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The United States Progressive Party of 1924 was a continuation of the 1912 Progressive Party with few changes in leadership at the state or local levels, and keeping many of the same officers nationally. Some historians contend that it was only a national ticket created by Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. Since he was supposed (according to his autobiography), to be the first party candidate, one can only imagine his relief at the departure of the Roosevelt wing of the party. The Party did not nominate many candidates for other national offices, carried only Wisconsin, and faded in most areas after the 1924 election. By concentrating only on the Progressive Party national races, especially those running for President of the United States, it is easy to miss the work being done at the state or local level, especially in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Progressives

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. After many successful reforms made in Wisconsin, La Follette wanted to influence the cause of controlling trusts, and getting the vote into the hands of the people. In 1924 the party called for public ownership of railroads, and other Progressive causes. 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 labor groups. La Follette's run for the presidency under this ticket garnered 17% of the popular vote, but carried only one state (his native Wisconsin). After La Follette's defeat, the party faded away. 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.

The La Follette family continued his political legacy in Wisconsin, publishing The Progressive and pushing for reform. In 1934, La Follette's two sons began the Wisconsin Progressive Party, which briefly held power in the state and was for some time one of the state's major parties, often ahead of the Democrats.

California Progressives

In 1934, when the La Follettes founded the Wisconsin Progressive Party, the Progressive Party obtained a ballot line in California and ran seven candidates (all unsuccessful, although Raymond L. Haight got 12.99% of the vote for Governor of California, running as a moderate against socialist and Democratic nominee Upton Sinclair). In 1936 they elected Franck R. Havenner as Congressman for California's 4th congressional district, and garnered a significant portion of the votes in some other races. Havenner became a Democrat before the 1938 race; Haight defeated eventual winner Culbert Olson in the Progressive primary election, but received only 2.43% of the vote in the general election as a Progressive; and by the time of the 1942 gubernatorial election, the Progressives were no longer on the California ballot. By 1944, Haight was again a Republican, a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

See also

• Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
• Progressive Party (United States, 1948)

References

• Willlam B. Hesseltine; The Rise and Fall of Third Parties: From Anti-Masonry to Wallace (1948)
• Philip LaFollette, Adventure in Politics: The Memoirs of Philip LaFollette (1970)
• K. C. MacKay, The Progressive Movement of 1924 (1947)
• Herbert F. Margulies; The Decline of the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1890-1920 (1968)
• Russel B. Nye; Midwestern Progressive Politics: A Historical Study of Its Origins and Development, 1870-1958 (1959)
• Nancy C. Unger. Fighting Bob LaFollette: The Righteous Reformer (2000)

La Follette, Robert M. La Follette’s Autobiography: A Personal Narrative of Political Experiences. 1913. Reprint. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1960.