The Reluctant Vice President: An Office Theodore Roosevelt Despised

An Office Fundamentally Powerless

The Vice Presidency has often been described as one of the most useless offices in American government. The Vice President presides over the Senate but has minimal actual power in that body. The Vice President has no executive responsibilities. The Vice President has no departmental authority. The only real function is to be ready to become President if the President dies. But in the normal course of American politics, the Vice President is essentially sidelined from power. Roosevelt's characterization was accurate: "The Vice Presidency is a distinctly anomalous office. The vice president simply sits around waiting for the president to die."

Roosevelt was a man of extraordinary energy, ambition, and appetite for action. He was accustomed to wielding real power—as Police Commissioner, as Governor. The Vice Presidency offered none of that. It was a position suited to a man seeking rest or preparing for retirement. It was not suited to a 42-year-old man whose energy and ambition showed no signs of waning.

Campaigning Without Enthusiasm

Roosevelt campaigned for the McKinley-Roosevelt ticket in the 1900 election, but his heart was not in it. He gave speeches in support of McKinley's policies, particularly his support for American expansion in the Philippines. He articulated the Republican position on various issues. But he did so without the passionate enthusiasm that had characterized his political advocacy in previous years. He was going through the motions, playing the role of candidate, but privately he was angry about his situation.

In private communications with friends, Roosevelt expressed his frustration. He spoke of studying law after his time in office. He talked about practicing law and building a legal career. He seemed to view the Vice Presidency as a temporary interruption in a career that would ultimately lead to the practice of law and life outside politics. He could not have imagined that within months he would be President of the United States.

McKinley and Roosevelt: Different Men, Shared Ticket

President William McKinley and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt were different kinds of men. McKinley was cautious, deliberative, comfortable working within party structures. Roosevelt was aggressive, impatient, determined to challenge established authorities and reshape institutions. McKinley believed in letting party structures operate; Roosevelt believed in confronting and reforming those structures. Yet they shared enough political ground—both were Republicans, both were expansionists, both believed in American greatness—to make a workable ticket.

McKinley's relationship with Roosevelt was polite but distant. McKinley did not fully trust Roosevelt's judgment on some issues. McKinley felt that Roosevelt could be impulsive and reckless. But McKinley also understood that Roosevelt was an attractive figure to the American public. Roosevelt's war record, his energy, his vivid personality made him a valuable asset on the ticket. So McKinley accepted Roosevelt as Vice President without enthusiasm but without strong opposition either.

The Duties of Vice President: A Ceremonial Prison

In March 1901, Roosevelt was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States. His official duties were minimal. He presided over the Senate, but with little actual authority. The Senate could function without him, and often did. He attended official ceremonies and functions. He received visitors. He existed, primarily, as a ceremonial figure. For a man accustomed to real authority—as Police Commissioner, as Governor—the position felt like a punishment. He had wielded real power. He had been able to implement his vision. Now he was being asked to sit on the sidelines and watch others govern.

To fill his time and channel his energy, Roosevelt undertook a speaking tour, traveling the country to advocate for the McKinley administration's policies. He visited nearly every state, gave hundreds of speeches, and used the position to maintain his visibility and his connection to the American people. He presided over the Senate with proper formality, though the position offered him little real influence. He attended state dinners and official functions, where he was treated with the deference due to a Vice President but little else. For a man who had craved action and authority, the position was torture. But there seemed no alternative. Roosevelt was locked in the Vice Presidency for what he assumed would be four years—a political lifetime exile.

"I am as a bull moose in a china shop. This office does not suit my temperament at all." — Theodore Roosevelt, in a private letter about the Vice Presidency

A Nation Unaware of Its Luck

The American public and most political observers had no idea how much Roosevelt hated his position or how temporary it was likely to be. To the outside world, he seemed to be a Vice President in the traditional sense—a man who had been lifted out of active politics and placed in an honorable but powerless position. The newspapers reported on his speeches. They noted his appearances at state functions. No one suspected that he was actively planning a future outside of politics, that he saw the Vice Presidency as an interruption in what he imagined would be a legal career.

The Adirondacks Vacation: Summer 1901

By the summer of 1901, as the heat of Washington became oppressive, Roosevelt sought relief in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. He had rented a cabin on Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York, and had taken his family there for a vacation from the tedious ceremonial duties of the Vice Presidency. He was hiking, hunting, enjoying the mountains that he loved—doing anything to escape the boredom and frustration of his office. He had no way of knowing that this vacation would change his entire life.

The Vice Presidency seemed to Roosevelt like a political exile—a place where he was removed from real power and real influence. Party leaders, particularly Thomas Platt, had engineered the situation deliberately. They wanted to remove the independent, unpredictable Roosevelt from the Governor's office where he had real authority. The Vice Presidency was the solution. Roosevelt was removed from effective power. He was placed in an office where he could do little damage to party interests or party machines. He was, in effect, neutralized.

But the Vice Presidency turned out to be an even more temporary position than anyone had anticipated. Roosevelt would serve as Vice President for only 194 days. On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was wounded but initially seemed to be recovering. Roosevelt was summoned to Buffalo to be near the President. Then, after days of apparent recovery, McKinley's condition deteriorated dramatically. On September 14, 1901, McKinley died. Theodore Roosevelt, the reluctant Vice President, became the President of the United States. Mark Hanna's worst fears had been realized. The "madman" he had feared would become President was now, in fact, the Chief Executive of the United States.