Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt thanks William T. Hornaday for what he wrote about the “idiotic red tape business” of regular officers turning away young people under circumstances of humiliation. Jack Coolidge was one of the people unjustly turned away from camp.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-06-12
David P. Barrows argues that fear is the most primal human emotion, and that even children understand the importance of overcoming fear, although adults do not help them do so. He discusses the importance of cultivating courage in people of all ages.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-06
President Roosevelt thanks Frédéric Mistral for the book and medal. Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt are pleased with the book because they have possessed a copy of it for nearly twenty years and are glad to have a new copy with a personal inscription by Mistral. Roosevelt applauds Mistral for teaching the lesson that “the things that really count in life are the things of spirit.” While factories and railways are good, what matters most are “homely, work-a-day” and “heroic virtues.” A second typewritten copy is included with a note explaining that the letter was sent in Roosevelt’s handwriting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-15
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary assures Montaville Flowers that Roosevelt does not use tobacco and uses very little alcohol. The secretary writes that if people knew Roosevelt better they would be aware of his lovable nature and fine qualities. At Roosevelt’s request, the secretary has enclosed two pertinent letters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-09-10
Theodore Roosevelt emphatically recommends Theodore A. Alfred, based on Alfred’s character and achievements, for membership in the Century Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-18
President Roosevelt tells Albert Shaw, editor of the Review of Reviews, that he believes that the deeds and words of great people of the United States, as well as the character of the President, are assets to the United States in representing good citizenship. Roosevelt cites a letter by President Abraham Lincoln to Lydia Bixby, who had lost all five of her sons during the United States Civil War, as an example of the sort of character people should have, both in Lincoln’s writing a personal message in the midst of war, and in Bixby’s patriotism and sacrifice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-01
President Roosevelt has received James E. Shepard’s letter, as well as the various letters attesting to Shepard’s character and praising his work. While Roosevelt cannot speak personally about Shepard’s ability to establish the school he proposes, he says that the plan is an admirable one and wishes Shepard success.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-18
President Roosevelt tells Thomas J. Dolan that no one should waste their time telling stories such as the one that Dolan referred to, and reassures Dolan that he believes him to be “an absolutely straight man” and admires the work he did in the recent political campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-14
President Roosevelt forwards William Allen White, editor of The Emporia Gazette, a letter from Associate Justice William H. Moody, which he says shows “what a fine fellow Moody is.” He asks White to keep the letter confidential, and to return it once he has read it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-08
President Roosevelt thanks Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell for the personally inscribed copy of Scouting for Boys. One of the books Baden-Powell recommends reading, The Young Marooners, was written by a first cousin of Roosevelt’s mother. Roosevelt sympathizes with the purpose of Baden-Powell’s book, as the future will be “indeed gloomy” if the next generation of boys grows up to be “too wishy-washy.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
President Roosevelt writes a letter to Ben Lilly praising his character and citizenship. Roosevelt says that Lilly can show the letter to anyone he wants, and hopes that they give Lilly proper courtesy and treatment. Roosevelt is going to Africa next spring, but asks that if Lilly find a good hunting spot in Mexico to let him know, as they may use it in the future.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-11
President Roosevelt sends well wishes to the YMCA of Japan and expresses his belief in the importance of the YMCA mission in building character.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-02
President Roosevelt has not heard from Representative Landis regarding his previous letter, so he assumes that Landis does not know anything that would reflect poorly on Charles A. Stilling’s integrity. Roosevelt will request his resignation as Public Printer, but will make explicitly clear that this is not a reflection on Stillings’s integrity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-14
President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft that he will arrange for a meeting with Gilson Gardner and speak to him about publishing such an article. However, Roosevelt does not have any influence with Gardner, so the most he can do is to tell him his well-known favorable opinion of Senator Philander C. Knox.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-14
President Roosevelt asks Representative Landis, Chairman of the Committee on Printing, whether he has found anything in his investigations that would seem to affect the integrity of Charles A. Stillings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-08
President Roosevelt concurs with Elihu Root that the attacks against Judge Lebbeus R. Wilfley are insubstantial and have come about because of the effectiveness of Wilfley in attacking vice and crime in Shanghai. Roosevelt encloses a letter from Robert E. Lewis, who has recently returned from Shanghai after living there for ten years, and who reflects positively on Wilfley’s character. If attacks on Wilfley go forward, the beneficiaries will be those people who traffic in vice and corruption.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-02
President Roosevelt describes to Mark Sullivan the considerations that have gone into his selections for federal judgeships. Roosevelt reviews his appointments in detail, noting that some were made at the request of the local organization and some against their wishes. The goal in each case was to appoint someone “of the high character, the good sense, the trained legal ability, and the necessary broad-mindedness of spirit…essential to a good judge.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-13
President Roosevelt was so interested in the letter that DeEtte Victoria Alderman Newcomb wrote to his wife, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, that he wanted to write to her himself. He sends a signed picture of himself and wishes her luck in building the church. He comments that she has led a very interesting life, and says that regardless of whether people are Republicans or Democrats, the important thing is to “do our duty in straight and decent fashion.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-04
President Roosevelt appreciated Judge Finkelnburg’s letter and feels Finkelnburg must be pleased by the “universal commendation” he received. Roosevelt says it was a “genuine pleasure . . . to put a man of such high character and standing on the bench.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-08
President Roosevelt has received Paul Morton’s letter concerning rebates given to the Colorado Fuel Company when Morton was vice president of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. As Morton’s letter indicates, he was “ignorant of the existence of such rebates” and had explicitly prohibited rebates. Roosevelt acknowledges that years prior, Morton alone was someone who gave testimony that helped stop “the system of rebates as it then existed,” and this showed Roosevelt he was “a man whose word could be trusted absolutely.” Because of this fact, the president wanted to have Morton enter his cabinet in the Navy Department, which he did serving the past year. Upon accepting Morton’s recent resignation from office, Roosevelt wishes him and former president Grover Cleveland success at the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Roosevelt believes Morton and Cleveland will do an excellent job.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-12