Your TR Source

Kent, William, 1864-1928

Search by Date Range

Clear Filters

28 Results

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

President Roosevelt has followed William Kent’s suggestion and asked Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte to instruct District Attorney Robert T. Devlin as Kent wishes. Roosevelt has been working to put life into the campaign and to make sure that the public sees William H. Taft’s merit. Although William Jennings Bryan is nice enough, he is self-interested and not fit for presidency, as any bright individual would be able to see.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

Theodore Roosevelt was reluctant to contest the selection of the temporary chairman of the Republican National Convention. However, William Barnes’s telegram has forced a challenge. Supporters of Senator La Follette would have made a challenge anyway and Roosevelt supporters would have been discouraged without it. Roosevelt was “prepared to support any good La Follette man,” such as Governor Francis E. McGovern or Senator Asle Gronna, against Senator Elihu Root.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

President Roosevelt agrees with William Kent, and outlines the foreign policy stance he believes the United States should follow in its relationship with Japan. Roosevelt has come to see the matter of Japanese workers immigrating to the United States as “a race question.” He believes that Japanese citizens should not be permitted to settle permanently in America. However, Roosevelt does not want to provoke a war by offending the “sensitive” Japanese government and population. Current legislation in California and Nevada banning Japanese children from public schools frustrates him, because it is offensive to Japan and does not prevent immigration. Roosevelt wants to forbid Japanese immigration while treating the Japanese government politely and continuing to build up the American navy. He seconds Kent’s view that Japanese laborers should not work on Hawaiian sugar plantations. Roosevelt would prefer to send laborers from Spain, Portugal, or Italy, who could become naturalized United States citizens.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919