Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States at 3:32 o’clock Saturday afternoon, September 14, 1901. The oath of office was administered by Judge John R. Hazel, of the United States District Court, in the library of the residence of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, at Buffalo. Mr. Wilcox was an old friend of the Vice-President, and the latter had made Mr. Wilcox’s house his home during his stay in Buffalo, after the shooting of the President. The delay in taking the oath after the death of the President was the result of the sanguine feeling among the people that President McKinley would recover from his wounds. No one shared this feeling in a higher degree than the Vice-President. When the news that the President had been shot became public Vice-President Roosevelt was in the East. He started immediately for Buffalo, and was at the President’s bedside as soon as possible. He remained in Buffalo until the physicians announced that there was no fear of the President’s death, and then left for the Adirondacks. When the President began to sink Thursday night messages were sent to the Vice-President and those members of the Cabinet who, like himself, had left Buffalo, deluded into the belief that the President would soon be able to return to the Capital. The Vice-President, with his usual promptitude, started on the return trip to Buffalo, greatly saddened by the news which made such a step necessary. He made a hard night ride from the North Woods to Albany, and by the use of a special train reached Buffalo at 1:35 o’clock Saturday afternoon. To avoid the crowd which had gathered at the Union Station to see him, the Vice-President alighted at the Terrace Station of the New York Central, where a police and military escort awaited him. He insisted first of all on visiting Mrs. McKinley and offering condolences to her in her hour of anguish. This step he desired to take simply as a private citizen, and when it was accomplished the Vice-President announced himself as ready to take the oath as President. A strong escort of military and police had assembled at the Milburn house to escort him to Mr. Wilcox’s, but its presence annoyed the Vice-President, and he halted the guards with a quick, imperative military command, saying he would have only two policemen to go along with him. Later he announced that he did not want to establish the precedent of going about guarded. The place selected for the administration of the oath was the library of Mr. Wilcox’s house, a rather small room, but picturesque, the heavy oak trimmings and the massive bookcases giving it somewhat the appearance of a legal den. A pretty bay window with stained glass and heavy hangings formed a background, and against this Colonel Roosevelt took his position. Judge Hazel stood near him in the bay window, and Colonel Roosevelt showed his almost extreme nervousness by plucking at the lapel of his long frock coat and nervously tapping the hardwood floor with his heel.