Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable , Roosevelt announced that he would " accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end , win or lose " . At the same time , Roosevelt prophetically said , " My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive " . Bolting from the Republican Party , Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot and Albert Beveridge created the Progressive Party , structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level . It was popularly known as the " Bull Moose Party " , after Roosevelt told reporters , " I 'm as fit as a bull moose " . At the 1912 Progressive National Convention , Roosevelt cried out , " We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord . " California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt 's running mate . Roosevelt 's platform echoed his 1907 – 1908 proposals , calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from the selfish interests : Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks , Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a " lily-white " campaign in the South . Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention , and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations . Nevertheless , he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds . Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South , Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama , one in Arkansas , seven in North Carolina , three in Georgia , 17 in Tennessee , two in Texas , one in Virginia , and none in Florida , Louisiana , Mississippi , or South Carolina
1912 Progressive National Convention
1912 Progressive National Convention
Theodore Roosevelt