“I cannot be renominated?” queried Roosevelt.
“No. Your successor is in this room!” said Platt, pointing to Chairman Odell.
Facing this situation, Roosevelt let it be known that he would yield if the convention “took the bit in its teeth” and insisted upon nominating him.
The wisdom of the nomination of Roosevelt as McKinley’s running mate was vindicated at the polls. The McKinley-Roosevelt ticket smothered that of Bryan and his mate, and New York State remained in the Republican column. Senator Platt went down to Washington for the inauguration with the remark:
“I am going to see Roosevelt put on the veil.”
But Platt and the men who thought Roosevelt was safely out of the way were overlooking the fact that Roosevelt’s fortune was in the hand of a greater power than theirs.
Roosevelt’s term as Vice-President proved to be short. He took office on March 4, 1901, and presided over the Senate at the succeeding session. With McKinley and his Cabinet his relations were intimate and cordial.
In September Roosevelt went camping with his family in the Adirondacks. There he received the news of the shooting of President McKinley, who died before the Vice-President could reach his bedside. Roosevelt took the oath of office as President at Buffalo on the evening of September 14.
The new President fully appreciated the deplorable circumstances under which he became the head of the nation. He issued this proclamation:
“In this hour of deep and national bereavement I wish to state that it shall be my aim to continue absolutely and without variance the policy of President McKinley, for the peace, prosperity and honor of our beloved country.” Roosevelt kept this pledge to the letter.
Afterward Senator Platt, with true political sagacity, claimed credit for his insistence upon the nomination for the Vice-Presidency, since it had led to Roosevelt becoming President of the United States. Those, however, who knew of the anxiety of the New York politicians to get rid of Roosevelt as a factor in state politics looked the other way and winked.
When Roosevelt was a member of the New York Legislature, Andrew D. White, President of Cornell College, who had been keenly watching his career, remarked to his class: