Roosevelt February 14, 1884, to June 9, 1884
Some believe after the loss of his wife and mother on the same day he immediately drops everything and leaves New York and heads off to the Bad Lands. Instead, Roosevelt goes back to Albany and plunges into his work.
In the winter of 1884 Roosevelt chaired a special committee investigating NYC corruption. T.R. focused an attack on the city’s Board of Aldermen that had the power of appointment. If successful, the bill would dramatically impact the influence of Tammany Hall. While the committee’s investigation provided plenty of examples of corruption and incompetence, in the end the assembly did little to diminish Tammany Hall’s power.
Roosevelt’s attack didn’t go unnoticed. NY’s Democratic Governor Grover Cleveland was impressed with T.R.’s work that ultimately led to Cleveland signing into law the Alderman Bill.
When Cleveland becomes president, he keeps Roosevelt on as a member of the Civil Service Commission. Roosevelt was a holdover from Benjamin Harrison’s Republican administration. That June T.R. leads the NYS Republican delegation to the 1884 Convention in Illinois that was held from Tuesday June 3rd to Friday the 6th. By Monday the 9th he was in the Dakota Territory.
