1912 Convention of the Socialist Party of America

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American presidential nominating convention

1912 Socialist National Convention
Convention
1912 presidential election
Nominees Debs and Seidel
Date(s)	May 12–18, 1912
City	Indianapolis, Indiana
Venue	Tomlinson Hall
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Eugene Debs of Indianapolis
Vice-presidential nominee	Emil Seidel of Wisconsin
‹ 1908 · 1916 ›

The 1912 Convention of the Socialist Party of America was held in Tomlinson Hall in Indianapolis from May 12 to May 18, 1912.

The Convention

The convention was held at the Tomlinson Hall in Indianapolis from May 12 to May 18, 1912.

The convention was called to order by party national secretary John M. Work and roll was called by delegate Gustave Strebel. Party co-founder Morris Hillquit of New York served as chairman.

The Party leadership constructed an agenda to address pressing issues relevant to the Party's political orientation such as nominating presidential candidates to run. The leadership also sought input on topics of using direct action instead of only participating in electoral politics. The topic of direct action surfaced as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led a recent strike known as the Lawrence Strike.

Presidential candidates

1904, 1908 presidential nominee Eugene Debs of Indiana
Former Mayor of Milwaukee Emil Seidel of Wisconsin
Journalist Charles Edward Russell of New York

Balloting for the party's nominee for the presidential ticket took place on May 17, 1912. The widely understood candidate was the party's previous nominee of 2 times, Eugene Debs. Debs was not present at the time of ballot casting as was tradition at the time. In his absence, questions emerged regarding his physical wellness and whether or not he would even accept the nomination. Delegates were assured that Debs was in fine health and that he would accept the nomination.

The other candidates for the nomination, Seidel and Slayton, each received around one sixth of total ballots cast. As Debs assumed a majority of ballots cast, both men released their delegates to make the nomination unanimous. Following his nomination, a dispatch was sent to notify Debs of his nomination. Debs sent a telegram the next day notifying the convention of his acceptance.

Presidential balloting

Presidential Balloting
Candidate	1st	Unanimous
Debs	165	287
Seidel	56
Russell	54
Blank	12

Vice presidential candidates

Former Mayor of Milwaukee Emil Seidel of Wisconsin
1910 nominee for governor of Arkansas Dan Hogan of Arkansas
1910 nominee for governor of Pennsylvania John W. Slayton of Pennsylvania

Declined

Journalist Charles Edward Russell of New York

Russell was nominated, though withdrew his name from consideration due to reasons that he preferred not to state. Both Hogan and Slayton had not planned on campaigning for the nomination thus released their delegates to make Seidel's nomination unanimous. At this point, Seidel and Debs had yet to meet. Debs and Seidel would go on to achieve the most successful performance of a socialist ticket on the national stage in United States history.