Explanation: After his second term, American President Teddy Roosevelt declared no intention to run in 1908, allowing Taft to become president on the Republican ticket, and openly considering Taft as a ‘worthy’ successor.

Four years later, the ever-restless TR decided Taft had not been progressive enough, and made a major third party run in 1912 when he failed to clinch the Republican nomination (primaries at that time being run by a narrow group of party insiders without any obligation to outside voices like ‘the public’). This was one of the most successful failures in US electoral history - he gained more votes than Taft. Unfortunately, he lost out to the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson talked a moderate progressive game, and followed a moderate progressive line… except on race, where he talked a nice moderate game on the campaign trail, and immediately reversed to a hard reactionary racist position once in office, re segregating the Federal government and driving race relations in the US to their lowest point in decades, with echoing effects, likewise, for decades.

Ah. Damn our history.