Knox for the nomination. Mr. Knox
at the President's suggestion, prepared and delivered several
speeches in the hope that he would awaken popular enthusiasm. The
attempt failed dismally.
There was not a responsive throb, not even a vague echo. Mr. Knox
knew that he possessed not the merest shred of the leadership
necessary to a presidential candidate.
He went back to the Senate, where he had succeeded Matthew Quay
upon his resignation from the Cabinet, sadder if wiser, while
William H. Taft draped upon his broad shoulders the mantle of
Roosevelt.
Mr. Knox has never quite recovered from that disappointment, but he
did not altogether abandon hope. He accepted a place in the Taft
Cabinet as Secretary of State, more for the opportunities it
offered than for the pleasure of the associations, for Mr. Knox's
attitude toward President Taft was never more than passive
tolerance tinged with contempt. This new venture was no more
successful than the old. He made it quite evident that a new regime
was to be established in the State Department. The policies
originated by John Hay and developed with singular brilliancy by
Mr. Root were shunted into the background and a new era was
proclaimed. It is unnecessary to comment on the dismal essay at
"dollar diplomacy" and the Mexican policy of that period. The
simple fact is that Mr.
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