File:1109120001d12w.jpg

English: untitled [Wilson and Marshall]

	Cartoonist:  Charles Jay Budd
	Source:  Harper's Weekly
	Date:   November 9, 1912, p. 1

This Harper’s Weekly cover celebrates the victory of the Democratic national ticket, President-elect Woodrow Wilson (left) and Vice President-elect Thomas R. Marshall (right). The glory of the first Democratic elected president in 20 years is manifest by the rising sun, the majestic American Eagle, and the halo over the Democratic Donkey. The election was also a personal victory for editor George Harvey. He began promoting Wilson in 1906 for the Democratic presidential nomination of 1908, helped the Princeton University president win election as New Jersey’s governor in 1910, and backed him again for president in 1912.

On November 5, 1912, Wilson won the presidency with an Electoral College majority of 435 to 88 for Progressive Theodore Roosevelt and 8 for Republican William Howard Taft. However, Wilson received only a plurality of the popular vote, 42% to Roosevelt’s 27%, Taft’s 23%, and Social Eugene Deb’s 6%. Wilson’s percentage was actually lower than Bryan’s 43% in 1908, revealing the importance of the Republican split to his 1912 victory. The Democrats remained the majority party in the U.S. House, with 291 seats to 127 for Republicans and 14 for Progressives, and gained control of the U.S. Senate, with 51 Democrats to 44 Republicans and 1 Progressive. The size of the majorities and the relative harmony in the Democratic Party helped President Wilson enact his “New Freedom” legislative agenda.