Progressive Party
|
|
---|---|
Chairmen |
Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1924–1925) Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1925–1934) |
Founded | 1924 |
Dissolved | 1934 |
Split from | Republican Party |
Succeeded by | Wisconsin Progressive Party |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Ideology |
Populism Agrarianism Progressivism |
Political position | Center-left |
International affiliation | None |
Colors | Green |
The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name coincides with the 1912 Progressive Party, which La Follette opposed and which was defunct by 1919. The 1924 party was composed of La Follette supporters, who were distinguished from the earlier Roosevelt supporters by being generally more agrarian, populist, and midwestern in perspective, as opposed to urban, elite, and eastern. The 1924 party carried only Wisconsin with thirteen electoral votes, but carried many counties in the Midwest and West with large German American elements or strong labor union movements.
Years before, La Follette had created the "Progressive" faction inside the Republican Party of Wisconsin in 1900. In 1912 he attempted to create a Progressive Party but lost control to Theodore Roosevelt, who became his bitter enemy.
In 1924 his new party (using the old 1912 name) called for public ownership of railroads, which catered to the Railroad brotherhoods. La Follette ran with Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Democratic Senator from Montana. The party represented a farmer/labor coalition and was endorsed by the Socialist Party of America, the American Federation of Labor and many railroad brotherhoods. The party did not run candidates for other offices, and only carried one state, Wisconsin. La Follette continued to serve in the Senate as a Republican until his death the following year, and was succeeded in a special election in 1925 by his son, Robert M. La Follette, Jr.