The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism

by Susan Berfield

As Root’s replacement, Roosevelt appointed William Howard Taft, who had finally agreed to leave the Philippines and be thrust into national politics. “Taft is a splendid fellow,” Roosevelt continued, “but as Mother says, he is too much like me to be able to give me as good advice as Mr. Root was able to do because of the very differences of character between us.”

Roosevelt was also brimming with relief and ambition. He had shown that he could take on the richest of men and hold them accountable, not to the bottom line or to investors, but to the public. It was the first time the government stood up so squarely for farmers and workers, clerks and shop owners, everyone who felt that the system was rigged. Roosevelt beat back the system—and he did so just eight months before the presidential election.

“I am deeply sensible of the honor done me by the American people in thus expressing their confidence in what I have done and have tried to do,” Roosevelt began. When he took the oath of office on March 4, 1905, he would consider it the beginning of his second full term as president. He wouldn’t run for a third. He could have. But he was riled over the insinuations and sometimes public insults about his tight grip on power, the command he had over the Republican Party. So he stated in the most definite terms that he would relinquish his hold: “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination.”