Half Years Quotes
This quotation perhaps was the most critical in Roosevelt’s political career. After winning the presidential election in his own right, that evening at a press conference he called, he not only committed to serving only two terms—then a custom and not law as it would be after WWII—but he also committed that his first three and a half years where he was not elected but assumed the presidency upon McKinley’s assassination would count as a full elected term. He therefore in 1908 could not run again even though the public wanted him to, and he might have liked another term. More important historically was 1912. Roosevelt had chosen his close friend and colleague William Howard Taft to succeed him and with Roosevelt’s support he was elected in 1908. But Taft’s wife who had always been his closest political advisor and reviewer of all his policies and speeches, had a stroke shortly after Taft was elected. Taft’s performance as President was very disappointing to Roosevelt, and he ran against Taft in the 1912 Republican nominating campaign. The very conservative Republicans were against Roosevelt, but many of those who liked him were distressed that he was reneging on his pledge not to run for a 3rd term. Roosevelt lost, and famously started the Bull Moose Party and ran against Taft and Wilson. He outpolled Taft but with the split Republican vote, Woodrow Wilson won the Presidency. This pledge haunted Roosevelt for the rest of his life.
