Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft that he admires his willingness to sacrifice his own interests for a principle, but encourages him to avoid talking about delicate subjects where his words could be twisted. Roosevelt is glad that Taft understands the situation with another potential presidential candidate, Governor Charles Evans Hughes, remarking that he has a “distinct strength with the people.” The president believes that Taft will get the majority of the delegates in the West on the first roll and that the majority of people in New England are for Taft. Finally, Roosevelt notes that the New York papers are “almost insane” in regard to his actions, suggesting that Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold were “pretty good citizens by comparison.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-19

President Roosevelt is looking forward to reading George Otto Trevelyan’s next book. He is familiar with King’s Mountain, a battle Trevelyan has written about, and admires the way he wrote about it. He is also impressed with Trevelyan’s writing about Benedict Arnold, and compares his Rough Riders to fighters in the American Revolution. Roosevelt says he will refrain from writing Trevelyan about his troubles, but notes that it is difficult to “keep together men who are equally bent on reform and resolute not to go into anything vindictive or visionary.” In a handwritten postscript, he says that this morning he shook hands with 6,000 people, before going riding with his children and their cousins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-01

President Roosevelt thanks Guy W. Campbell for the letter and clippings and supposes the editorial was written by M. H. De Young. Roosevelt believes whoever the writer was, they are be a traitor worse than Benedict Arnold.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-29

President Roosevelt defends a statement he made about Jefferson Davis eighteen or twenty years ago, in which he compared Davis with General Benedict Arnold. Roosevelt believes Davis a traitor because he intrigued for secession, and therefore the destruction of the republic, in support of slavery. Unlike Arnold, Davis received office for his treachery. Roosevelt also sends Colonel George Harvey a copy of Rough Riders to clear any confusion about Roosevelt’s participation on a specific day during the Spanish-American War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-19

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-09

Creator(s)

Caldwell, R. J.

Recipient

World's Work

Paul V. Collins suggests Theodore Roosevelt discuss Canadian Reciprocity from an antagonistic perspective while in St. Paul, Minnesota. Collins details Northwestern farmers’ and politicians’ outrage over Reciprocity, arguing that the administration is unaware of and out of touch with the region, especially regarding the cattle and dairy industries. He also requests that Roosevelt send a telegram of support to take to the Congressional Legislative Committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-03

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1884 to December 1891. Notable events include the deaths of Alice Lee Roosevelt and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s time on his ranch, the completion of Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s engagement and marriage to Edith Kermit Carow, Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt’s birth, the “Great-Dieup” of cattle in North Dakota, and the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

President Roosevelt reminds the crowd in Asheville, North Carolina, of the state’s connection to American history. He mentions his recent visits to the battlegrounds at Chickamauga and Chattanooga and says no citizen can visit them without becoming a better American. He discusses his multi-state journey, saying it is a good thing for a president to travel so he can see that sectional and class differences are trivial. He notes how military arms and tactics may change but the necessary spirit of the good soldier remains the same; so too may laws and constitutions change, but Americans must always possess the qualities of good citizens: honesty, courage, and common sense. He concludes by reminding the crowd that all Americans are part of the government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-09-09

President Roosevelt thanks the local chairman, presumably a Democrat, for introducing him, saying that political party is of little importance when Americans are unified in the spirit of fairness. He notes the presence of school children in the crowd as well as veterans of the Union Army in the American Civil War, saying that the veterans’ victorious spirit lived on in the American soldiers who fought in the Philippines. He notes how evolving weapons and tactics have not changed the necessary qualities of the soldier. Benedict Arnold was a gallant and talented soldier who helped win major battles but was missing the important “root of righteousness” that eventually led to his reputation as a traitor. Similarly, laws may change, but the need for patriotic citizens with honesty, courage, and common sense remains the same.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

A gigantic man labeled “National Resource Grafter” sits in a wilderness setting, passing sheets of paper to a group of men labeled “Land Office Official, Kept Judge, Congressman, Politician, [and] Senator” who are reading their “Oath of Office” on the papers given them which states “Franchises, Special Privileges, Land Patents, Mineral Rights, Tax Exemption, [and] Timber Grants.” In an insert, Benedict Arnold passes papers labeled “Plans of American Fortifications” to a British military officer. Caption: He betrayed his country then; they betray their country now.

comments and context

Comments and Context

It is interesting that in mid-Summer of a presidential campaign season, as the nominating conventions are meeting and public interest in partisanship would be intense, that Puck directs many of its cartoons to general issues and not to partisan attacks or defenses — that is, party politics. J. S. Pughe’s cartoon, for instance, focused on the increasing tendency toward — or increasingly exposed — corruption in the government’s land-use policies.