The Progressive Party was founded in 1912 by former President Theodore Roosevelt and reform-minded Republicans. The presidential election of 1912 pitted Progressive Party candidate Roosevelt against Republican President William Howard Taft, Democratic Governor Woodrow Wilson, and Socialist Eugene Debs. Although the Progressive Party lost the election, it fared better than any other third party ever has. Other political parties and presidential administrations have since adopted reforms that started out as part of the Progressive Party platform.