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Secretary of War Taft hopes to have the results of the Cuban election in half an hour. He would like to have a statement from President Roosevelt about the election before he leaves for Puerto Rico because he thinks it would help matters if he were able to make an announcement as he leaves.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-10
Secretary of War Taft reports to President Roosevelt from Cuba. Charles E. Magoon is keeping everything under control and Taft plans to inspect the troops soon. Taft discusses his worries about his brother, Charles Phelps Taft, having set him up as an opponent to Senator Joseph Benson Foraker in the upcoming election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-09
Secretary of War Taft writes to President Roosevelt from Cuba. He assures Roosevelt that the recent report from the New York Herald was overblown and no cause for alarm. He also reports on the labor meeting he held with unhappy steam shovel engineers working on the Canal while in Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-07
Secretary of War Taft reports to President Roosevelt on the progress of the Panama Canal. He has heard from the men working on the canal, those in charge of steam shovels, locomotive engineers, and construction conductors, but does not want to make a decision until he hears back from the President. Taft tells Roosevelt he should receive a letter with Taft’s in-depth analysis and a copy has also been sent to George W. Goethals. Taft is in Cuba for the next week and then travels to Puerto Rico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-07
Captain Pillsbury forwards copies of three telegrams to Rear Admiral Davis regarding Kingston, Jamaica, following the earthquake.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-17
In a memo prepared by the New York Herald, a correspondent describes the situation in Cuba. He insists that Americans in Cuba are frightened of a potential return to Cuban rule over the island. Making Cuba an American protectorate is recommended.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-11
John M. Taylor sends President Roosevelt a copy of a letter which Captain Allyn Capron sent to Judge John Robert Thomas, from Cuba in 1898. Taylor describes his part in having helped to recruit two companies of Rough Riders from Indian Territory, and reminds Roosevelt that he came to San Antonio, where he was introduced to Roosevelt by Thomas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-22
Arizona historian James H. McClintock writes to President Roosevelt to ask for his opinion on the task of writing a historical narrative on Cuba’s regiment. McClintock mentions that he can add to the work already completed by using official Cuban records.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-30
Herbert G. Squiers must state to the Cuban government that if Cuba expects the United States to continue its policy of commercial advantage, the United States government must request that the Cuban government insert the clause sent after Article Twenty of the Cuban-British Treaty. If Cuba fails to grant this, the Cuban government will alone be responsible for any trouble that may arise in the future between the two countries.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-12
Senator Proctor writes to President Roosevelt to clarify his opinion on the promotion of military officers. Proctor does not recommend appointments based on statehood or individual desires; rather, he recommends the best person for the position. Proctor believes that Eugene Frederick Ladd would be an excellent choice due to his service in Cuba.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-08
The Department of Commerce and Labor and the Treasury Department have expressed views that certain articles of the treaty are objectionable. To remove all possible embarrassments, the two departments suggest that this separate article be added, modeled after Article 21 of the treaty concluded between Germany and Hawaii on September 19, 1879.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-06
Military Governor Magoon forwards a letter to Secretary of War Taft regarding the issue of Cuban veterans’ claims for work performed before and during the Spanish-American war. Magoon examines Cuba’s constitution and whether or not article II lays sufficient claim to compensation for the soldiers. Analysis leads Americans to believe that Cuba was created as a result of war between the United States and Spain, which impacts the validity of their claims. Magoon provides a brief summary of the Spanish-American role with Cuba’s involvement in the process. The government of Cuba, under these circumstances, is not required to fulfill the requests of the Cuban forces. Magoon does not believe America has the right to force the Cuban government to pay these claims.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-06
Senator Platt writes that Ambassador Herbert G. Squiers does not want to be reassigned to Brazil. He would prefer to stay in Cuba but would consider Turkey or Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-05
Henry W. Taft concurs with Elihu Root about a possible visit to Cuba by Secretary of War Taft. Root is worried that Cubans would see such a visit as pressure on their government to pass certain legislation. The United States has denounced a proposed bond issue in Cuba and that is all that can be done at the moment. If Taft were to visit, it could be seen as a military threat.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-01
Henry W. Taft concurs with Elihu Root that a visit by Secretary of War Taft to Cuba could be misconstrued as military pressure.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-01
John Lewis Griffiths praises President Roosevelt’s character and the achievements of his administration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-03
Secretary of War William H. Taft holds crying baby “Cuba” while rocking on a rocking chair and says, “I wish this kid would quiet down—I want to get back to that dear Ohio!!” To the left of the rocking chair is a bottle of “political dope” and a book entitled, “How to Soothe Cuba, Vol. I.”
Little is known about the elusive cartoonist N. Eingen. In this cartoon in the Woman’s National Daily of St.Louis and University City, Missouri, he displayed more sympathy than usually accorded any member of the Roosevelt Administration.
A man labeled “Cuba” beats a drum labeled “Civil Disturbance” looking out on the water to a ship labeled “T. R.” with a word bubble that says, “De-lighted.”
The White House scrapbooks, from which this cartoon was copied, are amazing historical artifacts, and not only for what they contain — clippings of cartoons, editorial commentary, and news columns from journals across the United States during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency — but for the fact that they existed at all, and have survived. The pasted materials were from newspapers delivered directly to the White House, subscription or complimentary copies, some with mailing labels to the attention of “Pres Theodore Roosevelt” himself or “Executive Mansion, Wash DC.”
More than the bibliographical and documentarian relevance to such artifacts is the significance, not merely that these clips were touched and read by the president, but proof that Roosevelt actually kept in touch with current opinion and contrasting viewpoints.
President Roosevelt is driving a “U.S. Government” automobile with Secretary of War William H. Taft seated next to him in the front and Uncle Sam in the back seat. Behind them is the aftermath of their reckless driving: a “Panama” wagon, a “Cuban Revolution” man, and a “beef” cow. They have just run over a man labeled “Brownsville affair” and are headed for a “Storer” chicken. Caption: T. R.: “Anything in sight Bill?”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02
In the upper left hand corner, a man measures the door of the White House at five feet while Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks stands at six feet, four inches. In the upper right hand corner, Samuel G. Blythe, president of the Gridiron Club, stands as President Roosevelt and Vice President Fairbanks remain seated. In the lower left hand corner is a man dressed up as “Cuba,” and in the lower right hand corner Clifford Kennedy Berryman gives a chalk talk about the teddy bear with the caption, “Initiation Act.”
The exigencies of newspaper publication deadlines seem evident in this cartoon. One of the most famous altercations of the American presidency — certainly the most contentious of a Washington D.C., institution, the annual Gridiron Club dinner — was depicted by an artist of the morning Washington Herald on the published date of the dinner. The anomaly is that the cartoon’s vignettes are presented as a round-up, but a cartoon drawn actually after the fact could not have avoided the tense confrontations at the dinner.