Summary

Political pundits salivated and prognosticated over the looming, titanic battle between Taft and Roosevelt at the Republican convention. Even in the days before tabloid TV, news media sages exploited the melodrama of two former allies ready to fight to the death for the presidential nomination. First-ever primaries in Spokane, Tacoma and Seattle, Wash. favored Roosevelt two-to-one in the popular vote but the Republican National Committee awarded Washington's 14 delegates to Taft because of alleged election fraud and irregularities despite the fact Roosevelt workers demonstrated instances of double voting. Roosevelt won the California primary by 77,000 votes but the national committee, in a similar fashion, gave the state's 26 delegates to Taft. At last, the national committee gave 235 of the 254 delegates to Taft. Bitter, vitriolic rhetoric was hurled in both directions.

On his way to the convention, Roosevelt made a stop in Chicago where...