Your TR Source
President Roosevelt thanks Secretary of Agriculture Wilson for his letter. He told Roosevelt everything that he wanted information about. Roosevelt believes that they are going to “beat” William Jennings Bryan “to a frazzle.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-27
President Roosevelt tells Republican National Committee Chairman Hitchcock about the steps that are being taken to counteract the bigotry that the American Protective Association is threatening. The Association is attacking William H. Taft for being a Unitarian and supporting Catholics and is also bringing up old accusations that Puerto Rico Governor Regis Henri Post was pro-Catholic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
President Roosevelt encloses a letter from Hannibal L. Hamlin, regarding the campaign’s “religious issues.” He believes that Senator Lodge’s people might want to look into the situation. Roosevelt believes it is a branch of the old American Protective Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
President Roosevelt is glad that Lucius B. Swift referred two men to him, because he was able to secure “just treatment” for them. Roosevelt is glad to hear what Swift says about William H. Taft carrying Indiana, and he thinks that in New York, Taft will also do as well or better than Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign. He is also glad that Swift liked his open letter to Senator Philander C. Knox. He is amused that the New York Sun thinks he plagiarized it from Knox’s speech, when in fact Roosevelt wrote the labor part of Knox’s speech with the intention of including it in this letter. Roosevelt believed that it was time to attack the alliance between William Jennings Bryan and Samuel Gompers “straight from the shoulder.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
President Roosevelt hopes that Richard Welling feels as strongly as he does about the World being “arrant nonsense and bad faith to boot.” If Welling read what Roosevelt wrote to William Jennings Bryan, he will understand why he thinks the World‘s proposal is hypocrisy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-24
President Roosevelt congratulates George Rumsey Sheldon, and is especially pleased to hear that there are upwards of ten thousand contributions to the campaign fund. He praises Sheldon’s work as treasurer of the New York Republican State Committee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-25
Theodore Roosevelt tells his son Ted that he is proud of how he has conducted himself, and how well he has done at his work. Roosevelt tells his son his plans for going to Oyster Bay to vote, and says he will send more specific train times later. Regarding the campaign, Roosevelt says that he cannot campaign as much as he would like due to the difference between his temperament and William H. Taft’s temperament.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-17
President Roosevelt outlines for Patrick H. Grace the reasons that he and all labor leaders and laborers should support William H. Taft. He details Taft’s judicial record, and important decisions he has made that have protected the rights of workers. Roosevelt also discusses Taft’s work in his administration, particularly regarding the Panama Canal, in which he has supported working men. Roosevelt believes that if elected, Taft will continue “the definite and constructive program of social reorganization” begun in the current administration, while William Jennings Bryan’s proposals are all vague. A handwritten note by William Loeb states that this letter will be published in the papers on October 26, and asks that it be kept confidential until then.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-19
President Roosevelt appreciates the clippings sent by John M. Grainey, and especially appreciates the highlighted paragraph. He believes that this is an appeal on behalf of William Jennings Bryan to “the worst spirit of religious liberty,” by attacking William H. Taft because of the way he worships. Taft is a Unitarian, and Roosevelt notes that John Quincy Adams was also a Unitarian. Roosevelt also believes that Taft acted correctly in the Philippines regarding the distribution of the property of the Catholic Church.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-19
President Roosevelt appreciates Judge Cleland’s letter and the enclosed paper, but as he has already strongly called it to the attention of Congress, he is not sure what he can do about the matter. Roosevelt notes that in a discussion of criminal reform, procedure does not currently take into account the offender’s family. Roosevelt would support physical punishment for certain types of crime, such as physical abuse. He agrees with Cleland that the matters he discussed could be reached through the Federal government, but that people in favor of states’ rights object.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-21
President Roosevelt responds to the “admirable speech” Senator Knox made about the actions of William Jennings Bryan and Samuel Gompers, as well as several other special representatives of organized labor. Gompers has come out in support of Bryan, who has added a plank about labor injunctions to the Democratic platform. The plank supports the passage of a bill that Roosevelt believes is unenforceable and would damage business by unfairly giving privileges to labor. Roosevelt also argues that Bryan has not made his position on the law clear, and notes that William H. Taft has spoken plainly about his position on labor issues and injunctions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-21
