to his place had been put where
he was in large measure by the very men who would least like to see him
become President.

The Republican convention of 1900 was a singularly unanimous body.
President McKinley was renominated without a murmur of dissent. But
there was no Vice-President to renominate, as Mr. Hobart had died in
office. There was no logical candidate for the second place on the
ticket. Senator Platt, however, had a man whom he wanted to get rid of,
since Governor Roosevelt had made himself persona non grata alike to
the machine politicians of his State and to the corporations allied
with them. The Governor, however, did not propose to be disposed of so
easily. His reasons were characteristic. He wrote thus to Senator Platt
about the matter:

"I can't help feeling more and more that the Vice-Presidency is not an
office in which I could do anything and not an office in which a man
who is still vigorous and not past middle life has much chance of
doing anything.... Now, I should like to be Governor for another term,
especially if we are able to take hold of the canals in serious shape.
But, as Vice-President, I don't see there is anything I can do. I would
be simply a presiding officer, and that I should find a bore."

Now Mr. Platt knew that nothing but "sidetracking" could stop another
nomination of Roosevelt for the Governorship, and this Rough Rider was
a thorn in his flesh. So he went on his subterranean way to have him
nominated for the most innocuous political berth in the gift of
the American people. He secured the cooperation of Senator Quay of
Pennsylvania and another boss or two of the same indelible stripe; but
all their political strength would not have accomplished the desired
result without assistance from quite a different source. Roosevelt had
already achieved great popularity in the Middle and the Far West for the
very reasons which made Mr. Platt want him out of the way. So, while the
New York boss and his acquiescent delegates were stopped from presenting
his name to the convention by Roosevelt's assurance that he would fight
a l'outrance any movement from his own State to nominate him, other
delegates took matters into their own hands and the nomination was
finally made unanimously.

Roosevelt gave great strength to the Republican ticket in the campaign
which followed. William Jennings Bryan was again the Democratic
candidate, but the "paramount issue" of his campaign had changed since