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HIS FORTUNATE STAR WAS STILL IN THE ascendent [sic] when the Republican National Convention gathered at Philadelphia in 1900, if a man can be considered fortunate who succeeds to the manifold burdens of the Presidency through such a tragedy as we have just witnessed. He did not want to become “his most superfluous highness.” He, like every one else, felt that the Vice-President, caught in the tenacious spider web of the Senate, is practically powerless as a political factor. But Senator Platt, who hates him with great cordiality, and Governor Odell, who was even then training for the nomination in 1904, were bent on thrusting the honor on him. They were reinforced by Mr. McKinley’s friends, who did not object to the possibility of enlivening the canvass with a new and vigorous personality, and by the delegates from the West, where sentiment still holds some sway in politics. No one knows what process of reasoning Mr. Roosevelt’s mind followed in yielding to these importunities. He is not easily led or influenced by his enemies. At all events he was won over, and, swearing he would ne’er consent, consented. After making the speech placing Mr. McKinley in nomination he accepted the second place on the ticket, and made a canvass which in point of energy left nothing to be desired.