On September 6 , 1901 , President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo when he was shot by Leon Czolgosz . Roosevelt was vacationing in Vermont , and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital . It appeared that McKinley would recover , so he went on a planned family camping and hiking trip to Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks . In the mountains , a runner notified him McKinley was on his death bed . Roosevelt pondered with his wife , Edith , how best to respond , not wanting to show up in Buffalo and wait on McKinley 's death . Roosevelt was rushed by a series of stagecoaches to North Creek train station . At the station , Roosevelt was handed a telegram that said President McKinley died at 2:30 AM , September 14 , 1901 . The new President continued by train from North Creek to Buffalo . He arrived in Buffalo later that day , accepting an invitation to stay at the home of Ansley Wilcox ( now the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site ) . It was there , on the afternoon of September 14 , 1901 , that Hazel administered the oath to Roosevelt
was shot
Assassination of William McKinley
John R. Hazel