Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt believes it is a dreadful thing to have come into the presidency this way, but he will do the task to the best of his ability.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-23
Idaho Governor Gooding laments to President Roosevelt that most people associated with the prosecution of the alleged murderers of Governor of Idaho Frank Steuenberg have been indicted and accused of connection with the alleged timber land frauds in the state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-15
David E. Thompson, United States Ambassador to Mexico, writes to President Roosevelt about his suspicions that Edward Henry Harriman was involved in the Guatemalan revolution of the previous year. Two days before, Thompson met with exiled Guatemalan General Manuel L. Barillas who implicated Harriman in the revolution. The following day, Barillas was assassinated. President Porfirio Díaz of Mexico has told Thompson in confidence that he is certain Barillas was assassinated on orders from Guatemalan President Manuel Estrada Cabrera.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-08
Mrs. A. Opley reported a conversation with a peddler who advocated for the assassination of the president in 1900. A handwritten note refers this information to Secret Service Chief John E. Wilkie.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-19
President Roosevelt speaks to the people of the United States on the occasion of President William McKinley’s assassination and proclaims a day of mourning. This handwritten draft of Roosevelt’s proclamation includes several edits.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-14
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary gives Albert W. Beebee the dates that Roosevelt was in office as Vice President and President as well as the names of those with whom he served.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-08
President Roosevelt thanks William H. H. Llewellyn for the letter and clippings. He hopes that the person who assassinated Pat F. Garrett will be punished.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-19
President Roosevelt sends his sympathies to King Manuel II of Portugal regarding the recent deaths of his father and brother.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-03
President Roosevelt tells Calvin Cobb that he appreciates what Idaho Governor Frank Robert Gooding is trying to do in trying to bring the murderers of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg to justice. Roosevelt believes that the Western Federation of Miners has been conducting a reign of terror on many Rocky Mountain states, and recognizes the risk that Gooding is in in trying to prosecute them. While Charles S. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood deserve a fair trial, Roosevelt believes that their “black record of wrong-doing” should get them no sympathy. He hopes, however, that Gooding will act against both the Western Federation of Miners on the one hand and the corporations on the other, and not fall into the errors of former Colorado Governor James Hamilton Peabody.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-16
President Roosevelt asks Lyman Abbott to look over an article by Philip Battell Stewart to consider it for publication in The Outlook. If he decides to publish it, Roosevelt asks Abbott to not use Stewart’s name, as he fears being that it could put him in danger of an assassination attempt by the Western Federation of Miners. He would like to see Abbott in Washington, D.C., sometime to discuss matters that have come up in Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-16
Vice President Roosevelt received Albert Baird Cummins’s letter after he was called to Buffalo upon the news of the assassination attempt on President William McKinley. McKinley is recovering. Roosevelt believes Cummins will make a good public figure and was pleased to hear of his nomination. He wants to support Cummins in any way and will speak on his behalf when he arrives in Iowa in October.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-07
Chief of the United States Secret Service John E. Wilkie advises William Loeb that there does not seem to be “any danger to either the President or Secretary Taft from any of the anarchist societies.” The “radical branch” of the Western Federation of Miners must know that any attempt on the life of the president would harm the organization. Wilkie urges that the informant whose charges came to Loeb’s attention be more specific so that the charges can be investigated.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-23
Governor Gooding writes to explain to President Roosevelt that his statements about Harry Orchard’s trial for the murder of Governor Steunenberg were misquoted in the Hearst newspapers. Gooding said that Orchard would receive a fair trial, but he regretted the radical resolutions passed by labor unions. Gooding also assures Roosevelt that the leaders of the Western Federation of Miners will receive fair trials and that mine owners will not be allowed to contribute money to the prosecution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-03
Andrew Dickson White discusses the political turmoil in Russia and the problems Russians cause in the United States and abroad. White thinks it wise that Richard Watson Gilder, editor of The Century Magazine, has avoided involvement with Maxim Gorky, and he wishes that Mark Twain and William Dean Howells had done the same.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-18
President Roosevelt grieves the recent assassination of President William McKinley and proclaims a national day of mourning.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-14
Various forms of graft, fraud, and bribery were committed by San Francisco mayor Eugene Schmitz and members of the Board of Supervisors. Following trials of many offenders, a report is published on the causes of the corruption and recommendations made on how to prevent municipal corruption in the future.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-01-05
The Albany Evening Journal editorializes on President Roosevelt’s criticism of the men on trial for the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg as “undesirable citizens.” While Roosevelt denies that his comments reflect on the men’s guilt of the specific charge, and are merely related to their general conduct, the editors note that this argument is not likely to convince those who believe Roosevelt’s remarks will influence the outcome of the trial against the defendants.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-14
This is an eight page newspaper, plus one single, unnumbered, additional page from the same edition. The article titled “Sentenced to Death” is a detailed article about the sentencing of Leon Czolgosz. Page two contains a “Medical Paper’s View” which describes President William McKinley’s care and his cause of death, and an article titled “Stories of Roosevelt” which includes anecdotes about Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
1901-09-27
The Winsted Evening Citizen includes the outcome of Leon Czolgosz’s murder trial, a list of Theodore Roosevelt’s literary accomplishments, and an account of Roosevelt as a father. NOTE: The newspaper erroneously listed the date as Wednesday, September 24, rather than the correct date of Wednesday, September 25.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
1901-09-25
Andrew Carnegie, as Brutus, wears a Roman toga and holds a large knife. Carnegie is about to stab another man labeled “High Protection” who has slumped against a monument labeled “Dingley.”
At the feet of a statue memorializing the Dingley Tariff of 1897 — high import duties for American industry — the “Caesar” of high-protection rates notes the treachery of Andrew Carnegie, former steel magnate.