Taft vs. Wilson 1912 - Can I SAVE AMERICA from Thomas Woodrow Wilson?

oh you thought i was done with woodrow wilson no no you see we ran the 1916 campaign to defeat woodrow wilson but it's not enough to get rid of him after four years we need to prevent it from having ever happened in the first place so here we are in 1912. this is the election that really gave us woodrow wilson and it happened in part because of my favorite president theodore roosevelt running a third party campaign that basically tanked any chance that the republicans had of keeping wilson out of the white house so we've got our work cut out for us and if i cannot win this election and keep wilson out of the white house i'll take on the role of woodrow wilson and tank his campaign in fact we may just do that anyway just because of the satisfaction that it will bring so here we go let's go ahead and dive into this one uh please select the election you'll run in 1912. that's the only one that's available it's a mod so incumbent president william howard taft faces a divided party despite some record of success he has come under scrutiny by the progressive wing of his party that's the roosevelt wing president taft must make the case that his achievements override his faults he seeks to keep progressives in line without abandoning his conservative sensibilities new jersey governor woodrow wilson don't let him fool you just because he's the governor of new jersey he's a racist southern democrat don't forget all right uh must prove his commitment to progressivism without abandoning his sympathy towards small government as he seeks to capitalize on the republican split wilson starts off with a large lead but as the gop begins to unite taft is expected to catch up this race is expected to be awfully close so we can we can be one of the two we're obviously going to be taft first republican from ohio baby yeah um i'm old enough to remember his great grandson being our governor that didn't go so well but anyway okay so uh here's the the choices that we have uh we've got charles fairbanks who was vice president under roosevelt uh we've got the governor of missouri we've got james sherman from new york who's the current vice president he's conservative i don't know if we need another conservative we need somebody who's going to help us with the progressive wing i don't know if a guy from from idaho is going to do that um but that may help us bring the roosevelt supporters back to the republican party so that may be the way to go here um yeah i think we're going to go with bora i don't know if that's going to work or not but we're going to try it all right i don't know why it's showing bush and powell maybe it'll fix itself once we go here because that says taft and wilson now it says taft and hadley there we go no william howard taft never got stuck in a bathtub okay just if you hear that it's not true all right what will be your message well first of all let's examine the map because this is a mess right here we need a lot of this we've got some of the big states right we've got new york and pennsylvania there's 45 and 38 ohio is probably one we should be able to get we're only two points off that's 24. current electoral vote estimates actually pretty close if we swap ohio in um that's 24 votes suddenly now you're looking at 267 for us and 263 for wilson ohio would be enough to get it done but we'd like to get some of these midwestern states as well so what are the issues they care care about ohio is pretty much moderate on everything they're conservative on economics some of these midwestern states obviously temperance is something we're going to be talking about women's suffrage is going to be something we talk about but here's the problem a state like pennsylvania opposes women's suffrage and opposes temperance so kind of our work cut out for us okay so apparently the mod doesn't allow me to take um that nominee as my vice president you there's only three choices and fairbanks is one of them so we're actually going to go with fairbanks uh i think that'll help with reining in the roosevelt progressives a little bit but we'll see so what would you message would you like your message to be at the 1912 republican national convention this is going to be huge we've got a really difficult job of keeping the progressives from bolting to theodore roosevelt but also keeping the conservatives at home and keeping them from bolting to uh woodrow wilson so we must emphasize the compliments accomplishments of our party if we want to remain united i promise to continue president roosevelt's square deal so roosevelt's square deal was like a big part of who he was and how he chose to govern it was about conservation of natural resources things like the national parks that were being established consumer protections things like the food and drug administration stuff like that but also controlling the corporations they called him the three c's of his square deal so oh it says it right there support for conversation corporate regulations consumer protections um here i am trying to remember those things and they're right there on the screen anyway uh yeah so we don't want to go too heavily down the progressive path but we do want to at least try and identify as much as pos possible as a continuation of roosevelt's policies some conservatives are disgruntled by what they see as flip-flopping but overall this is probably the safest bet to keep your party united the square deal is still popular after all all right so let's look at what the issues are in this campaign foreign policy um imperialist versus anti-imperialist this is a time when the united states is getting its tentacles into the imperialism game right we've gobbled up hawaii the philippines puerto rico the panama canal zone uh a lot of that happened under mckinley and theodore roosevelt so um how do people feel about that foreign policy and of course um we're a couple of years away from war breaking out in europe although people don't necessarily know that's about to happen um obviously the uh the battle between um how do we control these big businesses and anti-trust laws and things like that billionaires are a new thing on the scene um labor relations you know things like uh how many hours and days to work during the week safety for for workers