Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926

Char Miller charts the long path that led to the passage in 1911 of the Weeks Act which provided for the purchase of forest lands in the eastern and southern United States by the federal government to protect the adjacent navigable rivers. Miller highlights the efforts of John W. Weeks of Massachusetts who pushed for the legislation as a member of Congress. Miller lists some of the provisions of the legislation, and he notes how the preservation of forest lands was extended to the Appalachian Mountain watershed in the South. Miller argues that combining the preservation of forest lands in the Northeast and South gave the legislation more support in Congress, and he describes how Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt tried to overcome southern hostility to measures by the federal government to purchase forest land. 

Photographs of Pinchot and Weeks, two advertisements from the U.S. Forest Service celebrating the centennial of the Weeks Act, and the text of a speech by Roosevelt supplement the article.

President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, members of the Republican Nomination Committee, and guests pose in front of Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-04

President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, members of the Republican Nomination Committee, and guests pose in front of Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-04

President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, members of the Republican Nomination Committee, and guests pose in front of Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-04

President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, members of the Republican Nomination Committee, and guests pose in front of Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-04

Photograph shows 19 portraits of prominent orators (politicians and businessmen) superimposed over an audience comprised of men. Caption reads, “our prominent political orators in action. The efforts of these men will anchor the floating vote, make converts and win the election.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-08-29

Massachusetts Governor Guild sends President Roosevelt copies of a petition in support of Secretary of State Elihu Root and the National Foreign Trade Convention’s position on tariff reform. The petition has been signed by congressmen and state legislatures from both parties.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

In this chapter excerpt from his book John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement, Stephen Fox examines efforts to expand Yosemite National Park, the battle between preservationists and conservationists over the use of forests, and provides portraits of John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, John Burroughs, and Theodore Roosevelt. He looks at the work undertaken by the conservation movement to preserve Niagara Falls, the redwood forests of California, and Mount Desert Island in Maine. Fox concludes the chapter with a look at the battle over the city of San Francisco’s desire to build a dam at the southern end of Hetch Hetchy valley in Yosemite National Park. In addition to looking at the life and work of Muir, the chapter provides information on many lesser known figures in the turn of the twentieth-century conservation movement.

A listing of the officers and the members of the executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees of the Theodore Roosevelt Association is found on the second page of the excerpt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Obituary of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the first born and last to die of Theodore Roosevelt’s children. The obituary details her celebrity status during her father’s presidency, her wedding to Congressman Nicholas Longworth, and his career in the House of Representatives. The notice also examines Alice Longworth’s decades long position as a Washington, D.C. power broker and socialite, and it notes her friendship with presidents, journalists, and celebrities. Her work in compiling an anthology of American poetry, her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and her efforts to memorialize her father are also covered. The obituary notes her love of reading, acerbic wit, and sense of humor.

Four photographs accompany the article: the first shows Alice in 1904; the second shows the entire Roosevelt family, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt and all of their children and Alice’s husband, Nicholas Longworth, at the White House; the third shows Alice with her sister Ethel Derby and her brother Archibald Roosevelt at Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C.; and the fourth is of Alice late in life.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt birthplace committees is included in the article.

A staff correspondent for the Chicago Tribune reports on President William Howard Taft’s recent visit to Kansas. Governor Walter R. Stubbs honored the president and accompanied him everywhere. Taft made friends with his smile and good humor, but there does not appear to be much change in political opinion after Taft’s visit. Many Progressives do not agree with his recent actions and policies as President such as the Payne-Aldrich tariff law, vetoing the wool, cotton, and farmer free list bill, and his Canadian reciprocity treaty. There is much opposition to Taft in Kansas, but it is not clear who else might have the vote in Kansas, perhaps Robert M. La Follette, Woodrow Wilson, or Albert Baird Cummins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-29

The Chicago Tribune continues their series of dispatches on President William Howard Taft’s campaign in the midwestern states. In this article, they focus on public opinion of Taft in Peoria, Illinois. Most Republican voters in Peoria are dissatisfied with the President, due in large part to his friendly relationships with Nelson W. Aldrich and Illinois politicians Joseph Gurney Cannon and William Lorimer.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-24

Joseph Deutsch criticizes a recent piece of legislation that, while aiming to provide greater protections for patent holders, has the unintended effect of making the United States government liable to pay potentially large sums of money for the upkeep of parts of its military infrastructure, and restricts it ability to develop government owned telegraph, telephone, or railroad services.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-02

Senator Robert M. La Follette recently delivered a speech excoriating President William H. Taft for having “broken all the vital party platform pledges and repeatedly and continuously [betraying] the public interests into the hands of special privilege.” While Taft attained the presidency through his association with Theodore Roosevelt, his actions in office have gone against many of the progressive policies that Roosevelt upheld.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-17

The article describes a speech on the Senator floor, in which Senator Robert M. La Follette attacked President William H. Taft for ignoring former president Theodore Roosevelt’s policies. La Follette argued that Taft was elected by promising to continue Roosevelt’s agenda, but has not done that. In particular Taft took issue with the firing of Gifford Pinchot, the reciprocity bill, and the Taft administration’s railroad legislation. He also noted that Taft barely mentioned Roosevelt in his first message to Congress.

Comments and Context

The article includes underlines and comments from Mary E. Wiswell, who mailed the clipping to Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Extracts from numerous letters address the need to act against the ills of the day, including political corruption, partisanship, influence of money in elections, and the attack on democratic electoral principals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-24

Samuel G. Blythe reports on Western attitudes towards President William H. Taft following his recent nationwide speaker tour. People generally like Taft as a person, but do not feel that they have seen enough of his governing ability or policies to support him as their president. Taft is also contending with the ongoing popularity of Theodore Roosevelt, which may surge again when he returns from Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-11-27

The writer responds to an editorial in the Wichita Beacon stating that eventually men like Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich will be “read out” of the Republican Party before Theodore Roosevelt returns and is made president again.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909

President Roosevelt stands at the “Presidency” plate on a baseball diamond, holding a bat labeled “Honest & Upright Government.” David B. Hill is poised to pitch him a “Tricky Politics” ball. “Gray,” William Jennings Bryan, and Grover Cleveland are in the outfield, while “Williams, Captain” talks with catcher Alton B. Parker. August Belmont, as bat boy, carries a “$” bag of bats labeled “Trusts” and “Interest.” Behind Roosevelt in the dugout are his teammates, Chauncey M. Depew, Albert J. Beveridge, Joseph Gurney Cannon, John Hay, George B. Cortelyou, “Black,” and vice-presidential candidate Charles W. Fairbanks. In the stands in the background are kings and other interested fans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08

President Roosevelt, a Republican elephant with an “and Fairbanks” tag, and Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon are all attached to a rope system that Chairman of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou controls. Roosevelt receives a paper that reads, “Take notice: you’re it. Uncle Joe.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-28

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon brings President Roosevelt a “notification of nomination for president G. O. P. seal.” Cannon stands near the “Sagamore Hill” sign and wears a “Notification Committee” decoration. “T. R. his axe” is lodged in a tree.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-28