Your TR Source
President Roosevelt recommends Finley Peter Dunne as a potential member of the Century Club. Roosevelt praises Dunne’s character professionally as well as personally, concluding “he is one of the best fellows I know”.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-19
President Roosevelt is concerned that Maurice Francis Egan has been sick and reminds him of the humorous “pope” story. The naval review was “corking.” Among the unofficial guests were journalist Finley Peter Dunne and author James B. Connolly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-05
President Roosevelt thanks Secretary of State Root for the humorous translation of a Spanish newspaper. He provides updates on the successful naval review, recent state elections, and the boiling pot of New York politics. Roosevelt finds that William Jennings Bryan’s eagerness for popularity causes him to commit “to preposterous positions,” as revealed by his recent speech.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-04
President Roosevelt tells Senator Lodge about a recent camping trip he went on with some of his children, which they all enjoyed in spite of the rain. He hopes Lodge enjoyed his vacation. Roosevelt additionally recounts an experience he had riding his new horse, and tells Lodge about several visitors he had recently.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-17
President Roosevelt looks forward to seeing Alexander Lambert soon, and instructs him to show this letter to anyone who tries to stop him from visiting. Roosevelt also asks Lambert to visit a second time, as he has invited Secretary of War William H. Taft and Finley Peter Dunne to come for lunch, and knows that Lambert will be interested in meeting them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-10
Peabody Endicott’s letter reminded President Roosevelt of the tale “Little Rosamond’s Day of Misfortune.” Roosevelt will write to Dooley and is glad Kermit returned safely.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-31
President Roosevelt informs Endicott Peabody that Finley Peter Dunne plans to put his fifteen month old son, Finley P. Dunne, on the list for Groton School. Roosevelt hopes Peabody will give them a special advantage because they are “Chicago people” and therefore westerners, even though Dunne is currently living in New York. The president supports Peabody’s desire for Groton to be “the representative school of the country.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-10
Mark Sullivan requests from Theodore Roosevelt a few more days to settle on a definite date for a luncheon Roosevelt has invited a group of journalists to, due to several individuals traveling.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-26
Robert J. Collier is disappointed by the news that President Roosevelt has made a decision regarding his African articles before Collier was able to meet with him in person. Collier recalls that he had been one of the first, nearly two years ago, to suggest a trip after Roosevelt leaves the presidency; and he understood that Roosevelt would talk with him before making a decision. He argues that Roosevelt’s articles would reach a greater number of people if Collier’s publishes them than they would if they appear in Scribner’s, and he increases his earlier offer of $50,000 to $100,000 for the rights to publish them serially, with the understanding that Scribner’s would subsequently publish them in book form.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
Finley Peter Dunne thanks President Roosevelt for supporting his writing. Dunne mentions several events that were subjects of his articles and expresses a humorous frustration with the state of journalism and certain political figures.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-28
Douglas Robinson encloses “the Dooley article” from Collier’s Weekly, about which he had spoken with President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-05
Leslie H. Southwick provides a comprehensive history of the 1904 presidential election, surveying the Republican and Democratic candidates as well as those of the Socialist, Populist, and Prohibition parties. Southwick describes Theodore Roosevelt’s path to securing his election, touching on his service as Vice President, his political battles with Senator Marcus Hanna, and his selection of George B. Cortelyou as his campaign manager. Southwick also covers Alton B. Parker’s path to the Democratic nomination, highlighting the roles played by former nominees William Jennings Bryan and Grover Cleveland. Southwick describes the dull fall campaign, enlivened by the musings of Finley Peter Dunne’s fictional barkeeper, Mr. Dooley, which Southwick quotes frequently in the course of the article.
Photographs of the four candidates for president and vice president of the Republican and Democratic parties appear in the article, along with an electoral map of the election, and Homer Davenport’s famous cartoon endorsing Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2004
In a pamphlet written for the Woman’s Roosevelt Memorial Association in 1935, James Lippmann confesses that he became an “unqualified hero-worshipper” of Theodore Roosevelt. Lippmann argues that Roosevelt recognized that the United States had become a world power and that it had to accept the responsibilities and burdens that came with that power, including the building of the Panama Canal. Lippmann asserts that Roosevelt’s knowledge of history created in him an awareness of the pitfalls that the United States had to avoid. A full page photograph of Roosevelt working at his desk at Sagamore Hill in 1905 supplements the text.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1935
Michael Kelly describes the fallout from the dinner meeting between Booker T. Washington and President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House on October 16, 1901. Kelly quotes from newspaper accounts of the time, and examines eight examples of political memorabilia that emerged from the meeting such as political cartoons and buttons. The items, which are shown in the article, mostly criticize Roosevelt and portray African Americans in a racist manner, although two items, a picture and a button, emphasize the word “equality” and were originally intended to praise the meeting. Kelly notes that the meeting was widely and fervently criticized in the South but met with a warm reception in the African American community and the items produced reflect those differing opinions.
John A. Gable provides a short introduction to the article and says that historians and historical journals need to preserve and study the past “however unpleasant or distasteful such records may be.” Eight illustrations of political cartoons, buttons, and campaign memorabilia supplement the text.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1988
In the “Book Notes” column, Frederick W. Marks reviews William M. Gibson’s Theodore Roosevelt Among the Humorists and John A. Gable reviews Aloysius A. Norton’s Theodore Roosevelt. Marks criticizes Gibson for accepting the judgments of Theodore Roosevelt put forward by humorists such as Mark Twain, and he argues that Gibson, as a literature professor, is not qualified to make evaluations of Roosevelt’s diplomacy. Gable praises Norton’s study of Roosevelt as a writer, and his main criticism is that the book is too short to provide a thorough analysis of all of Roosevelt’s works. Marks and Gable contend that Roosevelt’s image continues to suffer from persistent stereotypes.
A picture of Roosevelt reading accompanies the article.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1981
John A. Gable provides brief reviews of three books on Theodore Roosevelt and quotes other reviews about Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography of Edith Kermit Roosevelt. He reviews A. A. Norton’s Theodore Roosevelt, which evaluates Roosevelt as a writer; William M. Gibson’s Theodore Roosevelt Among the Humorists, which looks at Roosevelt’s relationship with William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Finley Peter Dunne; and Thomas G. Dyer’s Theodore Roosevelt and the Idea of Race.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1981
Robert J. Collier suggests an edited list of people to invite to a breakfast in honor of President Roosevelt before he leaves on his safari.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-04
Theodore Roosevelt is trying to find the quickest way to send letters to his son Archibald Roosevelt, who is hospitalized in Europe. Archie has received a great deal of sympathy and support back home. Roosevelt offers words of encouragement for Archie’s recovery.
1918-03-17
George Haven Putnam sends President Roosevelt a revised set of his works with new covers and editorial changes. He encloses a copy of Life of General Putnam for Roosevelt’s library and a clipping from Finley Peter Dunne’s comic, Mr. Dooley, concerning Cuba.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-05