16. Roosevelt was elected governor of New York in 1898
Shortly after returning to the United States from Cuba, Theodore Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York, taking office on New Year’s Day, 1899. He immediately established the practice of meeting with the press twice each working day, ensuring his views were reported to the people. He also pushed for the creation of franchise taxes, with the owners of privately held instruments of public benefits, such as streetcar systems, commuter railroads, and others, required to pay taxes to the state. He argued in his press conferences that an alternative would be for the state to take over all such systems and make them publicly owned, silencing opposition.
New York was at the turn of the twentieth century the most populous of the states, and Roosevelt’s position as Governor of the State, his war record, and his national popularity as Teddy, made him an attractive candidate with Republican Progressives to contest the presidency with McKinley. He did not agree, nor was he attracted to the idea of joining the ticket as a vice-presidential candidate in the election of 1900. As Governor of New York, Roosevelt alienated the Republican machine controlled by Thomas Platt, who began to scheme for a means of ridding himself of the reform-minded Roosevelt.
