Imperial, California - The energetic Republican President had taken his first oath of office upon the death of President McKinley, who died of an assassin's gunshot wounds on September 14, 1901. Mr. Roosevelt had been President himself for three years at the election of 1904. The inaugural celebration was the largest and most diverse of any in memory: cowboys, Indians (including the Apache Chief Geronimo), coal miners, soldiers, and students were some of the groups represented.
The oath of office was administered on the East Portico of the Capitol by Chief Justice Melville Fuller.
