“Hier ist der Rosenfelt.”
That was the sort of man New York needed in the present juncture. The chance ought, moreover, to appeal to him, because it seemed to me that his election would be inevitable, and that, as a consequence of it, he would very likely re-occupy the White House in 1916.
For my part, I had just refused the appointment of Ambassador to Turkey, which I then considered relatively unimportant. I believed that I could be useful as a member of a possible Roosevelt municipal administration and so I said to Aronstam:
“I’ll take the nomination if the Colonel himself will run for Mayor.”
Mr. Aronstam, such is my recollection, cabled home my decision. He received word that Whitman’s name was to stand and communicated this to me at Aix-les-Bains. From there I wrote to him:
My dear Mr. Aronstam:
After very mature deliberation, I have concluded that I would not, if asked, run with Whitman. There is no use giving you my reasons in detail. Kindly take this as final and so inform Timothy Woodruff. I don’t want to keep him and his associates under any mistaken impression that your telegram may have created.
I would run with T. R. He would win and make a great Mayor.
With kindest regards,
Yours sincerely,
Henry Morgenthau.
What finally happened is still fresh in the public mind. Chosen President of the Board of Aldermen, Mitchel’s admirers had groomed him vigorously for the Mayoralty. President Wilson’s appointment of Mitchel as the Collector of the Port really stamped him as an independent Wilson Democrat and placed him in the lime-light. Elected Mayor, he surrounded himself with men of his own years and temperament. He gave the City one of its best administrations.