all of this stuff is going on temperance uh prohibition a lot of people debating whether or not we should be buy banning buying selling and manufacturing of alcohol um should women be given the right to vote and if so should it be a constitutional amendment or should it be done state by state and let each state decide uh and then of course political reform is a big issue so these are all the things that we have to balance right now and we really need to get the midwest and we need to gobble up a few states out west as well it's going to be tough to do that so if we could switch like hawaii or hawaii ohio i live here i should know what it looks like ohio for example that would probably be enough to to win the election but i'm down by nine points uh they're moderate pretty much on everything but economically conservative but it looks like the area i'm looking at is pretty conservative on economics a little tricky here like with women's suffrage because new york supports it pennsylvania opposes it but it seems like we're moderate to conservative on a lot of issues political reform a little more progressive in a lot of those states so it's going to be a tough balance considering the splits in your party how do you plan on uniting your coalition all right reaffirm my support for the square deal my ties to president roosevelt make sure to appear with as many progressives as possible present a united front my goal is to represent every faction in my party come november i think that's the way i want to go here this is a safe response it allows you to appease progressives without throwing your party's old guard overboard portraying an image of unity is never a bad idea well let's hope it pays off seems like it's working so far in the northeast we probably need to try and sway the new england states if we can they're a little more conservative on labor relations um stuff like that let's go to new york we discussed the selection of former vice president charles fairbanks as your running mate so again trying to identify as much as i can with the roosevelt wing of the party um let's talk about him dedicating his life to our country his impressive work although focusing on indiana would be good too because we need indiana let's do that indiana's expected to be closer than usual this election due to the presence of governor marshall on the democratic ticket yeah how will you address your opponent new jersey governor woodrow wilson don't let that new jersey thing fool you he's a southerner and he's a racist just reminding you of that he was born in virginia grew up i think in georgia ends up the president of princeton university i'm very annoyed by the fact that he was a historian uh history was his background anyway let's attack him for what for support for small government now i don't know about that um his equivocation on panama canal and other republican achievements abroad um high tariffs was relieved labor and management defenseless against foreign competition so the question is do we want to go after him on foreign policy or on labor labor the folks we're after tend to be more um moderate in that foreign policy we've got a lot of imperialists here so i feel like let's do that let's focus on the imperialism thing you've echoed the concerns of a majority of voters but foreign policy isn't that big of an issue in this campaign all right all right so that didn't really help a lot 399 132 long way to go but we're expecting it to be closer and closer as this goes along let's go to new york your most prominent supporter at the republican convention senator elihu root of new york has offered to campaign for you where would you like to send him um yeah i mean new york is where i think we would like him to be um although we could send him to pull reluctant progressives back into the party uh midwest would be huge let's let him do the job on the progressives and i'll focus maybe a little more on being moderate this isn't a bad choice senator root is strongest behind the scenes regardless advisors do feel as though you are leaving an opportunity on the table here so maybe not the best choice okay president diaz of nicaragua is requesting u.s military support to help crush the nationalist rebellion led by his opposition all right again uh the folks we're after seem to be in favor of this type of imperialism but if we look out west where we probably need some help they are much more anti-imperialist so maybe we should be more moderate here so let's go moderate help financial aid weapons advisors let's do that this is a safe moderate answer that appeals to all republicans and helps reinforce your commitment to dollar diplomacy all right okay uh looks like oregon's getting a little closer that's some good news there we're at 183 now so that's better uh we're going to go to indiana oh there's a long one despite reluctantly endorsing you so he did endorse me theodore roosevelt and his allies in the national progressive republican league have created a progressive platform called new nationalism advocating for a national health service social insurance and an eight-hour week among other reforms how do you feel about these pro proposals i think i should embrace them but not completely we can find a way to reach these goals without undermining our system and protection and commerce i hope to work with not against the business community um i could support it but i might lose some folks um man i don't want to go too extreme this is a tough one where where are these states when it comes to business economics there see they're more conservative conservative to moderate i feel like i'd alienate them if i go with roosevelt here you're looking more moderate with this response but your position is in line with your pro-business philosophy all right i'm not entirely sure that helped me help me in vermont a whole lot that got us up to 222 we're in this thing last year the supreme court broke up standard oil and american tobacco oil in major win for anti-trust standard oil is that's um john d rockefeller northeast ohio guy um that's his company and actually a lot of those former standard oil companies still exist today when i was a kid we had sohio which was standard oil of ohio was a gas station you could go to it's part of bp now i think um all right these are ones i probably