A History of the Republican Party

by George Washington Platt

The campaign of 1900 was as animated throughout as was that of 1896.
Imperialism was the issue raised by the Democrats, and the result in
November was an overwhelming victory for the Republican candidates,
McKinley and Roosevelt, who carried enough States to assure them of 292
electoral votes to 155 for Bryan and Stevenson. The popular vote for the
leading candidates was as follows: McKinley (Rep.), 7,207,923; Bryan
(Dem.), 6,358,133; Woolley (Prohib.), 208,914; Debs (Soc. Dem.), 87,814;
Barker (M. R. Peop.), 50,373; Malloney (Soc. L.), 39,739.

William McKinley was inaugurated for his second term on March 4, 1901. On September 6, 1901, the almost unbelievable news was telegraphed over the country that President McKinley, while in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, had been shot twice by an assassin, an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. But it proved only too true, and for a week the people of the country watched the bulletins and prayed for the President, who fought bravely against death. The wound in the stomach was fatal, and William McKinley, the third martyred President of the Republican Party, passed away on September 14, 1901, at the home of John G. Milburn in Buffalo. The great purity and simplicity of his life, his devotion to his wife, his courageous struggle for the great economical principles which had brought the country to the highest degree of prosperity ever known, and the splendid record of his administration made his loss deeply felt by the nation, and he was enshrined beside Lincoln in American history. The last words of William McKinley exhibited the Christian character of a great life: "It is God's way; His will be done."

[Illustration: By special permission of C. M. Bell Photo Co., Washington D. C.
Theodore Roosevelt.]

CHAPTER XX.

ROOSEVELT.

"I feel that we have a right to appeal not merely to Republicans, but to all good citizens, no matter what may have been their party affiliations in the past, and to ask them, on the strength of the record … to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, perpetuating the conditions under which we have reached a degree of prosperity never before attained in the Nation's history and under which, abroad, we have put the American Flag on a level which it never before in the history of the country has been placed."

Theodore Roosevelt, to the Notification Committee, Sagamore Hill, L. I., July, 1900.

Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President at Buffalo, New York, on September 14, 1901, and became the twenty-sixth President of the United States, and the third to succeed a martyred Republican President. He was born in New York City, October 27, 1858. He graduated from Harvard and spent some years in traveling; served in the New York Legislature in 1882, 1883 and 1884, and was prominent as a champion of Civil Service Reform. Was Chairman of the New York delegation to the Convention in 1884, and ran for Mayor of New York in 1886, as the Independent candidate, endorsed by the Republicans, but was defeated; was appointed Civil Service Commissioner in May, 1889, by President Harrison, and served till 1895, exhibiting great energy and establishing Civil Service principles in all Executive Departments, acquiring a splendid reputation throughout the country for fearlessness and honesty. He resigned from the Civil Service Commission to accept the appointment of Police Commissioner of New York City in May, 1895, and displayed his usual energy in the suppression of corruption and in the establishment of law and order in New York City. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President McKinley, and worked with great vigor to place the Navy on a proper footing, and the success of the Navy in the Spanish-American war was due in no small degree to his preliminary work. When the war broke out in April, 1898, he resigned his position in the Navy Department and organized a volunteer cavalry regiment, recruited mainly from the Western plains, the members of which were called the "Rough Riders." They were commanded at first by Col. Leonard Wood, and Mr. Roosevelt was made Lieutenant-Colonel. His previous military experience had been several years' service in the New York National Guard. For his gallant conduct at San Juan Hill and in the Cuban campaign he was commissioned Colonel July 11, 1898, though many of the officers at Washington were opposed to him. He was elected Governor of New York in the Fall of 1898. In all of these positions he devoted himself to his work with energy and enthusiasm amazing to all. His published works on American History rank him as one of the great historians of the country, and his interests in out-door sports and his delightful home life have endeared him to the people as a typical American. The nomination for Vice-President came to him unsought and undesired, but in response to the demands of the people he fell in line promptly. Coming to the Presidential Chair under trying circumstances he immediately displayed the highest ability and tact in taking charge of the administration of the national affairs. The policies of President McKinley were pursued without deviation, and President Roosevelt conducted the domestic and foreign affairs in a way that has marked him as a great statesman, and the country and its new possessions are eminently in a condition of prosperity and satisfaction.

On May 20, 1902, the United States partially redeemed its pledge in regard to Cuba by hauling down its flag at the Government Palace, Havana, after which the flag of the new Republic of Cuba was raised. This pledge fulfilled, the Republican Party rounded it out with the approval of the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty, ratified in the Senate March 19, 1903.

The long continued agitation for the construction of a canal, by the United States, connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, resulted in the Isthmian Canal Act, approved June 28, 1902, in which the President was authorized to acquire the rights of the new Panama Canal Company of France, and if the title proved satisfactory, and a treaty could be obtained from the Republic of Colombia for the necessary territory, the President was authorized to pay the Canal Company $40,000,000 for this property, but if this could not be done within a reasonable time then the Nicaraguan route was to be considered. An Isthmian Canal Commission was created. Attorney General P. C. Knox reported to the President (October 26, 1902) that the title to the canal was valid, and on January 22, 1903, a treaty between the United States and Colombia for the construction of the canal was signed at Washington and was ratified by the United States Senate March 17, 1903, but was rejected by the Colombian Senate September 14, 1903, who suggested the negotiation of a new treaty. But early in November, 1903, Panama declared its independence, and was recognized as a Republic by the United States on November 6th. A new Canal Treaty was signed at Washington by Secretary of State John Hay, representing the United States, and Philippe Bunau-Varilla representing Panama, and the treaty was ratified by the Government of Panama on December 2, 1903, and is now under consideration in the United States Senate. These various events, all justified by the laws of nations, brought Colombia to terms, and late in November, 1903, she offered the United States a free canal concession if the latter would permit the subjugation of Panama, but the matter had gone too far, and it is now probable that the Panama Canal will be built by this Government, acting with the new Republic of Panama.