Governor and not a faction leader; that I certainly would confer
with the organization men, as with everybody else who seemed to
me to have knowledge of and interest in public affairs, and that
as to Mr. Platt and the organization leaders, I would do so in
the sincere hope that there might always result harmony of
opinion and purpose; but that while I would try to get on well
with the organization, the organization must with equal sincerity
strive to do what I regarded as essential for the public good;
and that in every case, after full consideration of what
everybody had to say who might possess real knowledge of the
matter, I should have to act finally as my own judgment and
conscience dictated and administer the State government as I
thought it ought to be administered . . . . I told him to tell
the Senator that while I would talk freely with him, and had no
intention of becoming a factional leader with a personal
organization, yet I must have direct personal relations with
everybody, and get their views at first hand whenever I so
desired, because I could not have one man speaking for all.*

*Autobiography (Scribner), pp. 271-72.


This was straight Roosevelt talk. It was probably the first time
that the "easy boss" had received such a response to his
overtures. History does not record how he liked it; but at least
he accepted it. Subsequent events suggest that he was either
unwilling to believe or incapable of understanding that the
Colonel of the Rough Riders meant precisely what he said. But
Platt found out his mistake. He was not the first or the last
politician to have that experience.