Part 2: Aftermath of the Death of President Roosevelt.
The death of President Roosevelt shocked the nation. For the first time in America's history, a President had been killed by an accident rather than disease or an assassination. It was also the first time that two Presidents had died in the span of one term. Secretary of State John Hay was sworn in as President hours after he received the news of the Presidents death, and an official investigation into Roosevelt's death was quickly launched. Madden the driver of the tram, was found guilty of manslaughter and failing to keep control of his tram, leaving him with a heavy fine and six months of jail time.
Roosevelt's funeral was held a week after his death, with sympathies pouring in from around the globe, and the Rotunda crowded with people mourning the fallen President. Eulogies were delivered by President John Hay and Brigadier General Leonard Wood. Roosevelt had left a mixed legacy of triumphs and failures, such as Cuban independence, atrocities in the Philippines, the National Reclamation bill, the Northern Securities lawsuit, and of course, his indomitable personality. While there is definitely disagreement over his actions, no one can deny that Roosevelt was a very memorable President.
As the nation mourned, John Hay was confronted with two pressing dilemmas. One was that of the anthracite coal strike that had been going on since July, and promised to bring misery to thousand of Northerners if it was not resolved by winter. The other was that of the “Iowa Idea”, a revolutionary idea that had been forced onto the Iowa Republican platform by a group led by Governor Albert B. Cummins, and this ideas threatened to split the Republican Party in the run up to the 1902 election. President Hay would have to address both these issues to cement his leadership.
The “Iowa Idea” was certainly the more pressing matter, but Hay needed to appoint a new Secretary of State and to ensure that the country knew that business would continue on as usual. The stock market had dropped when word reached them that the President was dead, and only quick action by JP Morgan prevented a general decline in stock prices. Now the market looked to the White House to provide a sign that they would not have to worry.
That sign came in the form of a media campaign by Republican elements, stressing how Hay shared McKinley's views on the economy. The Republican leadership was also given reassurances by Hay that he would drop the Northern Securities lawsuit at a convenient time. Within a week, the market fluctuations had calmed, and things were quiet on Wall Street.
With the markets quiet, the attention of the Republican Party turned to the Iowa Idea. This idea had the support of Midwesterners such as Governor La Follette, while it was opposed by Easterners such as Mark Hanna. In this idea the Conservatives saw a threat to their dominance, and they set out to crush it. Theodore Roosevelt had been speaking against it when he died, and the Conservative Republican faction used the memory of the dead President to draw support away from the people that tout the idea. As elections come around, Progressives find them under challenge from Conservative Republicans and Democrats. The leaders such as Hanna are perfectly willing to throw the Progressive wing to the street, as long as they keep their majority in Congress.
This tactic proved somewhat of a success, as the Republican Party kept their majority in Congress, although it diminished as Progressive Republicans lost to Democratic challengers. Some Progressives, such as La Follette, were unable to be overseated due to popular support, and this promised to be a problem with the opening of the next Congress.
Sadly, the Anthracite Coal Strike was not so easy to resolve, as Governor Stone was unwilling to bring in federal troops to crush the strikers, and the government found itself unable to do anything to intervene in the situation, as Stone did not want a bloodbath of miners on his hands, and the strikers were not willing to give in. This caused coal shortages across the North, and people were forced to go to desperate lengths to keep warm.
As time moved into December, the Hay Presidency was confronted by it's first real foreign policy crisis, as Britain, France, and Germany sent ships to blockade Venezuela.
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Yeah, I know it isn't very good. Advice welcome and stuff.
