But the Santiago campaign, the charge up San Juan hill, did not
"make" Roosevelt. It was a dramatic episode in his history; it
attracted attention to him. Such are the peculiar conditions of
politics, it proved a short cut to the White House. He said,
frankly, that he would never have been President if the Rough
Riders had not gone to Cuba. In this he underestimated himself, as
he often did. He had too much ability in politics, too much
courage in fighting for the cause of better government, at a time
when courage was badly needed, to have failed to rise to the
highest office. Back in the days when he was Civil Service
Commissioner two visitors in the White House, saw him, also a
visitor, looking about the rooms.
"There is a young man," said one of them, who knew him, "who is
going to move into this house himself, before long."
After Cuba, the next step was the Governorship of New York State.
Before he was out of uniform, the politicians began talking about
him for the place. The Republican party in New York was in a bad
way. They had quarreled among themselves; the Democrats had just
beaten them in an election. They knew they must have a strong
candidate for Governor, or the Democrats, (that is, Tammany Hall)
would get control at Albany.
This was the great day of the political Bosses. Perhaps at no time
since have they been quite as powerful as they were then.
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