Your TR Source
S. S. McClure was disappointed that he was not able to arrange to publish President Roosevelt’s upcoming articles from when he is in Africa, but nevertheless asks for Roosevelt’s advice regarding some of the policies and plans that he has for McClure’s Magazine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-26
S. S. McClure modifies his offer to hire President Roosevelt to write journal articles while on his African safari. McClure offers Roosevelt $60,000 for twelve articles, or $100,000 for twenty articles if Roosevelt visited other countries around the world after completing his safari. McClure is also interested in publishing a book by Roosevelt, and would offer royalties of 20% for the first five thousand copies, and 22 1/2% for sales beyond that. McClure says that he needs these articles more than others, and compares the situation to a conversation between General Daniel Edgar Sickles and President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He would like to talk to Roosevelt in person, if possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-01
S. S. McClure tells William Loeb that he has sent H. Rider Haggard with a letter to President Roosevelt offering $6,000 per article for Roosevelt’s African series. Before Roosevelt makes a final decision, McClure would like to visit him personally to make his case. McClure believes that magazines are a better medium for Roosevelt’s articles than newspapers, and says that McClure’s Magazine is both worthy and has a large circulation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-02
S. S. McClure writes again to President Roosevelt to ask about the chance of having Roosevelt write articles for McClure’s Magazine. McClure recently spoke with Albert Shaw, who advised that Roosevelt not decide on the matter for a few days, and mentioned the benefit of having articles printed in a magazine rather than a newspaper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-02
S. S. McClure is disappointed that he was unable to get Roosevelt’s African articles, but he is pleased, if he could not get them, that they will be published in Scribner’s Magazine. He hopes that Roosevelt will eventually agree to write something for McClure’s Magazine, and that he did not annoy Roosevelt in trying to get the African articles.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
S. S. McClure is sorry that he could not publish President Roosevelt’s African articles, and wonders if it would be possible to make preliminary arrangements for other articles in the future.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-16
S. S. McClure tells President Roosevelt that if he has committed to going on an African trip and has not yet arranged for the publication of articles he writes there, McClure would be interested in negotiating with Roosevelt to publish them in McClure’s Magazine. He asks Roosevelt to respond to his New York office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-09
S. S. McClure is sending President Roosevelt proofs from a collection of cartoons by John T. McCutcheon and asks if Roosevelt would consider writing an introductory note for the book.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-26
S. S. McClure writes to President Roosevelt to say he has asked William Allen White to write two articles about Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-22
S. S. McClure requests a photograph of President Roosevelt with Pastor Wagner to include in the article.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-20
S. S. McClure encloses Pastor Charles Wagner’s article about his visit to the White House and Ida Tarbell’s paper on Rockefeller. McClure wants to publish an article about Roosevelt’s first term in the October issue. McClure would like to publish an article explaining Roosevelt’s “Paul Morton letter.” Morton was Second Vice-President of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway System. McClure discusses his recent trip to Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and the time he spent with Missouri Governor Joseph Folk, whose leadership he praises. In the letter’s postscript, McClure asks that Edith Roosevelt look over the “conversation part” of the article concerning Wagner’s visit to the White House.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-18
S. S. McClure wants President Roosevelt to know that Lincoln Steffens is out of town, but will reply to his letter when he returns. McClure and Steffens understand that Roosevelt’s word on Hanna’s interview is final, but Steffens would like a chance to explain how he got it wrong. Steffens has been “taking the measure of men” since the beginning of his articles. Steffens collects facts and “all our articles are understatement.” McClure wants Roosevelt to remember that they are confronted by “one evil, not several evils” and that the important question is “For whom and by whom is this country being governed?” McClure believes Roosevelt will bring about the answer to that question. McClure would like to meet with Roosevelt and Steffens to discuss Steffens’s work in Washington next year.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-07
S. S. McClure tells President Roosevelt that he wants the articles that he will write while on safari in Africa more than he has ever wanted anything for his magazine. McClure also has ideas for other series of articles that he thinks Roosevelt should write, including a history of the development of the United States since the death of Abraham Lincoln, and a study of social and governmental matters in other countries.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-02
S. S. McClure thinks it would be a good idea to send Lincoln Steffens to Puerto Rico and Cuba to show the good that the United States has done for these two islands. Also, due to the high interest in the Philippines and the upcoming Congressional investigation, McClure offers to send a well respected man to the Philippines to “get at the truth.” He then covers a few options for who should be sent, including university presidents like Woodrow Wilson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-22
McClure’s Magazine does not have a foreign edition and President Roosevelt’s article from last winter was sold to a London periodical. This is the standard practice they follow for overseas publishing. Occasionally, as in this case, the article appears overseas much later then in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-07