Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt writes to his sister Anna Roosevelt about the recent New York elections. It was a Democratic tidal wave. He will be returning to New York soon and looks forward to meeting Anna and her friends for dinner.
1887-11-20
President Roosevelt appreciates Representative Sherman’s letter and notes that his reports on Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois align with outside sources. Roosevelt is concerned about New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes’s chances at re-election but believes that Hughes’s speeches in the West helped. Roosevelt is pleased with Sherman’s work during the election. He encloses a letter and notes that Kerwin or Delaney should see Sherman and that Eugene V. Debs’s article on William H. Taft should be circulated as they propose.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-09
President Roosevelt discusses the current state of the presidential election and predicts that the Republicans will win the electoral college. He notes their prospects in various states, and in particular notes that although they are “horribly handicapped” by the unpopularity of Governor Charles Evans Hughes, he believes they will win in New York. Roosevelt inquires if William Sturgis Bigelow has shown Senator Lodge the new five dollar gold piece, and reports that he plans to address the Sorbonne upon his return from Africa.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-07
President Roosevelt instructs Frank H. Hitchcock to do as New York Supreme Court Justice Alphonso Trumpbour Clearwater advises. He additionally notes that while the Vermont elections run on national issues, those of Maine do not, and therefore do not reflect national opinions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-05
Regardless of his personal convictions, it is unwise for President Roosevelt to interfere in senatorial contests. However, he has forwarded Francis J. Heney’s letter to Frank H. Hitchcock, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and will do what he can. He requests Heney keep the letter private.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-05
President Roosevelt tells Senator Hemenway that he could not authorize the publication of statements like Watson wanted, but he was “delighted” that his sentiments got out as Hemenway noticed. Roosevelt is glad to hear that Hemenway thinks the situation in Indiana looks well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-19
President Roosevelt sends Secretary Cortelyou information about John A. Merritt, who is causing trouble for Representative Peter A. Porter in his district. Roosevelt asks Cortelyou to contact Merritt about the matter. In a postscript, Roosevelt asks Cortelyou to contact Archie Dovell Sanders as well, to convince him to stop causing trouble in the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-11
The writer responds to a letter written by Charles Emory Smith which endorses Lewis Emery for governor of Pennsylvania; they argue that while Emery has in fact fought against Standard Oil and other trusts, and has expressed support for President Roosevelt’s policies in that arena, he is in fact a worse candidate than Edwin S. Stuart.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906
Benjamin Ide Wheeler writes that Frank P. Flint has won the Senate seat. Wheeler recommends Flint as an honest man, and a supporter of President Roosevelt’s administration, though not of “supreme ability or thorough education.” Flint was “selected” by the Southern Pacific Railway and so will not take issue with “railroad interests.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-13
Representative Williams of Mississippi requests that President Roosevelt support his bill moving the date Congress first convenes to the first Monday after March 4 every year. Williams, a Democrat, hopes Roosevelt might cross party lines for this. Williams appeals to Roosevelt by explaining the current situation with the Townsend-Esch Bill that expands the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which Roosevelt is in favor of, and which Williams believes will pass the House but not the Senate before the current session ends. Williams outlines the benefits of his legislation, including starting sessions of Congress closer to elections and eliminating uneven sessions, lame duck sessions, and the need for dramatic rule changes and special sessions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-06
Senator Platt writes to President Roosevelt about the political changes in New York and suggests frequent discussion on the matter. He cautions against offering O’Brien any help because of his attacks on Platt during the Senate race.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-03
Francis Bennett Williams details the political situation in the last election, including voter participation and corruption by Democrats. He suggests possible replacements for Walter L. Cohen and gives a very bad report of H. Dudley Coleman. Finally, Williams states that the opinion of President Roosevelt in the American South is changing, largely due to the effectiveness of his policies and appointments there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-24
Journalist Albert Shaw forwards a memorandum written by Alvah Eastman to President Roosevelt concerning the state elections in Minnesota. Shaw requests that the memorandum be returned to him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-26
Vice President-elect Charles W. Fairbanks thanks President Roosevelt for his congratulations, and comments on the results of the election in Indiana.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to ask when Kermit wants Seth Bullock and his family to visit. Roosevelt is glad that Kermit has taken up boxing. Roosevelt talks about seeing family when he went to Oyster Bay to vote and reports on election outcomes in certain states.
1907-11-07
Charles M. Pepper reports on the political situation in New York, specifically focusing on the upstate region. Overall indications are that the Republicans will be very successful in the state, with the Democrat Alton B. Parker failing to inspire support in rural voters there. It is likely that Elihu Root will be nominated as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, although he has expressed that he is not interested in the nomination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-14
In light of the Democrats attacking him for his stance on race issues, President Roosevelt is taking an active hand in the Maryland elections. He would like to see Stevenson A. Williams elected governor and has met with a number of Maryland Republicans at the White House to achieve party unity and elect Williams. In particular, former Postmaster General James Albert Gary and Governor Lloyd Lowndes had lunch with him in the White House. Lowndes’s name has been mentioned in connection with the vice presidency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-12
Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker, inflated like a hot air balloon, wears a medallion showing the Tammany Tiger and a laurel wreath with a ribbon labeled “Kansas City Convention.” Running up behind him is David B. Hill carrying a spear labeled “N.Y. State Democracy.” The title is a quotation from the Bible: “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
For many decades, following the Civil War, the Democratic Party in New York State was split into factions — usually two, sometimes more. Copperheads (Southern sympathizers) and Union Democrats, Tammany Hall grafters and honest Upstate Democrats, city (New York) vs. rural. Occasional Reform Democrats (Samuel J. Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Abram S. Hewitt) vs. Tammany Hall and/or David B. Hill, governor and Presidential aspirant. In 1900, the reformer and radical William Jennings Bryan was renominated for the Presidency by the Democrats and cast his lot with the Tammany faction in New York instead of the bloc led by Hill, who was by then a former governor and former senator. But, as this cartoon suggests, Hill was as much concerned with New York inter-party rivalries as he was the national campaign.
In an ongoing dispute over a letter written by Albert Shaw and circulating among Missouri politicians, which claims to represent the views of President Roosevelt, Roosevelt seeks to set the record straight. He disputes the authenticity of the letter itself several times, and asks to see it. He claims to have said nothing directly about the merits of either Cyrus Packard Walbridge or Joseph Wingate Folk, only that he was supporting the Republican ticket in every state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
President Roosevelt has an ongoing dispute with Dr. Albert Shaw of the Review of Reviews over whether or not Roosevelt said that Missouri gubernatorial candidate Cyrus Packard Walbridge is a better man than opposing candidate Joseph Wingate Folk. Roosevelt insists he said no such thing, and Shaw insists he did. Roosevelt sends a copy of a letter he received from Shaw to Collier. Roosevelt wishes not to discuss any of this in public, especially concerned about the misrepresentation of his political views.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27