desirous of being consulted. A letter written by Roosevelt in the
middle of his first term to a friendly Congressman well
illustrates his theory and practice in such cases:

"I want to work with Platt. I want to work with Odell. I want to
support both and take the advice of both. But, of course,
ultimately I must be the judge as to acting on the advice given.
When, as in the case of the judgeship, I am convinced that the
advice of both is wrong, I shall act as I did when I appointed
Holt. When I can find a friend of Odell's like Cooley, who is
thoroughly fit for the position I desire to fill, it gives me the
greatest pleasure to appoint him. When Platt proposes to me a man
like Hamilton Fish, it is equally a pleasure to appoint him."

This high-minded and common-sense course did not, however, seem
to please the politicians, for dyed-in-the-wool politicians are
curious persons to whom half a loaf is no consolation whatever,
even when the other half of the loaf is to go to the
people--without whom there would be no policies at all. Strangely
enough, Roosevelt's policy was equally displeasing to those of
the doctrinaire reformer type, to whom there is no word in the
language more distasteful than "politician," unless it be the
word "practical." But there was one class to whom the results of
this common-sense brand of political action were eminently
satisfactory, and this class made up the third group that had a
part in the selection of Theodore Roosevelt for the
Vice-Presidency. The plain people, especially in the more
westerly portions of the country, were increasingly delighted
with the honesty, the virility, and the effectiveness of the
Roosevelt Administration. Just before the convention which was to