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Article: SPEAKING SOFTLY KATHLEEN DALTON'S QUIETLY ARGUED THEODORE ROOSEVELT DELIVERS A PRESIDENT PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED BY HIS INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 26, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Theodore Roosevelt was one of the great accidents of American
history. In March 1901, when he was sworn in as William McKinley's
vice president, Roosevelt was the most popular figure in the
Republican Party, with a following so devoted as to be nearly
cultlike. Yet in that age of boss rule, popularity counted for little
in landing a nomination, and because the bosses distrusted the
rambunctious New Yorker, his prospects beyond the vice presidency
were slim. Had McKinley lived out his second term, Roosevelt probably
would have been retired to private life. But McKinley died, killed by
an assassin's bullet and the ineptitude of his doctors, and Roosevelt
assumed the presidency. Though he ...