In 1898, it was often called the "Spanish War."

Today, however, it is referred to as the Spanish-American War and Michigan men played key roles in it. Leelanau men also fought in the war.

The short, decisive war, which excited the public who followed it closely in the newspapers, created a number of heroes. Some publications expended enormous amounts of ink and newsprint on the war, but the Enterprise was not one of them.

Editor William Nelson seems to have had, in fact, some disdain for what he called “the drawing room heroes” who sometimes would “re-write” dispatches to suit the war office.

Some of the heroes remained in the public eye for years, while others faded from view much more quickly. One enduring personality catapulted to national fame was Theodore Roosevelt.

Serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy when the war began, he resigned from that office for a more active role: “Colonel.” Roosevelt subsequently led the “Rough Riders” up San Juan Hill in Cuba and gained national fame.

Another hero of the war was Adm. George Dewey, whose squadron destroyed a Spanish fleet at Manila with the loss of only one American life (a stoker in one of his ships who probably died due to heat exhaustion). Dewey’s instant fame was such that there was even much talk about making him president.

Although he was only seven years old at the time, former Leelanau publisher Karl Detzer recalled all the hoopla years later.

“Brother Gus, the youngest member of the family, who arrived in 1899, was the only boy baby in our neighborhood not named Dewey,” he wrote in his autobiography.

Dewey, although a devoted and capable Navy man, didn’t fully grasp what it would mean to be president, and never became a serious contender for the office.

Roosevelt, however, was elected governor of New York and was then put on the Republican ticket in 1900 as incumbent William McKinley’s vice-president.

Roosevelt had been seen as too much of a renegade by many party regulars and it was felt that the vice-presidency, then largely ceremonial, would put him on the sidelines where he would do less harm. Marcus Hanna, however, a wealthy Ohioan who was the major power behind President McKinley, saw things differently.

“The damned fools,” he said, “don’t they realize there’s only one heartbeat between Roosevelt and the presidency?”

A year later, Hanna’s worst fears were realized when McKinley was shot by an anarchist and died eight days later.

“Now look – that damned cowboy is president!” Hanna exclaimed.

But Roosevelt was immensely popular with the public and easily won re-election to the presidency in 1904. In 1908, following the tradition that no president had ever served more than eight years, he endorsed William H. Taft and “stepped aside,” leaving politics to others – for a few years. (See related story in this week’s Diversions section on Page. 10.)

Following the “Spanish War,” Taft had served as governor of the Philippines, which had been taken from Spain by the U.S. It hadn’t been an easy job. Some Filipinos felt that they had merely “traded one master for another” and an insurgency, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, was soon under way.

On May 10, 1900, the Enterprise carried the following paragraph:

“In declaring, on the eve of his departure for home, that the war in the Philippines is at an end, it is possible that Gen. Otis was merely indicating to Gen. McArthur what a snap awaits him.”

This war following a war was anything but a snap, however, and there was no enthusiasm for it, unlike the earlier war with Spain.

Incidentally, the commander named in the Enterprise brief was Arthur McArthur, father of Gen. Douglass McArthur of World War II and Korean War fame.

After considerable bloodshed, Aguinaldo was finally defeated in 1901 and “forced to swear allegiance to the U.S.” But Cuba was always the main focus of the “Spanish War” and a Michigan native, Gen. William Rufus Shafter, was commander of the American forces there. Although he was competent enough, the 300-pound Shafter wasn’t particularly well liked by the press, partly because he wouldn’t reveal to them what he was going to do in advance.

One account referred to his girth: “The general, who weighs one-sixth of a ton, …”

Another Michigan man, who fared much worse than Shafter, was Secretary of War Russell Alger. Because of foulups, such as the issuance of woolen uniforms for tropical campaigns and tainted provisions, he was ultimately forced to resign “in order to save the McKinley administration from embarrassment,” according to Michigan historian Willis Dunbar.

Despite statements of policy such as the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had largely kept to itself prior to 1898 and had stood aloof from the rest of the world. But the “Spanish War” changed all of that.