Editing Theodore Roosevelt (section)

===Presidential election of 1884===
{{See also|1884 United States presidential election}}
With numerous presidential hopefuls, Roosevelt supported Senator [[George F. Edmunds]] of Vermont. The state Republican Party preferred incumbent president, [[Chester Arthur]], who was known for passing the [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act]]. Roosevelt succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention. He then took control of the convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering supporters of Arthur and [[James G. Blaine]]; consequently, he gained a national reputation as a key politician in his state.{{sfn|Putnam|1958|pp=413–424}}

Roosevelt attended the [[1884 Republican National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], where he gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American [[John R. Lynch]], an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the [[Mugwump]] reformers against Blaine. However, Blaine gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, and won the nomination. In a crucial moment of his budding career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of fellow Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman...this needed...skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe."{{sfn|Brands|1997|p=171}} He was impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to then. 

Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the [[Little Missouri River (North Dakota)|Little Missouri River]].{{sfn|Putnam|1958|pp=445–450}} Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Cleveland, the [[History of the United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee in the general election. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt carelessly said he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication".{{sfn|Pringle|1956|p=61}} When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "I decline to answer."{{sfn|Putnam|1958|p=445}} In the end, he realized he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the party and did so in a press release.{{sfn|Putnam|1958|p=467}} Having lost the support of many reformers, and still reeling from the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and moved to [[North Dakota]].{{Sfn|Miller|1992|p=161}}