Can T.R. Become President On His Own?

[Emperor Norton I]

Roosevelt arose to the Presidency following the assassination of McKinley and used his incumbency to win a term of his own. However, if memory serves, the party bosses opposed Roosevelt and making him Vice President to begin with was simply to get him out of the way so he could do really nothing. This leads me to believe, and I do believe it is not an uncommon thought here (I've seen it a few times) that T.R. would not have become POTUS were it not for the assassination of McKinley.

So I ask to settle this issue, is it possible for Theodore Roosevelt to become President in his own right rather than upon assassination?

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Well, he was (considered) a war hero and had been elected Governor of New York, so I can't see why he couldn't make a good go at the nomination in future elections.

 

[RogueBeaver]

I doubt it because the regulars would hate his Progressivism. Remember, in 1904 they tried to persuade Hanna to run before his death, and Hanna had been to McKinley what Rove was to Bush. Unlike bosses of a later generation, they would put obstinacy and tradition ahead of electoral considerations. If he did, it would be in 1908 and the bosses would try and cripple his legislative agenda, as they did in his second term IOTL. You are correct: the bosses (esp. Platt) wanted TR out of the way from NY so as not to cause trouble, which was ironically one of the reasons how LBJ became VP 60 years later.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

Well, he was (considered) a war hero and had been elected Governor of New York, so I can't see why he couldn't make a good go at the nomination in future elections.

Populism can only go so far. This was still the age of the "Imperial Parties"; the political parties were incredibly strong, controlled the process and had the sway over politics in the nation almost monopolistically, and the party bosses still controlled candidates and tickets far more than the common man.

 

[RogueBeaver]

In those days the bosses controlled over 90% of the delegates. Even in 1968, the last convention of the pre-McGovern-Fraser era, 75% were boss-controlled.