Editing Theodore Roosevelt (section)

===State Assemblyman===
[[File:TR NY State Assemblyman 1883 crop.jpg|thumb|upright|Roosevelt as a member of the [[New York State Assembly]] in 1883]]
In [[1881 New York state election|1881]], Roosevelt won election to the [[New York State Assembly]], representing the [[New York's 21st State Assembly district|21st district]], then centered on the "Silk Stocking District" of New York County's [[Upper East Side]]. He served in the [[105th New York State Legislature|1882]], [[106th New York State Legislature|1883]], and [[107th New York State Legislature|1884]] sessions of the legislature. He began making his mark immediately: he blocked a corrupt effort of financier [[Jay Gould]] to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed the collusion of Gould and Judge [[Theodoric R. Westbrook|Theodore Westbrook]] and successfully argued for an investigation, aiming for the judge to be impeached. Although the investigation committee rejected the impeachment, Roosevelt had exposed corruption in [[Albany, New York|Albany]] and assumed a high and positive profile in New York publications.{{Sfn|Brands|1997|pp=134–140}}

Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in [[1882 New York state election|1882]] by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made more impressive by the victory that Democratic gubernatorial candidate [[Grover Cleveland]] won in Roosevelt's district.{{Sfn|Miller|1992|pp=138–139}} With Conkling's [[Stalwart (politics)|Stalwart]] faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the [[assassination of President James Garfield]], Roosevelt won election as party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill.{{Sfn|Miller|1992|pp=140–142}} Roosevelt won re-election and sought the office of [[Speaker of the New York State Assembly|Speaker]], but [[Titus Sheard]] obtained the position.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/01/01/106134466.pdf | title = Mr Sheard to be Speaker | newspaper = The New York Times | date = January 1, 1884 | access-date = June 13, 2018 | archive-date = February 25, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210225073137/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/01/01/106134466.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Miller|1992|p=153}} Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities, during which he wrote more bills than any other legislator.<ref>Edward P. Kohn, {{"-}}'A Most Revolting State of Affairs': Theodore Roosevelt's Aldermanic Bill and the New York Assembly City Investigating Committee of 1884", ''American Nineteenth Century History'' (2009) 10#1 pp: 71–92.</ref>