Roosevelt had mixed feelings about a third term , as he enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful , but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship . Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term , and he threw his support behind a successor so as to avoid a potential pro-Roosevelt delegate stampede at the 1908 Republican National Convention . Roosevelt personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root , but Root 's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate . New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt 's progressivism , but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent . Instead , Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War , William Howard Taft , who had ably served under Presidents Harrison , McKinley , and Roosevelt in various positions . Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890 , and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt 's policies . Many conservatives wanted to re-take leadership of the party from the progressive Roosevelt . Senator Joseph Foraker , who like Taft was from Ohio , briefly emerged as the main conservative candidate for the GOP nomination . However , Taft defeated Foraker 's attempt to win control of the Ohio Republican Party , and entered the convention as the strong favorite over Foraker , Hughes , and Senator Philander Knox
1908 Republican National Convention
1908 Republican National Convention
Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt