Burton, David H. (David Henry), 1925-2016

David H. Burton recounts his two hour conversation with Alice Roosevelt Longworth of February 1970. Burton notes that the two talked about a biography of Warren G. Harding, Burton’s latest research project on Theodore Roosevelt, and Longworth’s visits to the White House during the presidencies of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. Photographs of Burton and Longworth accompany the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2010

David H. Burton examines the life of poet Edward Arlington Robinson and the role played by President Theodore Roosevelt in rescuing him from poverty and obscurity. Burton reveals that it was Roosevelt’s son, Kermit Roosevelt, who introduced the president to Arlington’s poetry, and Burton also describes Roosevelt’s patronage of Robinson, arranging for a civil service job for which he performed no work but which allowed him ample time to write poetry.

 

A full page portrait of Robinson and the logo of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the essay.

David H. Burton reviews David Fromkin’s The King and the Cowboy in two paragraphs and argues that the relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII put forward in the title “is somewhat contrived” given that the two were actually together for the first time at the latter’s state funeral. Burton says that the United States and Great Britain did draw closer together during Roosevelt’s administration, but not because of a working relationship between the king and the cowboy.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2008

David H. Burton reviews Artists of Power: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Their Enduring Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy. Burton notes the contributions of eight historians to the work, and he stresses that although Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are often seen at odds, the two presidents both wanted to see the establishment of some kind of international organization to secure global peace after World War I. Burton acknowledges that Roosevelt and Wilson had major impacts on American diplomacy and security and that their policies led to a larger role for the United States in global affairs.

A photograph of Roosevelt with his right hand resting on a large globe illustrates the review.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

David H. Burton provides biographies of three Roosevelt women: Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Burton emphasizes Edith Roosevelt’s importance to her husband, Theodore Roosevelt, from raising their children to overseeing the renovation of the White House. With Longworth, Burton notes her marriage to Nicholas Longworth and her antipathy to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he says that her influence suffered because “she was never for anything.” Burton highlights Eleanor Roosevelt’s sad childhood but pays attention to, and praises, her considerable humanitarian work both as First Lady and in her later life.

A drawing of Edith Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent and photographs of Longworth and Eleanor Roosevelt supplement the text. A text box containing contact information for the Theodore Roosevelt Association also appears in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal