The President's hunger for intelligence did not diminish as the day wore on. His curiosity and apparent lack of guile charmed them.
He interrupted them often with questions, and they were astonished by the rapidity with which he embraced and sorted information. His officers complied in order of seniority. Relaxing, Roosevelt asked for briefings on every department of the Administration. This assertion of authority went unchallenged. He also needed their resignations, but for legal reasons only. "I need your advice and counsel," he said. "A very heavy weight," James Wilson mused, "for anyone so young as he is."īut the President was not looking for sympathy. Ghostly responsibility sat on his shoulders. There was a moment of strangeness when he took his place at the head of McKinley's table. Edith and the children would breeze in soon enough, bringing what he called "the Oyster Bay atmosphere."Īt eleven o'clock he held his first Cabinet meeting. It was as if he wanted the White House to ventilate itself of the sad fragrance of the nineteenth century. Roosevelt decided to remain at his brother-in-law's house until after the weekend.
Not for them the northern exposure favored by their predecessors, with its cold white light and panorama of countless chimney pots.Ī pall of death and invalidism hung over the fusty building. Roosevelt would occupy the sunny riverview suite on the south corner. in our national history."Īs the President worked, squads of cleaners, painters, and varnishers hastened to refurbish the private apartments down the hall. It was, a veteran observer marveled, "quite the strangest introduction of a Chief Magistrate. He looked as if he had sat there for years. Within seconds of arrival he was leaning back in McKinley's chair, dictating letters to William Loeb. His rapid footsteps sought out the executive office over the East Room. Nodding at a pair of attaches, he hurried into the elevator and rose to the second floor. A policeman, recognizing the new President of the United States, jerked to attention, but Roosevelt, trailed by Commander Cowles, was already on his way into the vestibule.
On the morning after McKinley's interment, Friday, 20 September 1901, a stocky figure in a frock coat sprang up the front steps of the White House. I see that Tiddy, Prisidint Tiddy-here's his health-is th' youngest prisidint we've iver had, an' some iv th' pa-apers ar-re wondherin' whether he's old enough f'r th' raysponsibilities iv' th' office. Dooley," Theodore Roosevelt's favorite social commentator. The epigraphs at the head of every chapter are by "Mr.
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