10. Appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy put Roosevelt on the national stage
After Roosevelt supported William McKinley in the election of 1896 he was rewarded by the incoming administration with the office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt became the de facto Secretary of the Navy due to the real Secretary, John D. Long’s, lack of interest in issues. He preferred to focus his attention on appearances and meetings of McKinley’s cabinet. Roosevelt used his position to express his views on global affairs, and most importantly to his own career, the Spanish presence in Cuba. Roosevelt took it upon himself to send orders directly to the commanders of the Naval squadrons around the globe, and following the explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor, he prepared the fleets for war.
Roosevelt was among the leading advocates for war with Spain both before and after USS Maine’s destruction. Maine was destroyed in February, 1898, and by April McKinley had lost hope of reaching the diplomatic solution he sought and asked Congress to declare war. Roosevelt anticipated the declaration and ordered the ships in both the Caribbean and the Philippines to prepare to attack Spanish facilities and fleets. He then resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and joined a unit of volunteer cavalry being formed under the command of US Army Colonel Leonard Wood, eager to serve in the war he had worked so hard to bring about.
