The Attempted Murder of Teddy Roosevelt

In 1902, while touring New England, President Theodore Roosevelt is involved in an accident when his carriage is broadsided by a streetcar, killing his bodyguard. Roosevelt is convinced this was no accident and calls on his secretary of state, John Hay, to investigate the matter. Hay assisted President Lincoln with the investigation of his son Willie’s death (The Murder of Willie Lincoln) is no stranger to detective work. Because Roosevelt succeeded President McKinley after his assassination at the hands of an anarchist, Hay begins with the anarchists, including the well-known rabble-rouser Emma Goldman. Besides Goldman, Hay’s investigation puts him in the path of other well-known figures, including Henry Adams, J.P. Morgan, and even journalist Nellie Bly. The anarchist theory is quickly discarded, and Hay soon finds that the answer lies closer to home than he ever could have suspected.