Some historical context...
COVER: Theodore Roosevelt had served President McKinley as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He resigned to fight in the Spanish-American war and returned a hero. Elected to the governorship of New York, Roosevelt ran afoul of Thomas Platt, the Republican machine's boss, by supporting reforms and tax increases on the party's corporate donors. To get rid of Roosevelt, Platt launched a campaign to nominate him as McKinley's Vice-President in the 1900 election. Like most people the ambitious Roosevelt saw the Vice-Presidency as a dead end job. He resisted the nomination for a while but eventually accepted. Things were still up in the air when this issue of LIFE appeared though TR's star was clearly rising. I'm unsure who "Mac," the frightened man in the Admiral suit represents. He resembles McKinley, but most sources say that while McKinley had misgivings about Roosevelt, the President felt secure in his re-election.
PAGE 5: In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus had been convicted of treason in a closed-door trial on the basis of a "secret dossier" supposedly containing documents proving his guilt. Neither Dreyfus nor his attorney were allowed to see the dossier. By 1896 it was clear that key documents in the dossier were forgeries. Public outcry both for and against Dreyfus had divided the country and pressured the Army was into giving him a retrial. At the time this issue of LIFE was assembled the trial was underway, though soon after the newsstand date Dreyfus was convicted again and given 10 more years. But the drama wasn't over...the "Affaire Dreyfus" makes for captivating reading.
Link to the book:
Life 876
