Campaign debates

Postcard featuring a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt visiting the site of the Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debate on August 27, 1858. Roosevelt dedicated this spot on June 3, 1903. A group of people are watching from around the site, and a decorated stand is behind the dedication boulder. A handwritten note is included on the front of the postcard.

Collection

Marple Collection

Creation Date

1903-1907

William Jennings Bryan and William H. Taft debate from the rear of a railroad car while whistle-stop campaigning. Vignettes show them working shifts shaking hands, kissing babies, “Awarding Prizes at County Fairs,” exercising by tossing a medicine ball labeled “My Policies,” associating themselves with Theodore Roosevelt, and showing “Affection for the Filipino.”

Comments and Context

In another midsummer cartoon that addresses current political event and avoiding issues and partisanship, Puck‘s J. S. Pughe contributes a group of fantasy drawings based on the two Williams, rivals for the presidency in the aftermath of the Republican and Democratic conventions.

Kissing babies has been the duty of candidates since the invention of babies, so Pughe has Bryan and Taft doing double duty. And so forth; the cartoon deals exclusively with political and campaigning cliches, not any partisan differences between the candidates.

Theodore Roosevelt examines the campaigning of President William H. Taft and the endorsements Taft has received from prominent newspapers, such as the Chicago Evening Post, the National Republican Party, and voters across the country. Roosevelt questions the President’s credibility, his means of obtaining voters’ support, and the truthfulness of his record.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-07

In his acceptance speech as the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party, Theodore Roosevelt describes the need for the party’s break from the Republicans and his campaign platform.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-06-22

In this 1912 speech, Theodore Roosevelt confronts President William H. Taft’s criticism and challenges Taft’s platform and record of service to the American people. The first four pages of this speech are missing.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912

Theodore Roosevelt informs J. A. Harris that he refuses to engage in a joint debate with Charles Nathaniel Haskell over whether or not Haskell should be in a penitentiary.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-24

Theodore Roosevelt turns down a request for a joint debate. Roosevelt is concerned about political honesty.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-11-30

New York State Republican Chairman Timothy L. Woodruff sends President Roosevelt a collection of clippings about Woodruff’s upcoming debate with Senator Patrick Henry McCarren. Woodruff assures him he will be ready to respond to any allegations McCarren makes that Roosevelt’s policies are responsible for the current financial crisis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-28