McKinley was assassinated in September 1901 , and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt . Taft and Roosevelt had first become friends around 1890 while Taft was Solicitor General and Roosevelt a member of the Civil Service Commission . Taft had , after McKinley 's election , urged the appointment of Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy , and watched as Roosevelt became a war hero , Governor of New York , and Vice President of the United States . They met again when Taft went to Washington in January 1902 to recuperate after two operations caused by an infection . There , Taft testified before the Senate Committee on the Philippines . Taft wanted Filipino farmers to have a stake in the new government through land ownership , but much of the arable land was held by Catholic religious orders of mostly Spanish priests , which were often resented by the Filipinos . Roosevelt had Taft go to Rome to negotiate with Pope Leo XIII , to purchase the lands and to arrange the withdrawal of the Spanish priests , with Americans replacing them and training locals as clergy . Taft did not succeed in resolving these issues on his visit to Rome , but an agreement on both points was made in 1903
assassinated
Assassination of William McKinley
William Howard Taft