Knott, Richard Wilson, 1849-1917

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-03-26

Creator(s)

Knott, Richard Wilson, 1849-1917

Recipient

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Richard Wilson Knott asks President Roosevelt to support a federal investigation into charges of voter fraud and voter intimidation in Louisville, Kentucky.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-14

Richard Wilson Knott writes to John Robert Procter to discuss President Roosevelt’s image and race relations in the South.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-03

In speaking of Theodore Roosevelt’s partial endorsement of the proposition that the government fix steel prices, Richard Wilson Knott had in mind Roosevelt’s previous statement after Elbert H. Gary’s testimony and subsequent article in The Outlook. However, he believes he was mistaken. He feels that there are times when the government is justified in taking charge of properties, such as the Panama Canal. Knott comments that President William H. Taft’s administration has “thrown back the cause of progressive politics in Kentucky six years.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-19

Richard Wilson Knott sends Theodore Roosevelt an article about the purchase of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company. He acknowledges Roosevelt’s partial endorsement of Judge Elbert H. Gary’s proposal that the government can fix the price of any commodity. However, he disagrees with this notion and believes the solution is to relieve the American market from outside forces that determine prices. Knott agrees with Roosevelt about the necessity of additional legislation like the Sherman Act but warns against the “tyranny of the bureaucrat.” He asks Roosevelt to reconsider his position on the issue. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-04

Richard W. Knott writes to Theodore Roosevelt to offer his dissenting opinion in regards to regulating prices in interstate commerce. Knott contends that the federal government exercising control over interstate commerce too much could jeopardize industrial progress by eliminating competition between companies.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-03

Richard Wilson Knott encloses an article he wrote yesterday regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in the Standard Oil Case. Knott fears that the Supreme Court will leave too little room for interpretation of their decisions, and trusts that Theodore Roosevelt feels the same way and will stand his ground on trust-busting. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-17

Richard Wilson Knott regrets that he was unable to visit Theodore Roosevelt on his trip to New York. He shares that in Kentucky the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for governor is Edward C. O’Rear, who is a progressive Republican. Knott hopes that O’Rear will be nominated.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-03

Creator(s)

Knott, Richard Wilson, 1849-1917

Richard Wilson Knott received Frank Harper’s letter. He regrets that he was unable to make it to New York but will write to Theodore Roosevelt when he is back in Louisville.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-01

Richard Wilson Knott wants to meet Theodore Roosevelt at his office next week while in New York City for the Associated Press meeting. He reports no political developments in the West except on a local level.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-20

Richard Wilson Knott praises Theodore Roosevelt’s response in The Outlook to criticisms of him in the press. He has heard that Roosevelt is traveling to the South in the spring and hopes that he can stop in Louisville. There are no pressing political issues there at present, so it may or may not be a good time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-04

President Roosevelt’s message concerning the details of Judge J. Otis Humphrey’s decision has aroused strong criticism among his opponents. Richard Wilson Knott has enclosed an article from the Evening Post so Roosevelt can see what responses his supporters were making.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-25

Richard Wilson Knott describes the negotiations, particularly between William O’Connell Bradley and John Watson Yerkes, to unite the Republican factions in Kentucky behind President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-26

Richard Wilson Knott writes to Augustus Everett Willson about Republican politics and the various factions of the party in Kentucky.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-28

Richard Wilson Knott encloses a letter he wrote in response to a letter from Augustus Everett Willson regarding the situation in Kentucky.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-28

Richard Wilson Knott plans to follow Kentucky Republican John Watson Yerkes in hoping to secure a delegation to the Republican National Convention in support of President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-26

Richard Wilson Knott encloses an editorial from the Louisville Evening Post about politics in the South. He discusses political support in Kentucky for President Roosevelt and believes that Roosevelt’s Panama policy will “strengthen” him in the South and in the West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-19

President Roosevelt’s determination to hire civil service workers based on merits rather than political motivation has alienated the party machine and lost him support in the South. In particular, Roosevelt’s focus on civil service reform has led to the removal of many unqualified party machine appointees, including many African American workers. These same actions, however, have won Roosevelt support elsewhere, and no one is likely to oppose him successfully for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1904.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-18

Richard Wilson Knott informs President Roosevelt that he believes conditions have improved for the Republican party in Kentucky since a recent letter he wrote to the president. Despite the factions in the Republican party, a Republican party victory is more important than a “Roosevelt” party victory.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-12

Richard Wilson Knott discusses the status of Kentucky politics and the workings of the different factions of the Republican Party in that state.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-25