How did having three nominees running for president make the election of 1912 different from others?

Having three major nominees in three different parties hurts a party more than it helps another.
In this case it hurt the republican party and allowed the Democratic party to take office because the Republican votes were split.

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MsEleanor MsEleanor · Answer 2 · 2018-10-24T04:46:38+02:00

The 1912 election had three viable candidates which created a split in the Republican party.

The 1912 election had William Howard Taft running as a Republican candidate, Woodrow Wilson as the Democratic candidate, and Theodore Roosevelt running as a third party called the Progressive Party or Bull Moose Party.

Theodore Roosevelt served as president from 1901-1909. He followed the precedent of only serving two terms and threw his support to William Howard Taft for the 1908 election. Taft won and took office in 1909. Through his term, Roosevelt became dissatisfied with the progress of Taft's presidency. He decided to run for a third term in 1912 as a third party after losing the Republican nomination. Woodrow Wilson won the election being only the second Democratic president since the Civil War. Also the runner up was the third party candidate of Theodore Roosevelt.