Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft
President Roosevelt advises William H. Taft on how to respond to religious attacks by the press.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-08-28
Your TR Source
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Hodges Choate
President Roosevelt reluctantly accepts Ambassador Choate’s resignation. He believes that no one since John Quincy Adams was Ambassador to England has been as dedicated as Choate. Roosevelt would like Choate to be able to stay in England until he is able to dedicate the memorial window to John Harvard in the St. Saviour’s Church personally, and will have Choate’s resignation take effect shortly after this occurs.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-12-24
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Otto Trevelyan
Theodore Roosevelt attempts to write Sir George Otto a “journal letter” of his European trip as Otto suggested but gives up because Roosevelt finds it difficult to relate the experiences without “continually talking about [himself].” Roosevelt is instead more interested in Otto and England.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-07-24
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James C. Martin
President Roosevelt responds to the issue of whether a candidate’s religious affiliation should influence a political election. He has received many letters on this topic, and chooses to respond broadly to James C. Martin’s. Roosevelt believes that a candidate’s religion is a personal matter that constituents do not have a right to know, and that it goes against American principles for people to vote based on religious affiliation. This is a condensed version of a longer letter.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-11-06
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Henry Hunt
Theodore Roosevelt has just finished reading Arthur Twining Hadley’s Undercurrents in American Politics, and he discusses Hadley’s conclusions, particularly as they relate to the records of American presidents through the Civil War.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1915-07-08
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James C. Martin
President Roosevelt responds to James C. Martin’s letter expressing concerns about William H. Taft’s religious views. First, Roosevelt refutes Martin’s concern about Taft being a Unitarian by pointing out that Americans should not vote for a man based solely on his religious beliefs. Second, Roosevelt addresses concerns that Taft’s wife and brother are Catholics by pointing out that they are not. Roosevelt believes that if America is to last, people of different religious creeds will have to work together in government.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-11-06
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John M. Grainey
President Roosevelt appreciates the clippings sent by John M. Grainey, and especially appreciates the highlighted paragraph. He believes that this is an appeal on behalf of William Jennings Bryan to “the worst spirit of religious liberty,” by attacking William H. Taft because of the way he worships. Taft is a Unitarian, and Roosevelt notes that John Quincy Adams was also a Unitarian. Roosevelt also believes that Taft acted correctly in the Philippines regarding the distribution of the property of the Catholic Church.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-10-19
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Evans Hughes
President Roosevelt praises Governor Hughes’s efforts campaigning for William H. Taft and the Republicans in the West. Hughes’s actions, leaving New York and potentially jeopardizing his own re-election for the party, has gained him support. Roosevelt advises Hughes to continue his “aggressive hard-hitting” against William Jennings Bryan, and in particular to focus on the judiciary. Roosevelt believes that some people who oppose Taft because of his religion will support Hughes, while some foreigners who oppose Hughes will support Taft.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-10-14
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Adams
President Roosevelt tells Henry Adams that he has previously read the diary of Adams’s grandfather, John Quincy Adams, but has sent for another copy in order to reread the portion concerning the period after Adams’s presidency. Roosevelt wishes that he did not sympathize with John Quincy Adams about being bored after leaving office.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-03-09
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root
President Roosevelt requests Secretary of State Root speak at a reception in his honor immediately after he returns. A “rousing speech” would help the Republican party and the administration, especially with the current struggle for control of Congress and the New York governorship.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-09-17
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root
President Roosevelt amusedly tells Secretary of State Root about a visit from Russian diplomat Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen, where Rosen stated that Tsar Nicholas II would like to take the lead and get credit for initiating another international peace conference at The Hague. Roosevelt tells Root that he is all too happy to allow Nicholas to lead the effort, as he is concerned that after his activities in recent months, people will start to believe he cares more about altruistic international affairs than domestic ones.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1905-09-14
Creator(s)
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Hodges Choate
President Roosevelt reluctantly accepts Ambassador Choate’s resignation. He believes that no one since John Quincy Adams was Ambassador to England has been as dedicated as Choate. Roosevelt would like Choate to be able to stay in England until he is able to dedicate the memorial window to John Harvard in the St. Saviour’s Church personally, and will have Choate’s resignation take effect shortly after this occurs.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-12-24
Creator(s)
Letter from John Carter Rose to Theodore Roosevelt
John Carter Rose was interested in a statement that President Roosevelt said to him recently, that he was “successful in a larger portion of what [he] set out to do than any of [his] predecessors.” Rose considers all the previous presidents, and ultimately draws the comparison down to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington, Rose writes, made the nation, Lincoln preserved it, and Roosevelt has caused it to adapt to twentieth century conditions. He praises the various policies that Roosevelt has instituted during his term in office.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-12-14
Creator(s)
Letter from William H. Taft to Frederick L. Chapman
In response to Home Herald editor Frederick L. Chapman’s inquiries, William H. Taft does not object to the publication of his attached message. While Taft believes what he wrote, he supposes it will make no difference to his attackers.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-08-26
Creator(s)
Letter from William H. Taft to John Wesley Hill
William H. Taft tells John Wesley Hill that he cannot discuss his religion with anyone except to say that he is a Unitarian. Taft says that if Americans refuse to elect a Unitrian, then so be it.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-08-12
Creator(s)
Letter from Henry Adams to Theodore Roosevelt
Henry Adams corrects a previous statement he had made to President Roosevelt about John Quincy Adams’s time serving in Congress after his time as President.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-03-08
Creator(s)
Letter from Charles Fletcher Lummis to Theodore Roosevelt
Los Angeles City Librarian Charles Fletcher Lummis thanks President Roosevelt for the autograph page and hopes to show him the library’s autograph collection sometime. The library staff took to Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield, who made friends with members of the Southwest Society during his visit.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-08-12
Creator(s)
Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt
Ambassador Reid has forwarded President Roosevelt’s letter to the people of Salisbury, and he is sure it will promote kindly feeling. Reid hopes that they may be able to bring the “slow-moving” Colonial Office to an early agreement, as the only currently contentious issue between the parties is that of purse-nets. Reports of William Jennings Bryan’s speech in Madison Square Garden produced instant revulsion in Great Britain, as the public thought he “dished” himself by proposing government ownership of the railways. Reid has not yet had a chance to discuss Roosevelt’s letter to Andrew Carnegie with Sir Edward Grey, but plans to bring it up at first chance. Frederick Scott Oliver, author of the new book about Hamilton, does not seem to be a prominent literary figure among the Englishmen Reid has asked. Reid has been watching the Cuban situation with great anxiety, as he has always believed the United States made foolish decisions about Cuba at the beginning of the Spanish-American War.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-09-14
Creator(s)
Letter from Arthur von Briesen to G. L. Gillespie
Arthur von Briesen responds to Major General G. L. Gillespie’s request for further information on Briesen’s statement that he had gotten his facts regarding a sword supposedly gifted by King Frederick II of Prussia to George Washington from Mr. Ward. He has since come to believe that the story may be rather different, based on a book by Friedrich Kapp which says that the sword came from the sword-maker Theophilus Alte of Solingen. This is further reinforced by a letter from Washington to John Quincy Adams.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-10-19
Creator(s)
Letter from W. Cameron Forbes to Henry Lee Higginson
W. Cameron Forbes discusses his experiences as commissioner of the Philippines.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-09-05