Introduction xiii 



of the Governorship with characteristic industry, and 

 with results that were successful and valuable in 

 many directions. So well had he satisfied the ex 

 pectations of his party and of the State that his re- 

 nomination as Governor was assured ; and the whole 

 country had its attention fixed upon him as the 

 probable nominee of his party for the Presidency in 

 the year 1904. 



A variety of circumstances, however, most of 

 them unexpected and some of them dramatic, led to 

 an overwhelming demand by the Republican Na 

 tional Convention at Philadelphia in 1900 that he 

 forego his prospect of a second term as Governor of 

 New York in order to take the nomination for the 

 Vice-Presidency on the ticket with Mr. McKinley. 

 He was put forward by his party in that summer of 

 1900 as its most effective campaigner. But it has 

 not been thought by him desirable that any of the 

 speeches made in a hotly contested Presidential elec 

 toral campaign should be included in a collection of 

 his public addresses. The tragic death of President 

 McKinley, in September, 1901, occurred only six 

 months after his entrance upon a second term, and 

 thus it happened that Mr. Roosevelt had only a short 

 time to serve in the office of Vice-President. 



So remarkable and so rapid a succession of valu 

 able public experiences, all of a kind to give training 

 for the duties of the Presidency, is probably un 

 paralleled in our history. He had been the chief 



