Your TR Source
Secretary of State Root sends President Roosevelt a letter and emphatically asks him not to appoint the person named in the letter to an office, but simply to read the letter and let Root know whether he objects to him sending it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-14
Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon has informed Secretary of State Root that James E. Sullivan was made an official representative of the United States at the Olympics because of Caspar Whitney’s appeal to President Roosevelt. This could potentially put the United States into the difficult position of either apologizing to England or justifying Sullivan’s “undoubted misbehavior.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11
Secretary of State Root has read the articles, papers, and correspondence relating to the conflict between the American and British officials regarding the Olympics in London. Root believes that the paper put out by the British embassy is “purely defensive,” and that the wisest thing for the United States to do in this situation is “shut up.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-24
Secretary of State Root informs Arizona Chief Justice Kent that President Roosevelt would like him to accept an appointment as judge of the United States Court for China at Shanghai. The court is in charge of American interests in China, and Kent would have an instrumental role in securing its prestige.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-17
Secretary of State Root jokingly complains that Charles Hitchcock Sherrill will hate him after President Roosevelt’s recent letter. Root disagrees with Roosevelt’s proposed removal of around half of his ministers and secretaries who are “perfectly good men, but of no special importance.” He argues that their replacements would be similarly unremarkable, and compares Roosevelt to the Queen in Alice in Wonderland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-10
Secretary of State Root is glad President Roosevelt enjoyed the performance at Saratoga. While he notes that it was difficult for men who Governor Charles Evans Hughes had treated poorly to nominate him again, Root sympathized with them in a way that helped avoid true conflict. Hughes disrespects the aspects of the Republican party which led to his nomination. Root finds Roosevelt’s letter to William Jennings Bryan to be cutting, and lets Roosevelt know of his upcoming travel plans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-24
Secretary of State Root presents his thoughts on matters discussed in President Roosevelt’s previous letters. Topics include whether to send a minister for Abyssinia, Japan’s rescheduling of their planned exposition, Ambassador William Woodville Rockhill’s report on the Lamas, the situation on the Mexican frontier, and the renomination of Governor Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-23
Secretary of State Root returns President Roosevelt’s letter with suggestions. He and Japanese Ambassador Kogoro Takahira have prepared an announcement regarding the Japan Exposition’s postponement, which will appear in the newspapers of September 2.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-30
Secretary of State Root asks that President Roosevelt briefly redirect his attention from “Hippopotamuses & Anthropophageusses” to the enclosed Saratoga Convention speech, but that he not appoint anyone from it. Root thinks the threat to the campaign comes from the voter’s disappointment with the Republican party’s handling of their concerns, and although the same can be said of the Democrats, the ruling party gets the blame. Root is glad to know Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has recovered.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-12
Secretary of State Root returns President Roosevelt’s write-up on the Navy with some edits suggesting the postponement of war until they obtain the four battleships. Root says that it is “a bully spiel.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-13
Secretary of State Root informs President Roosevelt that he has agreed to preside over the Republican State Convention in Saratoga, New York, and asks for campaign literature to bring himself up to date about what to say in his remarks and to the people. Root has heard from Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon that children in Central America are dying of childhood diseases. Root is reassured by Japanese Ambassador Kogoro Takahira’s letter, but is cautious in his expectations concerning Japanese cooperation in limiting Japanese workers from entering the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
Secretary of State Root tells President Roosevelt that he would be glad to spend a night at Sagamore Hill, and thinks it would be good to bring Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon as well. Root has not read a newspaper for several days, and feels disconnected from current events.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-08
Secretary of State Root forwards to President Roosevelt a memorandum originally for Senator Julius C. Burrows about the foreign affairs accomplishments of the administration. In a handwritten note, Root says that he had forgotten half of it when he began dictating the memorandum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-02
Secretary of State Root returns the letters from Charles E. Magoon, Occupational Governor of Cuba. He tells President Roosevelt that “there could be no better man” to be minister of Cuba, but he fears Magoon will want to go home and practice law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
Secretary of State Root returns Secretary of War William H. Taft’s report on his recent visit to Panama and will take up the matter at any time it is convenient for President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-20
Secretary of State Elihu Root accepts President Roosevelt’s invitation to attend the upcoming Conference of Governors.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-23
Secretary of State Root notes changes that should be made to the letter being sent to United States Ambassador to Germany Charlemagne Tower. Root feels it would not be wise to say anything against Ambassador to Italy Lloyd Carpenter Griscom, and has softened the statement about Tower’s leaving his post, placing the blame on the Germans. He has also added a note on the importance of silence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-05
Secretary of State Root teases President Roosevelt for his tardiness for by writing, “It is hereby ordered that $2.50 be deducted from the President’s salary for his being late at the office Saturday April 11th, 1908,” and signs the note from Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-11
In light of the most recent report by Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf, Secretary of State Root recommends that no further action be taken by Congress in regard to setting up a system of government for American Samoa. The natives there already have a “just conception” of the type of government that best suits them and interference from Congress would make a mess of it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-02
Secretary of State Root tells Ambassador to Germany Tower that the department is surprised to hear that Emperor William II disapproves of the appointment of David Jayne Hill as Tower’s successor. Emperor William had agreed to Hill’s appointment before it was publicly announced. Root does not see how anything can be changed at this stage. They await Tower’s letter to President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-25