Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William P. Potter
President Roosevelt asks Judge William P. Potter if he truly believes that it will require a constitutional amendment in order to institute an inheritance tax, and points out that there was a statute for a federal inheritance tax shortly after the adoption of the Constitution. Roosevelt does not believe that much can be done by the individual states in matters concerning the entire nation, and says that “while I am a Jeffersonian in my genuine faith in democracy and popular government, I am a Hamiltonian in my governmental views, especially with reference to the need of the exercise of broad powers by the National Government.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-04-23