Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

President Roosevelt writes Nicholas Murray Butler that he is not surprised that Butler does not like his most recent message to Congress. Roosevelt says that he has received a lot of supportive letters, and he asserts that those with a sense of “righteousness and decency” will support his attacks on business leaders, corporations, and the newspapers that back them. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1908-02-06

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-12-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

President Roosevelt thanks Nicholas Murray Butler for sending the letter from Alfred Mosely to him. Roosevelt promises to take all precautions while he is in Africa to stay healthy. He is sure that he will have a bout or two of fever, but understands that with proper precautions such attacks are rarely fatal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-30

President Roosevelt is very interested in the book Columbia University President Butler mentioned and will send for it at once.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-13

President Roosevelt is glad to hear Nicholas Murray Butler’s thoughts on Maurice Francis Egan and David Jayne Hill. Roosevelt would prefer men like them over any other type of American representative.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-01

President Roosevelt tells Columbia University President Butler that he is glad that Benjamin Ide Wheeler is going to be the next professor. Roosevelt notes that Yale President Arthur Twining Hadley has “suffered somewhat” because he has not gotten a personal letter from him this year. Roosevelt asks Butler to tell Wheeler to remind him about it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-05

President Roosevelt responds to a letter from Nicholas Murray Butler that had criticized Roosevelt’s recent message to Congress. Roosevelt was not surprised by the letter, as Butler had been moving away from Roosevelt’s policies for the past year or two. While Roosevelt’s message did upset some people, he says that his real supporters have strongly supported it, and that he has received many letters to that effect. Roosevelt believes that he has done the right thing in speaking out against corruption in politics and business.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-06

President Roosevelt regrets that he cannot attend a dinner in honor of visiting Professor Rudolf Leonhard as Nicholas Murray Butler suggests, but can arrange for a dinner later. Roosevelt also says that the views of Thomas A. Painter, a former classmate of Butler’s, on financial trusts is in line with his own.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-02

President Roosevelt has written to German Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg about Nicholas Murray Butler’s proposal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-30

President Roosevelt thanks Columbia University President Butler for alerting him to a particularly disagreeable plank in the Nebraska Republican Party’s platform. Roosevelt believes these ideas are “the worst type of Jeffersonism.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-27

President Roosevelt shares his opinions on various politicians with Columbia University President Butler. He thinks that reactionaries hope to use politicians like New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, or Senator Philander C. Knox to enact their own agendas, but Roosevelt believes all of these men would be loyal to the nation’s interests. Roosevelt still feels that Secretary of War William H. Taft is the best man for the presidency, though he is not very concerned about the matter now.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-27

President Roosevelt agrees with Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler’s ideas about monetary policy, but does not see how they could be implemented at the present. Members of Congress are entirely at odds about what to do, and those who wish to revise the tariff now want to do so simply to hurt the Republican Party. Roosevelt is not concerned about reluctance to support Secretary of War William H. Taft’s bid for the presidency as he believes people are even more reluctant to support other candidates. He is more worried at the suggestion that each party might choose a nominee who had not held high office before, as Roosevelt believes a president must have experience handling the many responsibilities of the government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-24

President Roosevelt regrets missing Nicholas Murray Butler, as they have much to discuss. Roosevelt has feared an economic recession because of the recklessness of the financial sector and it is now coming to pass. He is certain that the newspapers entrenched on Wall Street will need to accept that his policies are here to stay, even once he leaves office. The President is concerned that so many of the richest Americans ally themselves with corrupt interests, and himself favors the common people over the dishonest elites. He believes that the Republicans should put off revising the tariff until after the next general election.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-20

President Roosevelt thanks President Butler of Columbia University for the book A False Democracy and says he will enjoy reading it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-03

President Roosevelt responds to Columbia University President Butler about the upcoming peace conference in New York City. Roosevelt chides Butler because he has already addressed the issue of peace, and if he keeps discussing this issue, he is going to appear to the public to be foolish and unpresidential.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-23