1912 Election Of 1912 Analysis

By the Election of 1912, women in California had voted in three elections (Freeman). In 1911, women in California had the right to vote in elections including, but not limited to, the presidential elections. The Presidential election in 1912 would be the first election in which registered voting women suffragists in California would help to elect the President. Suffragists were people in the past that advocated getting extensions of suffrage, especially to women. Had Theodore Roosevelt not parted from William Howard Taft and the Republican Party in the Election of 1912 to form his own third party, Californian women suffragists may not have been as involved in the Election of 1912 as they were. The three candidates of the Election of 1912 who …show more content…
Krebs condoned the Republican Californian woman to vote for the Republican presidential candidate, former President, William Howard Taft. Through her newspaper article, Krebs encouraged her supporters and readers to vote for Taft in the California primary for the Election of 1912 because she genuinely believed that Taft had women’s best interest. Not only did Taft not win the Election of 1912, but also he received the least amount of electoral votes, and despite Roosevelt not winning the Election, he made a bigger impact on women’s suffrage than Taft made, ultimately receiving more electoral votes. Krebs credited Taft with being “the only chief executive in the nation who had ever made a woman chief of a bureau,” (Women) but fails to mention that he did not campaign for suffrage. Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party, included the only two women delegates, Florence C. Porter and Isabella Blaney, both from California. In 1910, Taft spoke at the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA), but would not endorse women’s suffrage, whereas in 1912, former President Roosevelt publicly supported woman suffrage. He supported woman suffrage so much so that Jane Addams, NAWSA activist, supported Roosevelt’s nomination for president at the 1912 Progressive Party Convention (Freeman). Yet somehow, Krebs describes Taft as being a friend of women and someone who appreciates their abilities (Women). Contrary to Krebs …show more content…
Dr. Anna Howard Shaw denounced Roosevelt’s effort to support women’s suffrage because his effort seemed politically expedient to do so (Freeman). Whether or not this was Roosevelt’s motive is irrelevant because he is now running for president so it is understandable that he is taking extra measures to reach out to women. Nonetheless, Shaw’s disapproval of Roosevelt’s effort to endorse women’s suffrage proves that Roosevelt at least attempted to uplift women.
Harriet Stanton Blatch of the Woman’s Political Union publicly criticized Roosevelt and the Progressive Party for not actively supporting the Ohio suffrage referendum (Freeman). Whether or not Blatch supported Taft is crucial to deciphering whether or not she attacked only Roosevelt’s effort because Roosevelt was not the only candidate who could have supported the Ohio suffrage referendum. There is no evidence of her attacking Taft’s nonexistent effort, therefore must prove that she did not find him guilty of not supporting the referendum in Ohio.
Another well-known woman at this time, novelist Gertrude Atherton, from California, harshly criticized Roosevelt. In her first campaign speech for Presidential-hopeful Taft, she attempted to secure women’s votes for Wilson by calling Roosevelt “a colossal bluffer, absolutely selfish” (Freeman). To say Roosevelt was selfish is meaningless considering his efforts encouraged women to drive other women to the polls so that they could