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President Roosevelt agrees with what Richard Watson Gilder says about Harold Irwin Cleveland’s article. However, he does not understand the connection made to Brown’s article. Brown’s statements, especially regarding Roosevelt, are entirely and deliberately false.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-03
President Roosevelt tells Senator Knox about personnel issues with the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission. He hopes to see Knox soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-23
President Roosevelt is amused at some of the political attacks against him. He agrees to Senator Lodge’s suggestions for personnel changes in the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission, but is unsure how to handle the “whisky business” regarding the Pure Food and Drug Act. Roosevelt is facing a number of requests that he run for reelection, but is not concerned with what most people think.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-21
President Roosevelt asks Senator Smith if Benton Hanchett would consider the position of Spanish Treaty Claims Commissioner because Senator William E. Chandler resigned. Roosevelt notes that he has a high opinion of Hanchett, and this is the only position presently open.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-18
Senator Lodge brings several small matters to President Roosevelt’s attention about Senator William E. Chandler resigning from the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission, interviews that Lodge has had with blenders of whiskey who feel they have been misrepresented by the journalist, Henry Beach Needham, and that Philip Hildreth Reade ought to be promoted to Brigadier General in the United States Army. Lodge also mentions that he gave an off-hand speech encouraging people to support the Republican ticket, but it had been misrepresented in the papers. The senator closes by including a quotation from a man who believed that Roosevelt was a drunkard and addicted to morphine and that his family constantly stays with him to prevent others from discovering his condition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-19
Frank S. Streeter writes to Chairman Cortelyou about a nominee for postmaster in Concord, New Hampshire. Though a former senator is opposed to John Henry Brown being named, Streeter assures Cortelyou that Brown is held in high regard in the state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-20
President Roosevelt shows Uncle Sam a “quilting bee in aid of the suffering public.” Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner, Iowa Senator William B. Allison, and Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey sit at a table stitching amendments on a “rate bill” quilt. Spanish Treaty Claims Commissioner William E. Chandler looks through a window and holds a paper that reads, “I’m no liar.” There is a portrait of George Washington on the wall.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-15
President Roosevelt sits at his desk and signs a paper that reads, “Abolish Spanish Treaty Commission.” William E. Chandler watches as he holds a paper that reads, “What Teddy said.” There is a bear head and a “big stick” on the wall and a book on Roosevelt’s desk that is entitled, “The Gentle Art of Lieing T. Roosevelt.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-30
Benjamin R. Tillman, Joseph W. Bailey, and William E. Chandler appear as war veterans playing musical instruments and marching. Tillman carries a banner labeled “The Original Rate Bill” and Bailey’s drum is labeled “The White House Post No. 23.”
The lengthy and thorny negotiations over the 1906 Railroad Rate bill, ultimately passed and known the Hepburn Law, reveals how hands-on President Roosevelt was in legislative matters dear to his heart, as most everything in his field of vision was. The issue was of utmost importance, by virtually common consent — unfair competition, rigging of schedules, kickbacks, and such — but how to assemble a congressional consensus was the challenge.
President Roosevelt expresses surprise at Thomas Settle’s judgement endorsing ex-Senator William E. Chandler’s proposal. Roosevelt states that he has “always liked” Judge Jeter Connelly Pritchard and consults him for appointments to be made in North Carolina. Roosevelt explains that he follows the advice of the Chairman of the State Committee, the national committeemen, and other congressmen when making appointments and that there will always be fighting between the two sides.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-23
President Roosevelt returns the letter and documents that Richard Watson Gilder forwarded to him. He agrees that William Garrott Brown seems to be a good person, but does not think that there is anything to be gained by continuing the discussion. Roosevelt had never heard of former senator William E. Chandler’s statement until Brown brought it to his attention, and says that “to call Mr. Chandler’s statement a ‘pipe dream’ is to pay it an unwarranted compliment.” To mention it would be to give it unwarranted attention when it is already a dead statement. Roosevelt does not think he should give another speech in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-20
President Roosevelt assures Representative Wiley that his conduct was entirely proper and explains the provenance of the memorandum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-18
Attorney General Moody sends President Roosevelt the account he requested of the conference Moody had with Senators Benjamin R. Tillman and Joseph W. Bailey. Moody recounts the circumstances leading to the conference, and the discussions he had with Roosevelt prior to the conference regarding an amendment to the Hepburn bill and the ability of Congress to limit the ability of courts to issue interlocutory injunctions. Moody told the two senators Roosevelt’s thoughts on the matter and found them to be largely in agreement, leading to the creation of a draft amendment. This amendment had some difficulty in the Senate, and Moody told Tillman and Bailey that it may be difficult for an amendment that the executive branch had a hand in crafting to pass, and suggested that they collaborate with Senator William B. Allison on the creation of a new amendment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-14
President Roosevelt sends Senator Lodge a history of the Chandler-Bailey-Tillman matter regarding the passage of the Hepburn Act.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-19
President Roosevelt tells Senator Allison of the many discussions he has had about the pending rate bill and its proposed amendments. While Roosevelt approved of many suggested amendments and made suggestions on how to alter others, he has never insisted that any amendment be made to the bill in order for it to be signed into law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-14
Writer Winston Churchill details how the efforts of George H. Moses, editor of the Concord Monitor to appoint Frank Abbott Musgrove to the pension agency are related to Senator Jacob H. Gallinger’s reelection. Churchill will not oppose Musgrove if the majority of the delegation supports him, but he supports and feels loyal to Charles Fairbanks.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-08
Senator Lodge is glad President Roosevelt approves of his statements at Malden and that they agree on Clifford Anderson Lanier’s comments. Louis Curtis recently expressed a positive outlook on Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou’s policies regarding stock speculation. Lodge touches on the difficulty with Henry K. Daugherty, the whiskey blenders, and the Standard Oil letters before discussing his feelings on Roosevelt’s term of office. Although he feels Roosevelt must stick to his word, Lodge wishes Roosevelt could run again and continue his service to the country. Lodge assesses support for Secretary of War William H. Taft, especially in relation to Governor Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-24
Representative Wiley explains how a personal conversation was inadvertently relayed to Senator Joseph W. Bailey, who then made comments to the press. He regrets that he played a part in the matter making it to the press.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-17
Lieutenant Commander Key writes to President Roosevelt regarding an article by Lloyd H. Chandler, son of former Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler, which he thinks Roosevelt would enjoy reading.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-25
George B. Cortelyou refers to William Loeb’s earlier letter and papers from William E. Chandler. Cortelyou states that his actions regarding the “Wisconsin situation” will be in line with President Roosevelt’s judgment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-23