Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Secretary of State Knox for sending his speech. While Knox strongly states the case, Roosevelt thinks it is a mistake to bind the president, senate, or American people by “the decision of any three men.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-10
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Philander C. Knox for his touching telegram, and reflects positively on his relationship with Knox and his wife during Roosevelt’s presidency and after. He also updates Knox on Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s health after her recent fall.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-06
Theodore Roosevelt introduces Knox C. Philander to Gerrit Forbes, cousin of W. Cameron Forbes, governor of the Philippines. Gerrit Forbes is planning to travel to Africa to conduct ethnological research, with letters of support from Harvard University and the Peabody Museum. Roosevelt hopes Philander can secure a letter from the State Department to help Forbes when he encounters French, Belgian, and English officials.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-29
Theodore Roosevelt introduces Philander C. Knox to Colby Mitchell Chester Jr., the son of Rear Admiral Chester. Chester wishes to speak with Knox about the Galapagos Islands, which Roosevelt hopes will one day be an American colony.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-26
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Philander C. Knox and thanks him for the pistol presented by James Forsham of Ringwood, Victoria, Australia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-11
Theodore Roosevelt would greatly prefer the park in the Azores not be named after him. However, he will do what Secretary of State Knox thinks is polite and proper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-12-09
Theodore Roosevelt requests a copy of the statement Philander C. Knox made after a decision was made in the case of the Government versus the United States Steel Company. Roosevelt has been unable to acquire the speech through newspapers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-07-08
Theodore Roosevelt suggests Philander C. Knox and his wife visit Oyster Bay in the spring and join them for lunch.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-15
Theodore Roosevelt is annoyed that Philander C. Knox was given the trouble of coming to the office because of Richard R. Quay’s telegram. Roosevelt cannot imagine how Quay could have misunderstood him, as Roosevelt told Quay that he planned to motor out to Oyster Bay. Roosevelt invites Knox and his wife to lunch with himself and Mrs. Roosevelt when they are in New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-10-02
President Roosevelt advises Senator Knox, who will be president-elect William H. Taft’s secretary of state, on the importance and fragility of the relationship between the United States and Japan. Roosevelt explains why he believes that there is a real possibility that Japan will declare war on the United States, although this is by no means certain. Currently, many Americans are pursuing ineffectual and offensive strategies in an effort to prevent Japanese immigration to the United States. Roosevelt supports their goal but not their means. In Hawaii, meanwhile, Roosevelt disapproves of sugar planters encouraging large numbers of settlers from China and Japan to come work on their plantations. Roosevelt feels that the settlement of Hawaii by individuals from Southern Europe should be encouraged. His more general policy is threefold. He wants the government to prevent Japanese citizens from settling in America, while treating Japan “so courteously that she will not be offended more than necessary,” and building up the navy as a preventative measure. Although the value of this policy should be self-evident, Americans “are shortsighted and have short memories.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-08
President Roosevelt tells Senator Knox that he waited as long as possible in the case of John Dunbar Pringle, but believes that the nomination should be made.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-05
President Roosevelt asks Senator Knox if he can submit John Dunbar Pringle’s name as a candidate for appraiser of merchandise at Pittsburgh, as he thinks it would be a good thing to do.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-17
President Roosevelt asks Senator Knox whether it would be worth stopping the lies of Joseph Pulitzer about the purchase of the Panama Canal once and for all. Roosevelt has received a full list of the stockholders of the Panama Canal Corporation from William Nelson Cromwell, as well as papers regarding what those companies did in connection to the purchase of the canal. While the scandal has not touched the government, Roosevelt thinks it may be good to make these documents public and explains how Cromwell obtained them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-10
President Roosevelt informs Senator Knox of a conversation that he had with Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt, and explains how the payment the United States made to France for the Panama Canal was handled.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-08
President Roosevelt has been asked about the transaction to purchase the Panama Canal by Oscar K. Davis of the New York Times, and in turn asks Senator Knox about obtaining access to information on the matter. Roosevelt would like to know if the United States government got the stock books of the Panama Canal Companies with records of the votes of the stockholders, or if Knox knows where such records may be found. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt asks Knox if he knows who will be interviewed by Congress on the matter of the Panama Canal purchase.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-08
President Roosevelt tells Senator Knox of Pennsylvania his response to an enclosed letter from Representative James Francis Burke of Pennsylvania, in which Roosevelt states that he would like to appoint John Dunbar Pringle, who has done good work for the Republican Party in his paper, to be appraiser of merchandise in Pittsburg. He also encloses for Knox a letter from Pringle that will provide more information about him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-20
President Roosevelt notes that William Jennings Bryan has chosen not to respond to his letter to Senator Knox. Knox has “riddled” Samuel Gompers with his speech, which Roosevelt thinks is “an admirable success.” He is glad Knox was able to make use of the injunctions granted on behalf of labor unions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-30
President Roosevelt said when he handed over the matter for Senator Knox’s speech, that someday he would be accused of plagiarizing it. He tells Knox that now the Sun has made that accusation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
President Roosevelt responds to the “admirable speech” Senator Knox made about the actions of William Jennings Bryan and Samuel Gompers, as well as several other special representatives of organized labor. Gompers has come out in support of Bryan, who has added a plank about labor injunctions to the Democratic platform. The plank supports the passage of a bill that Roosevelt believes is unenforceable and would damage business by unfairly giving privileges to labor. Roosevelt also argues that Bryan has not made his position on the law clear, and notes that William H. Taft has spoken plainly about his position on labor issues and injunctions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-21
President Roosevelt encloses a letter from Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte in answer to Senator Knox’s letter. Roosevelt believes it very doubtful that he should sign the bill in view of the protest and asks Knox if he has any further comments on it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-27