Republican Party nomination Nominees Candidates The Republican nomination contest marked the introduction of the
presidential preference primary. The idea of the primary to nominate candidates was sponsored by anti-machine politicians such as
New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes and
Iowa Governor Albert B. Cummins. The first state to hold a presidential primary to select delegates to a national convention was Florida in
1904, when Democratic Party voters held a primary among uninstructed candidates for delegate. Early in 1908, the only two Republican contenders running nationwide campaigns for the presidential nomination were
Secretary of War William Howard Taft and
Senator Joseph B. Foraker, both of Ohio. In the nomination contest, four states held primaries to select national
convention delegates. In Ohio, the state Republican Party held a primary on February 11. Candidates pledged to Taft were printed on the ballot in a Taft column, and candidates pledged to Foraker were printed in a column under his name. Taft won a resounding victory in Ohio. The three states holding primaries to select delegates without the preference component were split: California chose a slate of delegates that supported Taft; Wisconsin elected a slate that supported Wisconsin Senator
Robert M. La Follette, Sr., and Pennsylvania elected a slate that supported its Senator
Philander C. Knox. The 1908 Republican Convention was held in Chicago between June 16 and 19.
William Howard Taft was nominated with 702 votes to 68 for Knox, 67 for Hughes, 58 for Cannon, 40 for Fairbanks, 25 for La Follette, 16 for Foraker, 3 for President Roosevelt, and one abstention. Representative
James S. Sherman from New York received the vice-presidential nomination.
Democratic Party nomination Nominees Candidates As the 1908 election approached,
William Jennings Bryan was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bryan's most formidable challenger for the nomination was
Minnesota Governor John Albert Johnson. Johnson's
rags-to-riches story, honesty, reformist credentials, and ability to win in a heavily Republican state made him popular within the Democratic Party. In March, the Minnesota Democratic State Convention endorsed Johnson for president. By the end of June, however, Bryan had amassed more than the requisite two-thirds of the delegates needed for nomination. The
1908 Democratic National Convention was held in
Denver between July 7 and 10. Johnson, aware of the fact that Bryan's nomination was a foregone conclusion, released his delegates, thereby allowing Bryan to win the nomination on the first ballot. Bryan left the choice of vice-president to the delegates.
John W. Kern from
Indiana was unanimously declared the candidate for vice-president without a formal ballot after the names of
Charles A. Towne,
Archibald McNeil, and
Clark Howell were withdrawn from consideration. Kern was a former
state senator (1893-1897) and two-time
gubernatorial candidate (
1900 and
1904). In response to nomination of Bryan and Kern,
The New York Times disparagingly pointed out that the Democratic national ticket was consistent because "a man twice defeated for the Presidency was at the head of it, and a man twice defeated for governor of his state was at the tail of it." Two months later, Nebraska Democrats decided in their state convention to end fusion with the Populists, but they changed their mind after an all-night conference. In the midterm elections the party only offered 10 candidates for House, and the Kansas People's Party officially disbanded in December when that state party's leader announced that he was joining the Republicans. By late 1907, many Populists were hoping that Thomas Watson would agree to run for president again. The previous three years had been unusual for Watson. He gave a speech to a gathering of farmers in Greensborough, Georgia and while preparing for supper, the house where he was staying was burned. In mid-1906, Watson called on Georgia Populists to vote for
Hoke Smith for governor in the Democratic primary, which fueled speculation that Watson was thinking of returning to the Democrats. In early 1907, Watson started a network of Populist-leaning publications to keep the party's principles alive; Tibbles was chosen to serve as the chief editor. One month later, someone fired shots into the Watsons' house in Augusta. He had an altercation with an African-American porter on a train; when the porter said that he was unable to increase the train's speed, Watson hit the man in the face with the cap of his cane. The People's Party National Committee met on November 26, 1907, to make preparations for the 1908 national convention. National chairman
James Ferriss indicated that Thomas Watson was the front runner for the nomination, saying that the party hoped to forge an alliance with one or more of the other minor parties, including possibly the Independence League or the Prohibitionists. In early 1908, however, at least one member of the national committee believed that Senator
Robert La Follette of Wisconsin would win the Populist nomination. On the first day of the convention, the delegation from Nebraska worked to adjourn the convention; they had already decided to support Bryan if he became the Democratic nominee. They managed to delay the official organization of the convention all day. One of their delegates, A.M. Walling of Nebraska, told the New York Times "we shall bolt if the convention attempts to nominate Thomas E. Watson, or any one else. We are not alone, for we have assurances that Minnesota, Georgia, and possibly Michigan and Kansas will walk out when we do". The convention was organized on the second day and completed all its relevant business. Watson supporters chose George A. Honnecker of New Jersey to serve as the permanent chairman, defeating the Bryan supporters' choice,
Jacob Coxey. The platform called for inflation of the currency, public ownership of railroads, telephones, and telegraphs, labor legislation, and a ban on futures gambling. When the time for nominations began, a schism took place; Watson's name was placed in nomination, and the Nebraska delegation bolted. They were followed by T.J. Weighan, the sole delegate from Minnesota. Watson was then nominated for president; his running mate was Samuel Williams of Indiana.
