xii Introduction 



abroad as an expert student of naval history and of 

 sea power, and he had retained an enthusiastic in 

 terest in the whole subject. He was well fitted, there 

 fore, for the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 

 to which President McKinley appointed him at the 

 very time when, more clearly than most others, he 

 foresaw the probability of a war with Spain. 



He threw his whole intense energy into the work 

 of fitting our navy for such a test, devoting himself 

 especially to the questions of readiness and efficiency 

 in practical detail. And then came the outbreak of 

 war. With the feeling that he was no longer needed 

 in the naval department, and that it was his duty 

 to respond to the call for volunteer soldiers, he en 

 tered the army. The history of that service he has 

 himself told in a fascinating way in the volume en 

 titled The Rough Riders, included in this edition of 

 his works. 



The war being ended, he returned to his own 

 State of New York at a moment when his party was 

 casting about for a candidate for Governor. The 

 outlook was not propitious ; but Mr. Roosevelt's re 

 cent career had given him a great personal popu 

 larity, and he was accordingly nominated and 

 elected. Great questions of administration are al 

 ways pending in the State of New York, and there 

 are few governmental offices in any country better 

 adapted to train the incumbent for the tasks of prac 

 tical statesmanship. ' Mr. Roosevelt took up the work 



