Alger, R. A. (Russell Alexander), 1836-1907

This exhaustively illustrated account of the Spanish-American war seeks to present the official history of the war according to the United States War Records Office. It encompasses the events leading up to the war, the war itself, as well as its resolution and aftermath. While it mentions the various engagements taking place during the war, most of the focus is on Cuba and the action of the United States Navy and Army in fighting Spanish forces there in support of Cuban rebels. It additionally includes general information on the theaters of war, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

Collection

Smithsonian

Creation Date

1900

Tweed Roosevelt recounts his role, beginning in the fall of 1998, to secure the Medal of Honor for Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt admits that he was initially skeptical about the effort, but he decided to volunteer and became a lobbyist to secure passage of the necessary enabling legislation. Roosevelt highlights the various members of the House and Senate who helped secure the bill’s passage, highlighting the roles of Congressmen Rick A. Lazio, Paul F. McHale, Steven E. Buyer, and especially, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. He also notes how the bill’s passage was threatened by the impeachment proceedings swirling around President Bill Clinton. Roosevelt describes several White House visits, including meetings with Clinton and President George W. Bush.

Twelve photographs appear in the article, nine of which include Tweed Roosevelt, and three each featuring Clinton and Bush. A Frederic Remington painting, a letter, and two documents related to the conferral of the Medal of Honor also accompany the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

John A. Gable critiques a book and an article that have been cited to undermine the case for awarding Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor. Gable considers Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan: The Making of a President by Harold Samuels and Peggy Samuels and an article by military historian Mitchell A. Yockelson. Gable argues that the panel considering the merits of Roosevelt’s case should consider these works so that they can see the weakness of the argument against awarding Roosevelt the medal. Gable highlights some of the deficiencies in each of these works and refers to the Samuels’s book as “a blatant hatchet job.” 

A photograph of Gable with Tweed Roosevelt and two photographs of the Roosevelt Rough Rider equestrian statue in Portland, Oregon, supplement the letter. 

Report on the successful effort to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Theodore Roosevelt for his actions during the Battle of San Juan on July 1, 1898. The report details the history of the efforts to secure the medal for Roosevelt dating back to the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, and it closely examines the renewed efforts since 1996, highlighting the work of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) and numerous members of Congress. The report also covers the White House ceremonies of January 16, 2001 presided over by President Bill Clinton, and it includes coverage of the heroics of Andrew Jackson Smith who was also posthumously awarded the medal for his actions during the Civil War. A history of the Rough Rider regiment, Clinton’s remarks at the ceremony, and the citation accompanying Roosevelt’s medal are included in the report. 

Five photographs from the medal ceremony and two of Roosevelt appear in the article.

“News and Notes” opens with a report on the campaign to gain the Medal of Honor for Theodore Roosevelt to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1998. The report discusses why Roosevelt was denied the medal in the aftermath of the war, and it highlights the work of the campaign’s Congressional sponsors. The article quotes historians Edmund Morris and Nathan Miller from their endorsements of the effort. “News and Notes” reports that Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson was named Jack Roosevelt Robinson at his birth in 1919 in honor of Roosevelt. Three brief obituaries close out the section. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1997

James B. Martin examines the tumultuous relationship between Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles and President Theodore Roosevelt during the first two years of Roosevelt’s administration. Martin details Miles’s impressive record as a field officer, earning the Medal of Honor during the Civil War, and he shows how he was not as well prepared to fight bureaucratic battles in Washington, D.C., as the Commanding General of the Army. Martin looks at the issues that caused a breach between Miles and Roosevelt, including Miles’s criticism of American actions in the Philippines. Martin covers the role played by Secretaries of War Russell A. Alger and Elihu Root, and he lays most of the blame for the Miles-Roosevelt dispute at the feet of Miles, but he does note that Roosevelt’s large ego and decision not to forcibly retire Miles contributed to the feud.

Photographs of Miles and Root appear in the article. An article box on page eleven notes that this issue of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal is dedicated to Oliver R. Grace.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

J. David Valaik claims that Theodore Roosevelt and others who were members of volunteer units in wartime were often the subject of criticism by professional or regular soldiers. Valaik quotes from a letter written by Captain Matthew F. Steele, a regular Army officer who served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, to show that the opposite could be true. Steele praised Roosevelt for his actions and leadership on July 1, 1898 and went so far as to wish that Roosevelt might one day be president.