Socialist Party nomination Nominees Candidates The radical members of the party supported giving the nomination to
Bill Haywood. Debs' health was in question until
Ben Hanford, a member of the New York delegation, read a letter from Debs stating that he was in good health and would give his support to whoever won the nomination.
Seymour Stedman, an opponent of Debs, proposed
Algie Martin Simons, who had the support of the right wing in the party, for the nomination.
Victor L. Berger proposed
Carl D. Thompson for the nomination and it was seconded by
Winfield R. Gaylord and
Carolyn Lloyd Strobell.
James F. Carey was nominated by
Ida Crouch-Hazlett.
Max S. Hayes nomination was seconded by
Alfred Wagenknecht. Phillip H. Callery nominated Debs on May 14, 1908, and it was seconded by
John Spargo and he won the nomination on the first ballot with 159 votes out of the 198 cast. A motion by Berger and Stedman to make the selection unanimous was approved. Carey's name was put up for the vice-presidential nomination by the Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Montana delegations, but he declined to run, and Caleb Lipscomb too declined. Hanford won the vice-presidential selection with 106 votes on the first ballot, which was later made unanimous. Debs' campaign was managed by
J. Mahlon Barnes. This was the first time that a candidate besides Debs had been nominated for the Socialist presidential nomination.
Lincoln Steffens initially believed that Debs was not suitable for the presidency, but later told
Brand Whitlock, the
mayor of
Toledo, Ohio, to vote for Debs after Steffens interviewed Debs and Berger. Haywood fundraised for the purchase of a train, which had over 200,000 contributors, that was later named the
Red Special. Debs' train left on August 30, 1908, and traveled over 9,000 miles and gave 187 speeches over twenty-five days. Twenty-two million copies of
Appeal to Reason were distributed during the campaign and the newspaper gained 50,000 subscribers. An attempt was made to depose Leon from his position of editor of the Party's papers in favor of a more moderate candidate, for fear that Leon's writings were alienating voters who might otherwise be sympathetic to their cause. The report was overwhelmingly voted down after Leon spoke in defense of his conduct as the Party's editor, with a rival report being adopted praising his leadership. When it came time for the nominations, Leon personally nominated Martin Preston of Nevada, who was currently serving a
twenty-five-year sentence for the murder of Anton Silva. While noting that Preston was only 32 at the time, Leon remarked that "it was for the working people to elect Preston, and if he was elected he would be seated". Preston's nomination was ratified unanimously, with
Donald Munro of Virginia winning in a contest against Arthur S. Dower of Texas for the vice presidential nomination. The nominations were later formalized at
Cooper Union following the close of the convention. Only days later, however, Martin Preston replied in a telegram that he could not accept the Presidential nomination, a declination that had not been expected nor prepared for.
August Gillhaus of New York was later nominated in Preston's stead.
Prohibition Party nomination Nominees The Prohibition Party met in Columbus, Ohio, on July 14 and 15 to nominate its presidential ticket.
Eugene Chafin was nominated on the third ballot in an open contest. When the runner-up for the Presidential nomination William Palmore, a Methodist Minister from Missouri and Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, declined his nomination for the Vice Presidency, the convention hurriedly allowed for a new set of nominations and another ballot.
Aaron Watkins of Ohio would win a majority on the first ballot.
Independence Party nomination Nominees Candidates Disappointed with his performance in the 1904 Democratic presidential nomination campaign, and disillusioned as to his chances of successfully attaining it in 1908, William Randolph Hearst decided to run instead on the ticket of a third party of his own making. Originally borne from the
Municipal Ownership League, a vehicle for Hearst's ultimately unsuccessful bid for the mayoralty of New York in 1905, it was Hearst's intention to fuse it with the remnants of the Populist Party led by
Thomas Watson, a former Representative from Georgia who had been its presidential nominee in 1904. However, these intentions were dashed when every candidate that the
Independence Party put forth in elections held in New York was elected except Hearst himself, despite an endorsement by the Democratic Party. Devastated, Hearst declared his intention never again to be a candidate. While Hearst would no longer be the nominee, he fully intended to exercise influence at the Independence Party's convention; the platform itself was in large part a statement of his own views. With its candidates nominated, the party's purpose was changed from being a path for Hearst's presidential ambitions to being an instrument of his wrath. Through the influence of his papers and generous financial donations, Hearst hoped that the Independence ticket would draw away votes from William Jennings Bryan and lead to his defeat by Taft; this personal vendetta stemmed from Bryan failing to support Hearst's own bid for the Presidency in 1904. == General election ==