By a vote of 925 to 1 abstention, Theodore Roosevelt (the one abstention) was nominated for Vice President in what seemed to be an overwhelming act of unity at the Republican Party convention of 1900. But underneath the surface, the Vice Presidential nomination was a battle between Republican bosses with a reluctant Roosevelt in the middle.

Mark Hanna
Ohio Republican boss Mark Hanna managed William McKinley's campaign for President in 1896. He built a well-oiled machine to propel McKinley to the White House. With prosperity returning after the Panic of 1893 and a war victory over Spain, Hanna didn't need anything to upset the momentum. However, Vice President Garret Hobart died in November 1899. Hanna now needed a Vice Presidential candidate that would not wreck that well-oiled machine.

In Hanna's mind, TR could seize up his machine. He viewed him as unpredictable and somewhat crazy. In the frenzy before the Spanish-American War in 1898, TR reportedly shook his fist at Hanna at a big-money dinner and said, "We will have this war for the freedom of Cuba, Senator Hanna, in spite of the timidity of the commercial interests." TR also referred to President McKinley as having a "backbone of a chocolate eclair."

Thomas Platt
Trying to push TR onto the national ticket was New York Senator and Republican boss Thomas Platt. Platt also found TR unpredictable after helping him win the New York Governorship in 1898. Expecting TR to be grateful and acquiesce on state appointments, Platt was angered when TR rejected his man for the Superintendent of Public Works job before he was even sworn in.

TR also proved unreliable to Platt when it came to business. A state franchise tax was dead in the legislature until TR decided to rescue it. Business leaders feared that the tax would cut into the monopolistic benefits that state franchisement provided and machine politicians feared the loss of kickbacks and contributions. Thanks to TR, the tax became law. Platt now was looking for a way to gently nudge the popular TR from contention for another term as Governor in 1900. The harmless Vice Presidency seemed an ideal vehicle.

With an eye towards the Presidency in 1904, TR abhorred the idea of being Vice President. He privately told Platt he wouldn't even accept an unanimous nomination. TR wrote Hanna claiming "that I can do most good to the national ticket by running as Governor in this State." If he couldn't be Governor, he preferred a cabinet position or Governor-General of the Philippines as a stepping stone to the Presidency. McKinley and Hanna rejected that possibility.

1900 Republican Convention
Gradually seeing that his chances of being reelected Governor were slim, TR was on the same page with Platt on the Vice Presidency as the two arrived in Philadelphia in June for the Republican convention, according to historian H.W. Brands. Despite his continued public objections, an enthusiastic TR was on the convention floor wearing his Rough Rider hat. One observer concluded, "that's an acceptance hat."

Hanna hadn't given up. Before and during the convention, he touted other options for Vice President, such as Iowa Congressman Jonathan Dolliver, Iowa Senator William Allison, Secretary of the Navy John Long, and Secretary of the Interior Cornelius Bliss. However, Pennsylvania boss Matthew Quay, working with Platt, introduced a clever resolution reducing the voting power of the southern delegates for the next convention. With Southerners horrified, Quay offered to withdraw the resolution if they would support TR for Vice President.

With the South on board, and Western delegates already exuberant for TR because they saw him as their best chance against the anticipated Democratic Presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan, the TR tidal wave was rolling. Hanna was beside himself, voicing in frustration: "Why, everybody's gone crazy! What is the matter with you all? Here is this convention going headlong for Roosevelt for Vice President. Don't any of you realize that there's only one life between that madman and the Presidency?"

With McKinley refusing to help, Hanna recognized his bleak situation and accepted TR's nomination. After the convention, Hanna well utilized TR on the campaign trail- he out-dueled Bryan in the number of speeches and in miles traveled on the way to a McKinley landslide. Unfortunately, twelve years later, TR would see the same conservative machine boss objections to him, which thwarted his efforts for the Republican Presidential nomination.

Sources
• Brands, H.W., TR: The Last Romantic, New York: Basic Books, 1997.
• Gould, Lewis L., Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans, New York: Random House, 2003.
• Kazin, Michael, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, New York: Knopf, 2006.
• ushistory.org, GOP Convention of 1900 in Philadelphia, 1999-2010.