Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Horace Lorimer
Subject(s): Adams, Henry C. (Henry Carter), 1851-1921, Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915, Bliss, Cornelius Newton, 1833-1911, Books and reading, Browning, Robert, 1812-1889, Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917, Bullock, Seth, 1849-1919, Civil service, Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908, Criticism, Daniels, Ben, 1852-1923, Debs, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor), 1855-1926, Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870, Fairbanks, Charles W. (Charles Warren), 1852-1918, Gould, Jay, 1836-1892, Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901, Haywood, Big Bill, 1869-1928, Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951, Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920, Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821-1900, Kearney, Denis, 1847-1907, La Farge, John, 1835-1910, Lewis, Alfred Henry, 1857-1914, Llewellyn, William H. H. (William Henry Harrison), 1851-1927, Masterson, Bat, 1853-1921, McKinley, William, 1843-1901, Merrifield, Arthur William, 1855-1929, Mitchell, John, 1870-1919, Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, Moyer, Charles H., Parks, Samuel, -1904, Patriotism, Phillips, David Graham, 1867-1911, Presidents--Evaluation, Reynolds, James Bronson, 1861-1924, Richards, Laura Elizabeth Howe, 1850-1943, Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August), 1849-1914, Root, Elihu, 1845-1937, Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1848-1907, Sewall, William Wingate, 1845-1930, Thanet, Octave, 1850-1934, Tillman, Benjamin R. (Benjamin Ryan), 1847-1918, Twain, Mark, 1835-1910, United States. Congress, Willis, John, 1857-1944, Zola, Émile, 1840-1902
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After talking with George Horace Lorimer, President Roosevelt went back and read The Plum Tree through all the way, after previously having read only half of it. The ending of the book reconciles Roosevelt to many of the problems he had with it throughout, but he still holds many issues with the book which he lays out for Lorimer. The author, David Graham Phillips, falls into the trap of overstating the sort of corruption that is present in politics, and while Roosevelt freely admits that corruption is present–which, he points out, he is working against–there are also many good people working in politics as well. In a postscript of several days later, Roosevelt comments on several of Phillips’s articles on the Senate, in which he acts similarly by taking “certain facts that are true in themselves, and […] ignoring utterly a very much large mass of facts that are just as true and just as important.” Roosevelt criticizes Phillips for working with William Randolph Hearst to achieve notoriety.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-05-12
Creator(s)
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Recipient
Lorimer, George Horace, 1869-1937
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Page Count
13
Production Method
Record Type
Multi-image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Horace Lorimer. [May 12, 1906]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o195508. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919. Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Horace Lorimer. [12 May. 1906]. Multi-image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 16, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o195508.
APA:
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919., [1906, May 12]. Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Horace Lorimer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o195508.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 16, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
