necessarily means that I do have a great interest in whom is
nominated.

ROOSEVELT TO PLATT

Oyster Bay, August 20, 1900

I have your letter of the 16th. I wish to see a straight
Republican nomination for the governorship. The men whom I have
mentioned, such as ex-Judge Andrews and Secretary Root, are as
good Republicans as can be found in the State, and I confess I
haven't the slightest idea what you mean when you say, "if we are
to lower the standard and nominate such men as you suggest, we
might as well die first as last." To nominate such. a man as
either of these is to raise the standard; to speak of it as
lowering the standard is an utter misuse of words.

You say that we must nominate some Republican who "will carry out
the wishes of the organization," and add that "I have not yet
made up my mind who that man is." Of one thing I am certain,
that, to have it publicly known that the candidate, whoever he
may be, "will carry out the wishes of the organization," would
insure his defeat; for such a statement implies that he would
merely register the decrees of a small body of men inside the
Republican Party, instead of trying to work for the success of
the party as a whole and of good citizenship generally. It is not
the business of a Governor to "carry out the wishes of the
organization" unless these wishes coincide with the good of the
Party and of the State. If they do, then he ought to have them
put into effect; if they do not, then as a matter of course he