Presidential Biography of Theodore Roosevelt

Presidential Biography of Theodore Roosevelt

Ascension To The White House As Governor of New York, Roosevelt would once againl stand on his own and distance himself from the political bosses and machines that got him elected. The head of the Republican machine, Thomas Platt, had misgivings about making Roosevelt governor of New York because of Roosevelt's total independence and his reform nature. But in the gubernatorial race of 1898, with the bad press the Republican Party was receiving, there seemed to be no one else who had a chance. Roosevelt was riding the crest of the wave of being a true war hero, and with Platt's help together they might keep the Democrats from winning the office. Platt in return for his help expected Roosevelt to let him make the appointments and carry the party line. Roosevelt had no intentions of being Platt's puppet, and as soon as he got in office the two would begin to battle. Roosevelt had to be careful, because to totally alienate Platt would cripple his chances to go any further politically or even threaten his chances to be reelected governor. Roosevelt made his point by declining to appoint Platt's first suggested appointee. After making his point, however, Roosevelt tried to work with the Republican boss to the extent of not abandoning his own principals. Platt for his part could not toss the war hero out on his ear in 1900, but at the same time, he wanted to find a way to gracefully get Roosevelt out of his hair. Platt's opportunity to get rid of Roosevelt came with the approach of the presidential election of 1900. McKinley was discretely looking for a new running mate to replace Hobart in the upcoming election. It was fairly obvious that the Democrats would choose William Jennings Bryan as their candidate of choice again, and McKinley would need a fiery speaking running mate to offset Bryan's oratory abilities. McKinley would simply sit back and look Presidential while his running mate would attack Bryan. Hobart was not a gifted orator, and this decision to replace him became all that much easier when he died just prior to the national Republican convention. Mark Hanna had run McKinley's campaign in 1896 and wanted nothing to do with Roosevelt in 1900. Platt on the other hand saw his opportunity to get rid of Roosevelt at the same time saving face in his own home state of New York.