Progressive party

1. a political party formed in 1912 under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, advocating popular control of government, direct primaries, the initiative, the referendum, woman suffrage, etc.

2. a similar party formed in 1924 under the leadership of Robert M. La Follette.

3. a political party formed in 1948 under the leadership of Henry A. Wallace.

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U.S. independent political party.

The first Progressive Party, known as the Bull Moose Party, was organized in 1911. The second was assembled in 1924; it nominated as its presidential candidate Robert La Follette, who received 17% of the national vote on a platform calling for a "housecleaning" of executive departments, public control of natural resources, public ownership of the railways, and tax reduction. The party dissolved upon La Follette's death in 1925. The third Progressive Party, founded in 1947 by Henry Wallace, differed from the previous groups in its focus on foreign affairs; it favoured a conciliatory policy toward the Soviet Union. Though Wallace received more than one million votes in the 1948 election, the party was never again influential.

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▪ political party, United States [1924]

      (1924), in the United States, a short-lived independent political party assembled for the 1924 presidential election by forces dissatisfied with the conservative attitudes and programs of the Democrats and Republicans. The Progressive Party included liberals, agrarians, Republican progressives, socialists, and labour representatives. It chose as its presidential candidate Senator Robert M. La Follette (La Follette, Robert M) of Wisconsin, who in 1911 had organized what became an independent party formally called the Progressive but generally known as the Bull Moose Party (q.v.). The 1924 Progressives pledged a “housecleaning” of executive departments, public control of natural resources, public ownership of railways, and tax reduction. The party polled only some 17 percent of the popular vote and did not influence the election, in which President Calvin Coolidge and the Republicans won a majority. The Progressive Party dissolved when La Follette died the following year.

▪ political party, United States [1948]

 (1948), in the United States, a dissident political faction founded in 1947 by Henry A. Wallace (Wallace, Henry A.), who had broken with the Democratic administration of President Harry S. Truman. Unlike the Progressive organizations of 1912 and 1924, Wallace's party campaigned on changes in foreign policy rather than domestic issues. It particularly advocated a more conciliatory policy toward the Soviet Union. The party won more than 1,000,000 popular votes in the 1948 election but was never again influential.

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