President Roosevelt discusses the election prospects in various states. In particular he discusses the conditions in Ohio and New York, where “underground forces” are working against William H. Taft. However, Roosevelt believes that they will pull through and win the election. He believes that Charles Evans Hughes will win his election in New York as well. Roosevelt is glad that Senator Lodge is going on the stump. Hughes, Lodge, and Senator Albert J. Beveridge are the speakers who are most in demand.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-21
President Roosevelt agrees with William H. Taft about Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon. He believes that the ideal result in the election would be a Republican majority so small that neither Cannon nor James A. Tawney can be Speaker. Roosevelt discusses election prospects in Ohio and New York, where he believes Governor Charles Evans Hughes will win re-election. He is angry about the attacks on Taft’s religion by certain Protestants. Roosevelt does not believe he needs to do anything else in the campaign, unless he needs to speak to labor men. He invites Taft to stay at the White House when he is in Washington, unless he and his managers think it will hurt his campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-12
President Roosevelt praises Governor Hughes’s efforts campaigning for William H. Taft and the Republicans in the West. Hughes’s actions, leaving New York and potentially jeopardizing his own re-election for the party, has gained him support. Roosevelt advises Hughes to continue his “aggressive hard-hitting” against William Jennings Bryan, and in particular to focus on the judiciary. Roosevelt believes that some people who oppose Taft because of his religion will support Hughes, while some foreigners who oppose Hughes will support Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-14
President Roosevelt believes that the statement that John A. Sleicher suggested would be better coming from William H. Taft than from himself. However, he has privately been saying it to people who see him, and gives Sleicher permission to print that he has “repeatedly made the statement to callers who came in to see him.” A letter from John Appleton Stewart of the League of Republican Clubs has made Roosevelt think that the tide is turning in favor of Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-14
President Roosevelt is alarmed by Walter Wellman’s letter, which suggests that the Republicans might lose Indiana and Ohio. Roosevelt does not think it is wise for him to go on the stump, because it would cause resentment among people who want the attention to be focused on William H. Taft, the opponent of William Jennings Bryan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-15
President Roosevelt relays to Senator Lodge a telegram from Ward (probably William L. Ward, member of the Republican National Committee). The telegram states that William Jennings Bryan intends to do another tour through Ohio, and that the situation there, especially in Toledo and Cleveland, needs to be strengthened. Representative William S. Bennet requests that Lodge speak in Cleveland, Toledo, and Buffalo, as he is not needed in Massachusetts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-16
President Roosevelt thanks W. C. Brown for his interesting letter, but would like to reiterate what he told Brown in a recent conversation: that the months presidential election is not the proper time to consider the readjustment of freight rates. It is too important of an issue, and makes otherwise “sober” men too excited, to be considered right before an election. In a postscript, Roosevelt thanks Brown for the inscription in the volume of speeches Brown sent him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-06
President Roosevelt advises William H. Taft, in regard to his acceptance of the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency, that he not mention issues which William Jennings Bryan has raised and which Taft is not ready to discuss. The issue of the government guaranteeing bank deposits, however, is one that Taft will need to address. Roosevelt believes that guarantees for depositors, either by the government or by the banks, will eventually be necessary, but Bryan’s proposals are “foolish and meaningless,” and Taft will be able to communicate this.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-17
President Roosevelt congratulates William H. Taft on a recent speech. Negative coverage of Taft’s praise of Roosevelt in the Sun, Times, and Evening Post can be ignored, because neither the editors nor reporters of those publications will ever support Democratic Presidential Nominee William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt advises staying out of the New York gubernatorial race, letting Governor Charles Evans Hughes fight the primary race on his own. In a postscript, Roosevelt says he has advised Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte to continue all suits against the Standard Oil Company during the campaign and suggests Taft not accept any money from Standard Oil for his campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-20