need to support um i will continue the fight against monopolies and trusts in my administration all right i think maybe i'll go a little more extreme on this one that's why i support the creation of expert tariff commission removal from political and business pressure we must reform the protectionist lobby to continue our battle against the trusts this is a more extreme position than i initially was going to take here i hope it doesn't bite me for once you have the full support of both progressives and the business community awesome the proposal for a tariff commission is popular with the american people whoo i'm so glad i chose the right one there uh it's it's close still though all right let's see um boy ohio is down to five points if we could swing ohio that would be huge your signature payne aldrich tariff hike has frustrated both supporters and opponents of protectionism has led to a major dip in your approval ratings how do you address this act in your campaign as anyone can see by the effects of this act the tariff is a contentious issue that requires careful consideration um so again let's focus on that tariff commission i like that but these are some long answers but uh whoo boy following the panic of 1907 the banking reform has taken a major role in legislative talks under the national monetary commission republicans democrats and progressives are split on what kind of banking plan to create what kind of action would you support on the matter oh boy this is going to be a tough one again economically the states we're after are pretty conservative so we want to be too um small government and free competition if we want stability in the market this is going to hurt me with progressives but i think i need to do this for the conservatives that i'm after you take a conservative position that your own party as opposed to what were you thinking i'm thinking i'm trying to win certain states not my party but it didn't work that failed miserably so there's that despite your shift to the right over the course of your term some prominent conservatives led by protectionist senator nelson aldrich are skeptical of roosevelt's influence on your administration um no i'm not going to ask for that this one's a no-brainer all right that's good i got the right right answer there but still i'm having a hard time finding states that i can pull from wilson chinese empire was thrown by sunyat satan overthrown and his democratic revolutionaries and progressives have called on you to recognize the republic as the legitimate govern government of china i can't oppose imperialism all right we'll go i'll recognize the republic of china there's a more moderate stance that is still in line with the open door policy okay man i don't know where i'm going to get the extra states that i need minnesota's 12 electoral votes ohio is still pretty far out of reach at the moment let's go to minnesota in the past few years progressives and democrats have been calling for a national income tax this did get passed with a constitutional amendment would you support such a measure uh so support it but do it by each state so there'd be a more conservative position i think economically um this is an unorthodox stance to hear from a republican your party is not traditionally in support of states rights i know i know i know but the states that i'm after are see it got me even in minnesota got me a little closer in ohio so i think it worked a major part of the progressive agenda calls for the establishment of a federal eight hour work week day and child labor laws would you support the imposition in position of such labor regulations again who am i after labor regulations they're moderate but i feel like this is one that i can support yeah i'll support that legislation there's a strongly progressive stance and as expected supporters and detractors still 222. i lost a little support in ohio on that one california's within three percent though and that's 13 votes missouri would be nice to have though it's it's crazy that this is a time in history when missouri still has more people than california and ohio and new york and pennsylvania all have way more people than california even minnesota's got a similar number of electoral votes to california we're going to go to california how will you discuss the construction of the panama canal this canal is just another way for the u.s to engage in imperialism this was a big thing that roosevelt strongly supported was the panama canal beginning the construction of the canal is a major accomplishment of the republican party it has been an enormous triumph for american industry in the american worker i will continue to support it when i am elected that's the expected answer and a popular one at that all right missouri's within three percent we've got a slight lead in minnesota now california is within two percent indiana we're slightly ahead new york's only one point right now but look at that look at how close it is ohio's back to five percent a major issue in your presidency has concerned the topic of con conservation in particular decision to fire popular progressive uh gifford pinchot has helped to lead to an enormous rift in the last few years we need to support this this is one of you know those roosevelt things we must protect the environment i will sign into law expansive protections for trees and wildlife actually here let's embrace the business community and embrace conservation so i think that's probably the safer way to go here this is a sensible moderate answer that appeals to conservationists without alienating the business community excellent all right that's what we want it did cost us some votes though which is uh i just can't win i cannot win uh with these people i swear ohio black voters in the north have been wavering in their support of the gop as of late some activists claim that you're not sympathetic to their interests what would you say to assuage their concerns um an opening here that few republicans have had before let's divert our resources now we're not going to go to the south assure them the party of lincoln stands for civil rights if necessary we'll reinform reaffirm our support for an anti-lynching bill let's do that some activists are a little surprised by your line of action here but this couldn't this could help with