Crane's rise in politics began in 1892, when he was invited to attend the Republican National Convention as a delegate by the "Young Republican Club", a group of Massachusetts Republicans, organized in 1888, who would come to dominate the state party apparatus and political landscape [REF].
Crane was hosting President Roosevelt in Pittsfield on September 3, 1902 when a speeding trolley car rammed into the open-air horse carriage carrying Roosevelt.