William Loeb, Jr.

William Loeb, Jr. (1866-1937) began as a stenographer for Theodore Roosevelt and became, by 1903, his private secretary, a trusted assistant and advisor, widely recognized as Roosevelt’s “right-hand man.”

The son of William and Louisa Myer, Loeb was born in Albany, New York, where he graduated from high school before embarking upon a career as a stenographer. He worked first for Episcopal Bishop William Croswell Doane, and then had a short stint as a journalist before moving into the world of Republican politics in Albany. Loeb labored variously as stenographer or private secretary for a lieutenant governor, a speaker of the Assembly, the president pro-tem of the Senate, a district attorney, the New York State Constitutional Convention, and a gubernatorial candidate with whom he had traveled, meeting Republican politicians across the state.

It appears that Roosevelt first hired Loeb in 1888, to assist when Roosevelt’s secretary was ill. Loeb impressed Roosevelt with his understanding of state politics, his familiarity with several powerful Republican leaders, and his proficiency as a secretary.

Loeb continued in Roosevelt’s employ when Roosevelt became governor and served through the vice-presidential term. Once Roosevelt ascended to the presidency, Loeb was made assistant secretary (1901-1903) under George B. Cortelyou. In 1903, Cortelyou stepped into the Cabinet as the nation’s first Secretary of the newly created Commerce and Labor Department. At that time, Loeb became the senior presidential secretary, and remained in that position until Roosevelt left office in 1909.

Loeb oversaw an office consisting of thirteen to sixteen clerks and several messengers. One of their tasks was to handle the president’s correspondence by noting the arrival of all letters and telegrams, replying to those considered mundane, and forwarding others to the president’s attention or to the federal department best equipped to respond. Loeb and his staff also read and clipped relevant articles from newspapers from across the country to paste into scrapbooks and put in clipping files. Loeb continued innovations started by Cortelyou, including White House press briefings, making arrangements for the press corps as the president traveled, and providing an advance copy of some of the president’s remarks. Eventually, he worked so closely with the president that Roosevelt trusted him to serve as a substitute in speaking to journalists, as a modern-day press secretary.

Loeb played another important function in Roosevelt’s White House: he controlled access to the president. He gained the nickname “Stonewall Loeb” because he was unafraid to bar the door when he believed that a caller’s query could be answered without the president’s time. Loeb’s job positioned him to be among the best sources of information for the president. This was especially helpful during the 1904 and 1908 election seasons. Further, he shared Roosevelt’s work ethic, and was unbothered about long days and late nights.

In thanks for his service, outgoing President Roosevelt wanted to make Loeb the Collector of the Port of New York. With incoming President William H. Taft’s acquiescence, this was accomplished, and Loeb served as Collector throughout Taft’s presidency.

After Roosevelt’s death, Loeb was a founding member of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association. In Oyster Bay, where the Loebs lived, he advocated the creation of a playground as part of the town’s proposed Roosevelt Memorial Park. Loeb eventually took up a career in business. In the 1920s, for example, he was the vice president of the American Smelting and Refining Company in New York City. He died in 1937. He was survived by his wife, Katharine W. Dorr, whom he had married in 1902, and by their son, William, for whom Theodore Roosevelt had been godfather.