Teddy Killed on San Juan Hill

What if Teddy Roosevelt was killed whilst leading his troops up San Juan Hill.

How could this effect the American-Spanish War, especially if San Juan Hill was held by the Spanish?

How would American history, in the early 1900s, be effected without a Teddy Roosevelt Presidency?

And how is general world history effected as a result?

Anything else?
 
This is almost too devastating to contemplate but I'll try: for starters, this does nothing less than delay the emergence of the United States as a full world power for quite some time to come. Yes, the US stepped forward as a function of winning the Spanish-American War, but it took TR's mediation of the Russo-Japanese War and the Great White Fleet, as well as securing the independence of Panama to make the powers of Europe sit up and really take notice (apart from Great Britain, perhaps).

So: without TR, probably someone like Charles Fairbanks becomes McKinley's running mate in 1900 after Garrett Hobart's death. I doubt Bryan would have defeated McKinley, by the way. Assuming Leon Czolgosz was equally as unhinged in this timeline as in ours, McKinley is assassinated in September 1901, making Fairbanks president. Fairbanks was a reasonably competent sort, but nothing outstanding-probably capable but not a dynamic leader (in short, a less ponderous Taft).

Without TR, the anti-imperialists may get their way, and the US might not hang on to the Phillippines (ideally, Great Britain would step in, but that's open to question). A Fairbanks presidency would be pretty much like McKinley's. However, the progressive movement would have found itself without a true champion: Albert Beveridge of Indiana or Hiram Johnson of California could have stepped up but both were clearly of the second level as compared to TR.

In 1904, the election would have been a rather dull affair between two relatively conservative candidates (Fairbanks vs. Alton Parker); it's likely Fairbanks would have won a term in his own right, and likely would have worked to pave the way for Elihu Root as his successor (ironically, TR wanted Root to succeed him but Root declined citing ill health and his ties to Wall Street; I suspect the former was a red herring since Root lived well into his 90s, and the latter could have been overcome). Root would have been more progressive than Fairbanks but not nearly in the same league as TR.

More to follow.
 
Brit Wank. Without Teddy, there is no powerful USA, Period! :rolleyes:

haha well actually William Jennings Bryan would probably become president after McKinley finishes out his term. Bryan would've made an incredible president maybe even better than teddy, without the national park stuff.
 
The U.S. might have only become a second-tier power had Bryan won. However, I think McKinley would win reelection. The question would then be who is McKinley's second-term VP?
 
How could this effect the American-Spanish War, especially if San Juan Hill was held by the Spanish?
Very Little effect. San Juan Hill is only important as a early PR op for Roosevelt, It had no real stagtic importance.
 
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