Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site ~ http://www.nps.gov/thri

On September 14th, 1901, an anxious Theodore Roosevelt stood in the library of a friend's home in Buffalo, NY. Hours earlier, President William McKinley had died of an assassin's bullet, and now Roosevelt stood ready to rise to the highest office in the land. Roosevelt had been in the vice-presidency for barely six months and had privately feared that his political career was ended with his election to a largely powerless office. Yet at 3:32 pm of September 14th, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 26th President of the United States as a consequence of unforeseen tragedy. Roosevelt's administration would expand the role of the United States in world affairs, change the relationship between the American government and its citizens, and alter the shape of the presidency itself. The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS preserves the former Ansley Wilcox home, the scene of this fateful turning point in American history.

The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves and protects the former Ansley Wilcox residence, site of the inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as 26th President of the United States which occurred on September 14, 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley.
The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site interprets the inauguration, not just as a single event, but as the beginning of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and a turning point in United States history and the office of the presidency. One of the very few inaugural sites outside the nation’s capital, the Site represents the orderly presidential succession process in the United States.

The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site is one of the few 1830’s structures still in existence in Buffalo built originally as officer’s quarters for the Buffalo Barracks. The Site interprets the city’s cultural, social, industrial and economic environment at the turn of the century.