Your TR Source
Uncle Sam sits in a rocking chair and laughs as he watches President Roosevelt, who wears a “constitution” hat with an “I also killed a Spaniard” feather, ride a hobbyhorse. On the wall is a sign that reads, “Theodore Roosevelt, 46 to-day.” Caption: Uncle Sam—Well, if that boy don’t want ME for a birthday present!
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
Alton B. Parker sleeps in a bed and awakes from a nightmare of a hydra-headed monster: “militarism,” “violation of the Constitution,” “the race issue,” “the spirit of war,” and “imperialism.” A “voter” brings Parker an “election verdict” pill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
President Roosevelt juggles a revolver, sword, glove, and cannon in front of a “Constitution” hoop through which he has stepped. The shirt he wears bears a large dollar sign on the front.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10
Alton B. Parker spurs a donkey that carries himself and “the Constitution of the U.S.” forward to catch a slow-moving elephant that carries President Roosevelt. Both head toward the “White House,” where Uncle Sam stands.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-17
President Roosevelt holds “the strenuous life” big stick as he looks at a Republican elephant lying on the ground. Similarly, Alton B. Parker holds “The Constitution” and looks at a tired donkey. Caption: Roosevelt and Parker—”Wonder how I can get some life into the pesky animal?”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-08
President Roosevelt stands in front of several pictures of himself, the “trusts,” and the Republican elephant with the title, “in the same frame & same game.” A picture of “Fairy Bank” is below. Roosevelt stands on the “Constitution” and “Declaration of Independence” and wears a “big stick” saber and “Baron Littauer’s brand” gloves. Two ultimatums are in his belt. To his left is his “letter of acceptance” that includes a number of statements, “signed — ‘we’ per ‘I.'”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-24
President Roosevelt stands as a giant wearing the crown of “Imperialism” and wielding “The Big Stick” over diminutive figures representing Colombia (lying on the ground), Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, and Paraguay. Roosevelt’s left foot is on the torn and tattered “Constitution of the United States.” In the distance, Spain and others look on.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-05
President Roosevelt, holding a “big stick,” and Charles W. Fairbanks ride a horse toward the United States Capitol building. There are a number of rocks ahead of them: “grafting officials,” “disregard of Constitution,” “trusts,” “secret pension list,” “Army appointments,” “blunder,” and “social equality.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-09
The Spectator publishes an article arguing that not only should President Roosevelt run for a third term despite norms limiting the number of presidential terms to two, it is his duty to the people to do so.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-22
Nathan Bijur takes exception to the New York Evening Post’s endorsement of the Parker Constitution Club, which aims to examine full records of President Roosevelt’s actions which have overridden the Constitution. Bijur notes that other presidents, such as Grover Cleveland, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, were all also accused of overriding the Constitution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-10
An article by Thomas E. Watson rails against the efforts of national bankers to replace the the Department of the Treasury issued notes which had historically been used to combat inflation with their own bank notes. Such a practice would give private banks full control over the financial state of the country and would only increase bankers’ wealth at the expense of the economy. Should President Roosevelt allow this to happen, he would prove himself a hypocrite and incapable of living up to his promises to fight the “malefactors of wealth” in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-10
Frederic Jesup Stimson gave a lecture at the Lowell Institute about the enumerated powers of the Executive and Legislative branches in the Constitution. Stimson argues that these powers were given to the President and Congress not to interfere with interstate commerce, but to prevent the various states from doing so. By altering the interpretation of the word “commerce” in the Constitution to include all manufacturers doing business in more than one state, President Roosevelt would radically alter the Constitution. This would insert the federal government into transactions the Constitution did not intend.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-03
President Roosevelt holds up his fist at crowd of people who hold up signs, including one that reads, “To hell with the Constitution!” A donkey is in the corner and says, “We are behind you, Mr. Roosevelt.” Caption: “‘I stand for equal justice’—Theodore Roosevelt.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-24
Proof for a newspaper article that describes political activities the year before the national party conventions, when many politicians are already active in the presidential race. Both Democrats and Republicans are already trying to shape public opinion toward conservative platforms and “safe and sane” candidates. Republicans in New York are trying to kill support for William Jennings Bryan in the South. Others are actively against a third term for President Roosevelt. Despite this activity, however, Bryan and Roosevelt remain popular, and no other political candidacy has gained much headway. The press and Senator Jonathan Bourne are advocating for another term for Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-28
Oscar S. Straus gives an address at the University of Georgia tracing the development of religious liberty in the United States. Beginning with the founding of several American Colonies, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, Straus examines how many of the colonies dealt with religious freedom, or lack thereof, and how as the United States has developed as a nation it has set forth the law that no religion or sect of religion is above any other, and that the laws apply to all equally.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-13
This brief news clipping reports on the proceedings of a recent meeting of the Constitution Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909
President Roosevelt congratulates Senator Lodge on the birth of his grandson, Henry Cabot Lodge, and is glad that Lodge’s daughter-in-law Bessie is in good health. Roosevelt lays out the cases both in favor of, and against, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes as a Supreme Court Justice. Roosevelt is concerned about Holmes’s speech about former Chief Justice John Marshall and hopes that Holmes understands that Supreme Court justices should be neither partisan nor politicians. Roosevelt has been happy with the majority of the Supreme Court but is concerned with the “reactionary folly” of the minority. Roosevelt wants to ensure that the replacement for Justice Gray upholds his legacy.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1902-07-10
A manuscript, created for a Mount Rushmore inscription contest, covering key events in American history.
1935-04-22
President Roosevelt thanks the local chairman, presumably a Democrat, for introducing him, saying that political party is of little importance when Americans are unified in the spirit of fairness. He notes the presence of school children in the crowd as well as veterans of the Union Army in the American Civil War, saying that the veterans’ victorious spirit lived on in the American soldiers who fought in the Philippines. He notes how evolving weapons and tactics have not changed the necessary qualities of the soldier. Benedict Arnold was a gallant and talented soldier who helped win major battles but was missing the important “root of righteousness” that eventually led to his reputation as a traitor. Similarly, laws may change, but the need for patriotic citizens with honesty, courage, and common sense remains the same.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-23
In the script for an economic policy speech to be delivered at the Cincinnati Music Hall before many captains of industry, President Roosevelt argues that the trusts are a natural result of the prosperity brought by the Industrial Revolution and that we cannot pride ourselves on progress while denouncing the men whose “commanding business ability” made it possible. He uses the example of how one can control the Mississippi River’s flooding but not prevent it; therefore, America cannot end corporations but can and must study and regulate them. Roosevelt urges calm, informed evolution on the issue of trusts, not rancorous revolution. Labeling the “demagogic denunciation of wealth” to be unwholesome and even dangerous, he asserts that the public’s objection to any corporation should be based on its conduct, not its size or wealth. Roosevelt opposes lifting tariffs for trust-made goods, as that would hurt smaller producers and wage workers more than the trusts. Since most trusts conduct interstate commerce, Roosevelt recommends federal oversight, calling for legislative solutions and perhaps a constitutional amendment. He reminds the crowd that, as part of the executive branch, he is limited in his ability to stop the trusts alone.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-20