Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is pleased with Joseph Bucklin Bishop’s reply and enjoyed seeing him and his wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-27
Joseph Bucklin Bishop’s letters to President Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt “delighted our souls.” Roosevelt is highly pleased by Bishop’s report of conditions at the Isthmus of Panama. Regarding Bishop’s suggestion of a newsletter, Roosevelt proposes it include a summary of outside current events. He sends his regards to Colonel George W. Goethals and directs him to take leave whenever necessary.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-22
Isthmian Canal Commission Secretary Bishop updates President Roosevelt on his family. Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission Colonel George W. Goethals requested Bishop’s presence on the Isthmus to have a channel of communication to Roosevelt, and Roosevelt’s recent letter pleased him. Bishop says the only major issue is the arrogant behavior of Jackson Smith, the Head of the Department of Labor, Quarters, and Subsistence on the Panama Canal Commission. Additionally, the engineer Joseph Ripley created incorrect blueprints and has been proven to be no expert on locks, but Major William L. Sibert is excellent. Bishop thinks the Republican Club of New York’s motives for disparaging Roosevelt’s canal policy are political. In response to Roosevelt’s suggestion to include local events in the new paper, Bishop explains that it may be hard to keep current, but he will try his best.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-03
Joseph Bucklin Bishop, secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission, reports to President Roosevelt that matters on the Isthmus are in good condition thanks to Chief Engineer and Commission Chairman George W. Goethals’s systematic military organization. Goethals is an effective leader and greatly appreciates Bishop’s help, especially in handling complaints. Bishop compliments Roosevelt’s Provincetown speech and gives an update on his family.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-29
Joseph Bucklin Bishop tells President Roosevelt that he has “been literally drunk with joy,” since the previous day, in which Roosevelt won his election to the presidency. Bishop approves of Roosevelt’s statement about not running for a third term. Nicholas Murray Butler wished for Bishop to excoriate Democratic candidate Alton B. Parker in a newspaper article, but Bishop believes that after the decisive loss Parker suffered, “anything that an individual could say was feeble.” He looks forward to coming to Washington, D.C., soon for a banquet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
Theodore Roosevelt shares with Joseph Bucklin Bishop that his letter is the first long one that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has been able to enjoy. He is glad Bishop likes John Avery McIlhenny and is interested in Bishop’s inside information about the political situation. Roosevelt comments on the recent elections, which were unfavorable for the Republican Party overall. His nephew, Theodore Douglas Robinson, won despite fraud by the J. S. Sherman machine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-11
Theodore Roosevelt is pleased with Farnham Bishop’s success and is sure his parents are too. He thinks the monument should be at Panama itself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-31
Theodore Roosevelt lets Joseph Bucklin Bishop know he recently wrote to George W. Goethals. Roosevelt did not know that Bishop was an ornithologist. Roosevelt shares that politics are chaos right now and that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt had a bad fall, but is on the road to recovery.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-03
Roosevelt enjoys hearing from Joseph Bucklin Bishop. Regretfully, his busy schedule prevents him from writing more. He is dissatisfied with the current administration’s treatment of Bishop and asserts that the best thing for him to do in Panama is to support Colonel George W. Goethals.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-17
President Roosevelt praises Joseph Bucklin Bishop’s wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop, calling her “a trump if ever there was one.” Roosevelt is glad that president-elect William H. Taft is going to examine the Panama Canal with several engineers, as he feels like the best way to address concerns about it is through “prompt, aggressive action.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-04
President Roosevelt asks Joseph Bucklin Bishop if he and his wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop, can come visit on Friday, July 31. He will have Luke E. Wright meet them at the train station.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-01
President Roosevelt thanks Joseph Bucklin Bishop for the telegram, and says he made no attempt to bring any of his close friends to the inauguration because he would not have seen any of them in person.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-06
Joseph Bucklin Bishop did not receive Theodore Roosevelt’s letter until General Ian Hamilton left. However, George W. Goethals, Governor of the Panama Canal Zone, showed Hamilton most of the work. Bishop is touched that Roosevelt remembered his longing for the northern spring. He will inform Roosevelt when he and his wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop, arrive in New York City, and they can have a “good talk.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-24
Joseph Bucklin Bishop thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the “grateful and sustaining words” given at Harvard. Colonel George W. Goethals is also pleased with Roosevelt’s tribute to Bishop and wishes he could appoint him as his executive officer. However, President William H. Taft thought it unwise but assured Bishop of a worthy position once he ensured the bill abolishing the Isthmian Canal Commission passed. Yet, like with most of his promises, Taft changed his mind, and the bill will not be passed. Bishop discusses the disturbing reports of political scheming regarding appointing a new commissioner and governor of the Canal Zone. Goethals declared such things would not happen if Roosevelt were president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-02
Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission Bishop thanks President Roosevelt for his constant support, and says that if Roosevelt is satisfied with his work, then he does not mind criticism from other parties. Work on the Panama Canal is proceeding smoothly and at a faster pace than was initially thought possible, for which he gives credit to Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission George W. Goethals. Bishop blames irresponsible reporting for reopening an argument about whether a canal with locks or a sea level canal is better, but believes the upcoming visit by President-Elect William H. Taft should help settle the debate. Bishop approves of Roosevelt’s denunciations of journalists William MacKay Laffand and Joseph Pulitzer, and says that it is important to fight against “lying and debased journalism.” Bishop’s wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop, appreciates being remembered by Roosevelt, and he praises her strength in remaining sanguine during their long residency away from the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-26
Joseph Bucklin Bishop reports to President Roosevelt on the status of the construction and workers at the Panama Canal. The social discontent following Chief Engineer John F. Stevens’s departure has primarily resolved, and Colonel George W. Goethals has proved himself a capable replacement. Bishop attended his first Isthmian Canal Commission meeting and finds its members “able and intelligent,” and “actively engaged.” At the current pace, excavation will be complete in five to six years, and construction of the dam and lock can commence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-18
Joseph Bucklin Bishop updates President Roosevelt on his arrival to the Canal Zone. Colonel George W. Goethals, chief engineer and chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, welcomed him and looked forward to Bishop’s aid. Bishop reports that the work is progressing “splendidly,” and it appears the dissatisfaction among the workers has been resolved. Excited by what he sees, Bishop thanks Roosevelt for sending him. He closes by describing his proposed semi-weekly newspaper for the “regular dissemination of accurate information about the canal.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-13