A detail from the famous photograph of Roosevelt with the Rough Riders atop San Juan Hill accompanies the text. A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the members of its executive committee is found on the second page of the article. 

Collection of newspaper clippings of articles, photographs, and maps showing some of the actors, naval vessels, and events making up parts of the Spanish-American war. Includes some handwritten notes and hand-colored photographs.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1898

Indiana Senator Albert J. Beveridge hopes President Roosevelt can see Senators Joseph Benson Foraker, Porter J. McCumber, Henry Clay Hansbrough, and R. A. Alger on the statehood matter before Monday.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-07

Republican politicians wearing Roman togas are seated around a banquet table with a skeleton that is holding a standard labeled “McKinley’s Shaky Financial Record.” Gathered around the table are John “Sherman,” Stephen B. “Elkins,” Russell A. “Alger,” Charles H. “Grosvenor,” William “McKinley,” Mark A. “Hanna,” Christopher L. “Magee,” William M. “Hahn,” Joseph B. “Foraker,” Cornelius N. “Bliss,” Herman H. “Kohlsaat,” Edward Oliver “Wolcott,” and Whitelaw “Reid.” Caption: The ancient custom of the Romans of seating a skeleton at their banquet-tables, to remind them of death, is now being revived by our Republican friends.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-06-10

President McKinley stands on the roadside near a large rock labeled “Unsettled Tariff Question.” Vice President Hobart and members of McKinley’s cabinet attempt to clear the roadway by removing another large rock labeled “Unsound Financial System.” Waiting behind them on the road “To Prosperity” is Uncle Sam sitting on a large wagon filled with “U.S. Commercial Interests.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-03-31

President McKinley rides an elephant driven by Marcus A. Hanna. The elephant is carrying Russell A. Alger, Nelson Dingley, William R. Day, and William T. Sampson. A second elephant follows, and a group of men that includes “Nelson A. Miles, Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Wheeler, Fitzhugh Lee, Henry C. Lodge, William R. Shafter, Winfield S. Schley, John T. Morgan, Cushman K. Davis, George Dewey,” and others, march alongside under the standard “Imperialism for Ever.” A group of disgruntled men sit on the roadside, watching the procession.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-01-18

Print shows diminutive gladiators labeled “Jones,” “J.D. Sayers” with large sword labeled “State Anti-Trust Laws,” “Bryan” with large sword labeled “Demagogism,” “Hearst,” “Pingree,” “Hogg of Texas” with sword labeled “State Law,” Theodore Roosevelt with sword labeled “Roosevelt,” and “Alger,” and also Joseph Pulitzer. A crowd in the background carries banners that state “Down with Trusts” and “Down with Dept. Stores.” They are struggling against a large gladiator wearing armor labeled “Trusts, Power to Undersell Competitors, Vested Rights, Right to Buy and Sell, Natural Right of Association, Business Progress, Steady Work, [and] Payment of Good Wages.” The gladiator is carrying a shield labeled “Constitution of the U.S.” and a sword labeled “Low Prices.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-07-26

President McKinley capitulates to special interests and political patronage by offering his sword labeled “Patronage” to Marcus A. Hanna, Thomas Collier Platt, and Matthew S. Quay. The dejected members of McKinley’s cabinet, labeled “Alger, Sherman, Bliss, Gage, Long, Wilson, McKenna, [and] Gary,” are standing in the background.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-07-11

The Governor of Ohio is confident that the State’s delegates will support Roosevelt at the Republican National Convention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-04

Secretary of War Root has been unable to bring together the three engineers mentioned in Senator R. A. Alger’s letter. He suggests how an engineer should be selected and believes a suitable commission could be composed of George Clinton, W. L. Fisk, and Gardner Stewart Williams.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-19

Senator Alger asks that President Roosevelt’s attention be called to his recommendation of T. J. O’Brien.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-17

George Y. Wisner encloses a letter from Senator Alger.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-26

“Paper from General Alger concerning General Miles’ record was returned to Mr Victor L Mason this morning.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-05-01

If passed, an amendment to the Sundry Civil Bill will lead to the removal of one commissioner from each Military Park Organization. James H. Hiland would like George Peck to help ensure that Colonel Everest does not lose his position as one of the commissioners at Vicksburg National Military Park. Hiland suggests that Peck speak with President Roosevelt and with Representative Joseph Gurney Cannon, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-26