roosevelt was not a man to suffer fools or to let corrupt conduct slide.

More significantly, it’s nearly certain that Roosevelt would have easily won the 1912 Republican nomination outright over Taft if more states had followed Illinois’ lead and adopted the direct election primary for delegates much earlier.

And who knows what would have happened then. But it’s quite likely Roosevelt would have gone on to beat Woodrow Wilson too. And then, given Roosevelt’s proven negotiating and diplomacy skills, plus the fact he was well known and highly respected by leaders on all sides in Europe, maybe WW I might have even been avoided. And with no WW I, maybe no WW II and no Holocaust. It’s plausible.

The point is, boss rule has consequences.

It’s a tragedy that some self-serving souls in the Illinois Republican Party today no longer believe in empowering Republican voters like Theodore Roosevelt did. Incredibly, our state party has gone backwards, and the consistently awful election performances cycle after cycle are the natural result.

Not only is the Illinois GOP shamefully back to boss rule, but some of those bosses are spectacularly dumb. Sorry, but they are.

If Theordore Roosevelt was around today, OF COURSE he would support restoring direct elections for our state party’s governing board.

And I also bet he would have a few choice words for all of us for not doing it a lot sooner.