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Joseph Bucklin Bishop provides an update on the New York political situation as it pertains to securing the Republican nomination for the United States Senate and for Governor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-15
New York Senators Thomas Collier Platt and Chauncey M. Depew led a durbar procession, which includes President Roosevelt, who holds a paper that reads, “the presidency compliments of the people,” sitting on a Republican elephant. Democratic party leaders, including Arthur P. Gorman, David B. Hill, Alton B. Parker, August Belmont, and Henry Gassaway Davis, watch from the side. Uncle Sam bows toward the procession.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President William McKinley, standing, leads a toast to a dejected William Jennings Bryan, who is sitting in a chair labeled “Guest of Honor.” Seated around the table are, among others, Governor “Teddy” Roosevelt, Senator Mark “Hanna,” Benjamin B. “Odell,” Jr., and “Tim” Woodruff. Caption: Toastmaster McKinley. — Let us conclude our Thanksgiving Dinner with a toast to the man who made it so easy for us!
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Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1900-11-28
Special Easter edition centerfold shows President William McKinley as a rooster standing next to a broken egg labeled “Vice-Presidential Aspirations” from which several chicks have emerged, identified as: Lodge, Black, Bliss, Teddy, Root, Beveridge, and Timmy Woodruff.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1900-04-18
President Roosevelt responds to a letter from Nicholas Murray Butler that had criticized Roosevelt’s recent message to Congress. Roosevelt was not surprised by the letter, as Butler had been moving away from Roosevelt’s policies for the past year or two. While Roosevelt’s message did upset some people, he says that his real supporters have strongly supported it, and that he has received many letters to that effect. Roosevelt believes that he has done the right thing in speaking out against corruption in politics and business.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-06
President Roosevelt tells John A. Sleicher that he does not think there will be an income tax for some years, but believes that “we must ultimately come to it.” Roosevelt thinks it must be the “unusually illiterate type” who interpret his Harrisburg speech as “socialistic.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-12
President Roosevelt is concerned over the accusations made by Edward Henry Harriman, a prominent railroad executive, particularly a “wilful untruth” concerning a request to raise money for the Republican party during the 1904 presidential campaign. Roosevelt tells Representative Sherman that he believes the dispute with Harriman stems from a dissatisfaction with regulations made on interstate commerce, particularly affecting railroads. Harriman is also disappointed that Roosevelt failed to appoint Senator Chauncey M. Depew as Ambassador to France as he had requested, and refuses to support the Republican party as long as Roosevelt’s policies dominate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-08
President Roosevelt thanks Senator Lodge for the letter informing him and his wife about their son, Ted, who does not write home often enough. Roosevelt wrote to Ted an “earnest and truthful” letter about his “folly.” Roosevelt also informs Lodge of the meeting in Cuba between Secretary of War William H. Taft, First Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon, and Cuban President Tomas Estrada Palma. The temporary agreement for a provisional government with military support from the United States will help secure peace while Cuba begins self-government. Roosevelt hopes this will secure Cuba’s liberty, and any future policy will be in the “permanent interests of both Cuba and the United States.” Roosevelt also has acted to “prevent hurt” to the Republican nominees in the upcoming state elections, particularly in New York, and New York City. Wealthy business men, like William Randolph Hearst, and “Bourbon reactionaries” are running for office to gain political power, not for the “have-nots,” but to deflect regulations on their wealth. Roosevelt believes Charles Evans Hughes is the right man to run against Hearst for governor, as he will enact progressive reforms with a fair mind.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-01
President Roosevelt hopes John A. Sleicher has a pleasant visit with former New York governor Frank Swett Black, and asks him to tell Black that he is pleased with Charles S. Francis’s performance as American Ambassador to Austria.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-17
President Roosevelt informs Secretary of State Root that on March 19 he will send the Senate Charles S. Francis’s nomination for Ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and recall Bellamy Storer. Storer has not responded to Roosevelt’s three most recent communications, despite the fact that Roosevelt knows that he received them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-15
President Roosevelt tells Representative Littauer that he wants to see how the contest for Speaker of the New York State Assembly plays out before he responds to state senator Edgar Truman Brackett. Roosevelt is surprised that James Wolcott Wadsworth seems to have been selected to “lead the fight,” but he believes that the best thing to do now is to make him Speaker.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
President Roosevelt notes only Charles S. Francis, Frank Swett Black, and William L. Ward’s predictions came close to the truth. He thanks Francis for his hard work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-11
Things are looking good for the election in November, but President Roosevelt believes there may be a problem in New York. Roosevelt is amused that he has received support from Robert Treat Paine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-20
President Roosevelt believes that Governor Frank S. Black’s nominating speech was the best he has ever read and would like to use him during the campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-27
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Willoughby B. Dobbs for the information in his last letter. He hopes the New York Police Board will not change the civil service examinations and expresses frustration towards the choices Governor Frank Swett Black has made. Roosevelt asks Dobbs to answer the woman who wrote the enclosed letter, as her husband was a client of Roosevelt’s father and he would like to help her because of the connection.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-25
Charles William Anderson tells William Loeb that he recently spoke to a friend of New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes to advise him about a speech that former Governor Frank Swett Black gave about the Race Track Bills. Anderson thought Black’s speech could be used against him, and believes Hughes took his advice, judging from a recent speech. William Tecumseh Vernon, the Register of the Treasury is not being as brave as he should be, and has been too cautious in his recent speeches, according to Anderson. Anderson also wonders if Consul James Weldon Johnson could be transferred from Venezuela to a European consulate, as he believes it would be a good move.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-05
J. Sloat Fassett thanks William Loeb for the news that Mr. Miller will be appointed, although he asks if the matter can be held off until the next week. Fassett enjoyed his time in Pittsburgh and Detroit, and comments on some political matters involving New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-18
John A. Sleicher discusses the upcoming New York gubernatorial election, telling President Roosevelt that “the tide is still running strongly” toward Charles Evans Hughes, but William Randolph Hearst plans to “flood the rural districts with money.” Sleicher also informs Roosevelt that Hearst’s editor Arthur Brisbane does not want Hearst elected to the governorship, because he believes Hearst should “devote himself to his propaganda for the elevation of the masses.” Sleicher still does not believe that Hughes will be defeated. He also notes that he is glad Secretary of State Elihu Root will speak in New York and that former Governor Frank Swett Black is involved, and he hopes Secretary of War William H. Taft will also be able to speak.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-17
John A. Sleicher tells President Roosevelt about his recent dinner with former New York Governor Frank Swett Black, and discusses Black’s role in the midnight conference before the convention made its nomination. Sleicher asserts that “history was made” both at the conference and the convention. Sleicher also comments on the graded income tax which Roosevelt seems to favor. Sleicher presumes such a tax must be instituted eventually, but he does not think it is yet required and, as with all new forms of taxation, it will “arouse widespread antagonism.” Sleicher adds that he read Roosevelt’s Harrisburg speech with interest, but expresses concern about some unjustified expressions emphasized by “Socialistic editors.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-11
Friends of Governor Frank Wayland Higgins do not think he will run again. The party does not support Charles Evans Hughes, but might warm better to Edgar Truman Brackett whom they know better. John A. Sleicher believes that former Governor Frank Swett Black would also be a good match. Knowing President Roosevelt is friends with Black, Sleicher wonders if Roosevelt might reach out in support to Black.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-23