your margins in the north we're not worried about the south we're not going to win the south anyway all right ohio is still within five points we're getting a little redder over here which is good still need some more though i need california i think i need to try and get missouri progressives have been calling for the direct election of u.s senators this was another progressive reform that became a constitutional amendment was the direct election of senators we talked about this before up until now state legislatures are the ones who vote to elect senators would you support such an amendment um yeah i think we're gonna probably have to support this one there's a feeling supported by the majority of americans okay cool ohio is within three percent oh boy wouldn't it be awesome if my home state ends up being the difference in keeping wilson out of the white house west virginia is close now all right all right let's let's do ohio again roosevelt and his allies have advocated for the establishment of a number of reforms to the democratic process including initiative referendum and recall would you support these policies um i think we'll support him on this one this is a strong progressive opinion that could help you out west keep in mind that many republicans in the northeast are not particularly supportive of these proposals i think we've got the northeast though connecticut's even but that hurt me in california okay the past two years i've seen an increase in the unrest of the southern border due to the collapse of the diaz regime this is we're gonna have to build up to the issues with pancho via and then the us is gonna send troops down there because pancho villa raids into the southern united states and americans get killed um you've sent troops to the border but you face criticism on the left for doing so and on the right for refusing to intervene militarily um i think interventionalism plays well with the people that i'm after although california are they lean imperialists too um send senator root and other diplomats that's more of a moderate position probably your best bet your position is in line with your dollar diplomacy okay i got california back on the table oh boy this is going to be so close so so close i could make or break things right now with a couple questions to go do you support the prohibition of alcohol okay ohio is moderate on temperance indiana is moderate on temperance california is moderate on temperance south dakota which is now in play and could decide the election is in support of temperance so we're pretty moderate on this one all right i'm gonna go moderate you attempt to hedge on the issue doesn't inspire much enthusiasm but your answer is probably the safest one you could give and it didn't help me i lost darn prohibition do you support giving women the right to vote again women's suffrage moderate moderate moderate what is the moderate position here all right so i'm going to the states do it okay okay ohio is one point now missouri's three points california's dead even oh my gosh connecticut new hampshire all within one i mean my goodness could this election be any closer war has broken out in europe a small oh this is the balkan war okay um what is your response to this new development let's try and broker a compromise this is a good proactive answer that appeals to the roosevelt progressives and his line in line with your foreign policy reviews so we're not sending troops we're not getting actively involved but we're gonna diplomatically get involved um yeah uh theodore roosevelt gets the nobel peace prize uh guy has a nobel peace prize and a medal of honor for actions in a war talk about that man for helping uh with the negotiations in the russo-japanese war so two to go um wilson's got a one-point lead in ohio now vice president sherman was a dedicated public servant and a good man i offer my condolences to the sherman family this is truly a tragic day gotta go back to ohio we're gonna go midwest focus on the midwest oh my gosh this is gonna be so close i feel like we're gonna narrowly lose it though that's my gut my gut is a narrow loss but i could absolutely be wrong and i am so hoping i'm wrong midwest is going to tell the tale here if my home state of ohio is what costs me the election uh there's indiana that's good news there's actually almost four points that's good all right we need to start seeing some of these there's pennsylvania i need to start oh new jersey take that wilson take that you're the governor of a state that voted for me come on ohio i think if i win ohio i've got this everybody else is coming through for me they're going to make me wait till the very end oh there's minnesota that's huge super huge ohio california oregon either one of them will put me over come on come on i need 266 i need four electoral votes you're welcome america no woodrow wilson in this timeline 275 to 256. i lost the i lost a popular vote by 2 but i won the election and that's what matters uh so let's take a look at the details oh we don't actually get the historical this was actually a three-way race in which taft barely got any electoral votes at all um because of the the roosevelt effect but not this time oh that makes me so happy first try too that was a tough one that was that was actually a lot of fun that one because that was a tough tough race um yeah so okay we're gonna come back and do more of these next week but i am 100 i'm going to take a break from this for a few days i want to get to some some stuff some non-american president stuff so uh we're going to get to some some european history i think may even dabble into some india history in the near future here so we'll see but this will be the last one of these for a while no matter how much you beg this time if you haven't seen the other ones check them out they're in a playlist on the home page i'll throw up some links as well we'll see you again tomorrow with some more historical content thanks for watching you

Channel: Vlogging Through History

Views: 64,765

Keywords: election of 1912, woodrow wilson, election of 1912 crash course, theodore roosevelt, william howard taft, election of 1912 apush, progressive era, woodrow wilson documentary

Id: tq7YSqrqGd4

Length: 31min 47sec (1907 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 18 2022