Your TR Source
President Roosevelt wishes Captain Pierce well in his work with the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, but is unable to participate in Pierce’s proposed plan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-12
President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to say he is glad to hear about his performance in the two-mile race. He adds he had lunch with Robert Perkins, Ted Roosevelt’s boss, and he thinks Ted is doing well.
1908-10-22
President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to tell him about a letter from the Kodak Company and says he is glad Kermit went out for freshman football and the two-mile run. Roosevelt tells a story about Quentin acquiring and selling a pig and closes by talking about horseback riding and some plays on the White House grounds.
1908-10-17
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt believes that all Americans owe a debt to Walter Camp for his championing of athletics and exercise, which Roosevelt believes is necessary as America develops a larger population of sedentary classes. Roosevelt particularly approves of football, and is disdainful of people like Harvard University President Charles William Eliot who wish to ban it because of the injuries it can cause. Roosevelt discusses injuries he has sustained during various sports and exercises, and says that while he approves of altering football’s rules so that it is less dangerous, he would rather have it be dangerous than not have it at all. Many prominent politicians in Washington, D.C., were involved in sports during their college years, and Roosevelt draws a link between having a sound body and a sound mind.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1895-03-11
President Roosevelt thanks Walter Camp for the letter, and says that even apart from his feeling as a Harvard graduate, he thinks it is good that Harvard win occasionally. Roosevelt enjoyed reading Camp’s book, and while he does not wish to be quoted, wanted to let Camp know that he thought it “achieves the double purpose of being interesting and having a first-class tendency.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-10
President Roosevelt and the family enjoyed his son Kermit’s letters. Roosevelt is pleased at Kermit’s good start in college, and is particularly proud of his efforts in football and running. The weather in Washington is good, and Roosevelt is avoiding any “scramble walks” or jumping so that his leg will be healthy at the start of the trip in Africa. Roosevelt outlines five uncertain factors in the upcoming election, including the positions of corporations, the labor vote, the support of the unemployed, and a religious attack against William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-20
President Roosevelt encloses a “rather puzzling” letter from the Kodak Company for his son Kermit. He asks if the camera is the kind Kermit wants, or if he should order a different kind. Roosevelt is glad that Kermit is out for the “freshman football eleven” and that he is going to attempt the two-mile run. He also tells a humorous story about Quentin selling a pig to “the animal man” for the profit of a nickel, and leading the pig in a parade.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-17
President Roosevelt did not know that the telegraphs that he sent to Charles William Eliot, the president of Harvard College, would be made public, and now sends him a letter so that if the matter comes up in the future Roosevelt’s position would not be misstated. Roosevelt feels that the the removal of Sidney W. Fish and Charles C. Morgan was too severe. While Roosevelt agrees with the idea of enforcing honor from Harvard’s college students, he feels that the action taken in this case has had the opposite effect.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-10
President Roosevelt reflects to his son Kermit on the events of the past week in Washington, D.C. He believes that the Conference of Governors on conservation will be the end of his “very active work” as President, as focus will turn to the nominee after the convention. Roosevelt hopes that Kermit will make the most of his year at Harvard before the African safari, and that after their return, he will dedicate himself to working hard and not become restless and unsatisfied.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-17
President Roosevelt does not know enough to give Robert Burlingham an opinion, but says that he believes in athletic sports and intercollegiate athletics. He would like the Harvard football team to do better.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-13
President Roosevelt hopes that John White Hallowell’s operation will not be severe. He also notes that he has been very concerned about the Harvard movement against athletics.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-08
President Roosevelt congratulates George Emlen Roosevelt on his victory in the Irish-American games.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-11
As the college football season comes to a close, President Roosevelt admits that it is too sore a topic for him to discuss with members of the cabinet who graduated from either Harvard or Yale. This did not keep Williams College graduate Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield from making a joke at the Harvard football team’s expense, which “nearly produced a rift in our hitherto excellent relations.” Roosevelt will also forward Ralph Delahaye Paine’s earlier letter to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Beekman Winthrop.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-19
President Roosevelt congratulates Eugene A. Philbin on his son Stephen H. Philbin’s performance in a recent football game and invites them both to lunch.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
Theodore Roosevelt writes to William Roscoe Thayer on the subject of criticism. Roosevelt feels that those who do are more aptly placed to be critics as to who do not, using the comparison that the authors of the Federalist were political doers who also criticized and acted. He then extends the metaphor to cover Harvard’s struggles in sports competitions with Yale and Cornell.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-01
President Roosevelt tells Harvard football coach William T. Reid that he believes it is important to free football umpires from “the danger of unpleasant consequences” arising from the anger of teams and coaches if they stop or punish brutality. Roosevelt believes officials should be chosen in a way that will free them from responsibility to players or coaches.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-11
President Roosevelt encloses for Walter Camp a letter that interested him. He believes it is important to free football umpires from the risk of unpleasant confrontations arising from the anger of teams or coaches. Roosevelt believes they should be chosen by agreement between the faculties of different colleges, or in another way that will free them from responsibility to specific plyers or coaches.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-11
President Roosevelt tells William Roscoe Thayer that a recent article in Harvard Graduates’ Magazine about Yale’s attitude in athletics has done real damage. He believes articles like this one are “almost as responsible for the demoralization of sport as brutality on the field.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-04
Although President Roosevelt appreciates Philip Battell Stewart’s praise and optimism about his son Ted’s future football career, Roosevelt believes that he is “not good enough to be of the slightest account” to make the varsity team at Harvard. However, he agrees that Ted showed good spirit in the game.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-23
Although he wishes that Harvard had won, President Roosevelt is pleased that his son Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt evidently got to play in the game against Yale. He praises Ted’s performance in the game, during which Yale directed “battering” plays against him because he was so small and light, and says that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and Ethel Roosevelt were “very indignant” about it. Roosevelt is very proud of his son’s football career, but glad that he is too small to try out for the varsity team. He hopes that now Ted can attend more to his studies and that he will be able to come to Pine Knot for Thanksgiving, as he is not bringing the Secret Service with him and Edith is worried about his being the only man in the house. He asks one more time what Ted would like Alexander Lambert to do about the moose horns.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-19