A ranar 6 ga Satumba, 1901, Shugaba McKinley yana halartar bikin baje kolin kayayyakin Amurka a Buffalo, New York lokacin da ya
Leon Czolgosz ne ya harbe shi. Roosevelt yana hutu a Vermont, kuma ya yi tafiya zuwa Buffalo don ziyarci McKinley a asibiti. Ya bayyana cewa McKinley zai dawo, don haka Roosevelt ya ci gaba da hutunsa a Adirondacks. Lokacin da yanayin McKinley ya tsananta, Roosevelt ya sake tafiya zuwa Buffalo. McKinley ya mutu a ranar 14 ga Satumba, kuma an sanar da Roosevelt yayin da yake a Arewa Creek; ya ci gaba zuwa Buffalo kuma an rantsar da shi a matsayin shugaban kasa na 26 a gidan Ansley Wilcox.