Your TR Source
President Roosevelt accepts Robert J. Collier’s invitation on behalf of the Lincoln Farm Association to give a speech at the log cabin where President Abraham Lincoln on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of his birth. Roosevelt counts himself lucky to be the president tasked with honoring Lincoln on his hundredth birthday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-11
President Roosevelt has an ongoing dispute with Dr. Albert Shaw of the Review of Reviews over whether or not Roosevelt said that Missouri gubernatorial candidate Cyrus Packard Walbridge is a better man than opposing candidate Joseph Wingate Folk. Roosevelt insists he said no such thing, and Shaw insists he did. Roosevelt sends a copy of a letter he received from Shaw to Collier. Roosevelt wishes not to discuss any of this in public, especially concerned about the misrepresentation of his political views.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
In an ongoing dispute over a letter written by Albert Shaw and circulating among Missouri politicians, which claims to represent the views of President Roosevelt, Roosevelt seeks to set the record straight. He disputes the authenticity of the letter itself several times, and asks to see it. He claims to have said nothing directly about the merits of either Cyrus Packard Walbridge or Joseph Wingate Folk, only that he was supporting the Republican ticket in every state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Robert J. Collier of the Lincoln Farm Association for the invitation to speak. However, he receives hundreds of similar requests and cannot accept them as they drain his time.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-08
Theodore Roosevelt invites Robert J. Collier to lunch with him and four members of the English polo team.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-19
Theodore Roosevelt explains that he is booked for Tommy Hitchcock’s box, but he invites the Colliers, the Hapgoods, and Mark Sullivan for lunch sometime.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-16
While Theodore Roosevelt is interested in airplanes, he asks Robert J. Collier not to request another speech from him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-25
Theodore Roosevelt hopes to see Robert J. Collier’s letters from Walter Page, Rudyard Kipling, and more. He is hoping he can accept Collier’s invitation, but is unsure. Roosevelt also provides literary feedback on Collier’s sonnet, believing “blue-coat or gray” to be better than “rebel or Yank.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-02-07
President Roosevelt thanks Robert J. Collier for the volume, which he will always treasure. He greatly enjoyed working with Collier.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-06
President Roosevelt has just seen an announcement from Robert J. Collier, and praises him for being able to write such an editorial, and says that Peter Fenolon Collier, Robert J. Collier’s father, should feel a genuine pride.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-30
President Roosevelt is glad that Robert J. Collier liked his speech, and would be pleased if Collier printed it as he proposes. Roosevelt jokes that he is glad that his speech cannot be printed side by side with the Gettysburg Address, however, because while it might be a good speech of the day, it would “be ruined if put side by side with one of the two or three great classics of human eloquence.” Roosevelt will look forward to reading Collier’s tribute to his father, Peter Fenelon Collier.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-29
President Roosevelt approves of the new guest list that Robert J. Collier has drawn up, and asks if he could shift the date to March 13, rather than March 6.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-05
President Roosevelt will be pleased to attend the gathering that Robert J. Collier proposes, but requests that it be a lunch. He wants to spend time with his wife, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, before his upcoming African safari. Roosevelt does not care for two of the guests, Charles M. Harvey and Richard Croker, but thinks it would be foolish to refuse to meet either man.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-02
President Roosevelt is sorry that Sarah Steward Collier will not be able to travel with Robert J. Collier when he visits on August 4. Roosevelt has been treated very nicely by both Collier and Mark Sullivan, and he feels very differently about Collier’s Weekly than he did four years ago. If an opportunity arises for Roosevelt to write something that Collier wants, Roosevelt will be glad to do so.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-14
President Roosevelt is sorry that he did not connect his presently planned hunting trip with Robert J. Collier’s previous offer. Scribner’s Magazine has handled Roosevelt’s past hunting trips, so he naturally thought of them first. Roosevelt is glad that Collier did not make his present offer when he first visited, as Roosevelt would have had a much harder time making a decision between the two magazines. Roosevelt hopes to be able to give Collier articles in the future, and hopes to meet with him and Mark Sullivan in person soon. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt assures Collier that if he were going on a world trip, as Collier initially proposed, he would definitely have turned to him first.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
President Roosevelt encloses a letter which explains itself. He thinks that both he and Collier’s should be careful not to do anything that could be accused of having “the slightest taint of sham,” and thinks they should ask the four officers of the American Historical Association to investigate the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
President Roosevelt enjoyed the clippings sent by Robert J. Collier. Roosevelt likes the article by Lincoln Steffens, although he notes that impressionist paintings, while they may give a good general view, are useless for analyzing specific geography. Steffens once told Roosevelt that he finds what Roosevelt would call “gossip” quite useful, and Roosevelt thinks that expresses the difference between him and Steffens perfectly. Roosevelt adds that Moody is a fine person undeserving of attack.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-04
President Roosevelt refutes the points made in an article published in Collier’s Weekly accusing Supreme Court Justice William H. Moody of misconduct while overseeing the Oregon land fraud scandal as Attorney General. The article alleged that Moody’s personal grudge against the chief prosecutor of the trial, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Francis J. Heney, led to him nearly undermining the case by allowing a U.S. Marshal implicated in the scandal to remain in his position, suggesting a potentially compromised judge to sit the case, and refusing to appoint the Heney-recommended William C. Bristol as District Attorney.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-26
President Roosevelt refutes the points made in an article published in Collier’s Weekly accusing Supreme Court Justice William H. Moody of misconduct while overseeing the Oregon land fraud scandal as Attorney General. The article alleged that Moody’s personal grudge against the chief prosecutor of the trial, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Francis J. Heney, led to him nearly undermining the case by allowing a U.S. Marshal implicated in the scandal to remain in his position, suggesting a potentially compromised judge to sit the case, and refusing to appoint the Heney-recommended William C. Bristol as District Attorney. The piece has several handwritten additions and notes which Roosevelt includes in the final draft of his piece.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-26
President Roosevelt is astounded by the degree of falsehood contained in an article in Robert J. Collier’s weekly magazine about the Department of the Interior. Roosevelt would like to opportunity to explain the true situation to Collier or Mark Sullivan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-14