Exercise

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt highly recommends William K. Sixsmith’s exercise regime and would like them to be mandatory for the military and in the schools for the boys and girls to participate in. Roosevelt attaches the recommendations from Captain Frederick B. Hennessy and two Surgeons General of an experimental class using Sixsmith’s exercises among the enlisted men at Fort Myer, Virginia. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Elliott Pillsbury

President Roosevelt asks Rear Admiral Elliott if they can promote the use of William K. Sixsmith’s exercises in the navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Franklin Bell

President Roosevelt would like to know if Major General Chief of Staff Franklin can implement the exercises William K. Sixsmith recommends in the army. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Cary Morse

After receiving the message from the YMCA boys who ran from New York to Washington, D.C., President Roosevelt gives Richard Cary Morse a message that he can use at any time. He reflects on the importance of exercise and physical fitness in the “after life” of the boys who delivered the message. Although “hardy and vigorous bodies”  are important, it is important that the bodies be servants as the boys do “the work of the world.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt congratulates his son, Theodore Roosevelt, on his grades. He cautions Ted against making a mistake that he personally made when he was at Harvard where he got good grades in the first half of the year, and then did not study for the second half and ended up with low marks because of poor grades in his finals. Frank Witherbee visited Roosevelt recently.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Archibald B. Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son Archibald B. Roosevelt about what he has been doing. Roosevelt was able to play tennis several days in the previous week, but after a snow storm, it was not possible anymore. He took several slippery rides and walks. Roosevelt also writes about Scamp, one of the family dogs, and says that he is very active.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt updates his son Kermit on the horses Audrey and Achilles and recounts taking exercise which left one of his Secret Service agents, Joseph E. Murphy, “down and out.” Roosevelt is preparing himself for several years of Americans hating him for the financial crisis, but stands by his policies.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Archibald B. Roosevelt

President Roosevelt is concerned to learn that his son Archibald B. Roosevelt has been ill and updates him on recent goings-on in the family, including updating Archie on Scamp, their “very cunning little dog,” and the president’s first experience exercising with medicine balls.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit Roosevelt that he is glad there is a break in his school term so he will be able to attend his sister Alice Roosevelt’s wedding in February. He does not have much to report to Kermit, but believes that the next two months will be hard. Extra social duties along with his regular work will make it difficult for him to get regular exercise, as it is too dark to exercise in the afternoon. However, he has enjoyed recent mild weather by taking rides with Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Secretary of State Elihu Root, and Secretary of War William H. Taft. He regrets to inform Kermit that Keating, a man he put in the secret service, “suddenly went on a spree” and died of heart failure.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt quotes a letter from Leigh Hunt that was sent to Nicholas Murray Butler. Hunt wrote at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War that Russia would struggle and that Japan would “whip” them. Roosevelt is impressed with the accuracy of Hunt’s prophecy. Since the horses have been laid up, Roosevelt has been exercising with two Japanese wrestlers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt has been organizing the Panama Canal Commission and is pleased with the results. Next will be the “fight about General Wood.” Roosevelt has not been getting much exercise but walks in Rock Creek Park when he has time. The horses are all laid up.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt has been very busy and unable to exercise. The Panama and Wood fights are dragging on but Roosevelt believes he will win both. Regardless of what lays ahead in the party nomination and presidential election, Roosevelt is proud of his achievements in office. He has had some good rides and walks and also fought “broadsword” against Granville Fortescue.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank Ross McCoy

President Roosevelt thanks Lieutenant McCoy for the Cavalry Journal and will miss McCoy and the General next winter. Roosevelt is finding it harder to get “real exercise” and fears another year in the White House will make him as unable to take exercise as Washington Irving’s Dutchman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry John Elwes

President Roosevelt believes that a bear can “kill a full grown bull elk” and that wolves will only attack a moose in large numbers. Roosevelt’s only hunting in recent years has been for mountain lions. He tries to stay active and spent several days chopping, walking, riding, and shooting with the new German Ambassador, Hermann Speck von Sternburg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Pierre de Coubertin

President Roosevelt agrees with Pierre de Coubertin about muscle memory in growing males and adds his own points to Coubertin’s theory. As examples, Roosevelt describes his sons’ (Archibald, Kermit, and Theodore) and his own athletic interests and abilities. He comments on Coubertin’s opposing viewpoint to most English men – that physical development should be the “be-all and the end-all…business of life” – and agrees that young males should experiment with all forms of exercise and sports in order to keep up “a reasonable acquaintance with them” in later years.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lawrence Godkin

President Roosevelt has been gaining weight despite trying to exercise. He plans to contact Mr. Keating.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-12-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Mason Mitchell to Theodore Roosevelt

Consul Mitchell notes that the post at Apia, Samoa, is not included in the bill currently before Congress regarding reorganizing the consular service. Personal reasons aside, he discusses why he believes this decision is unwise. He includes photographs of the takins he has presented to various museums. After turning fifty years old, Mitchell finds it important to exercise, especially in tropical climates. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-31

Creator(s)

Mitchell, Mason, 1859-1930

Letter from Leonard Wood to Theodore Roosevelt

Leonard Wood will make it a point to visit Theodore Roosevelt at Oyster Bay after April 16. He hopes Roosevelt will not lessen up on his exercise and riding, because it is difficult to lose weight if things go too far. Wood is very impressed by Belle Hagner’s dieting scheme.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-15

Creator(s)

Wood, Leonard, 1860-1927

Poem from Elihu Root to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of State Root sends President Roosevelt a poem joking about Roosevelt’s activities, which concludes, “can’t you stop for ten minutes?”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-07

Creator(s)

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

Letter from George von Lengerke Meyer to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Meyer agrees with everything President Roosevelt said in his letter and appreciates the opportunity to be in St. Petersburg during the peace negotiations. Meyer is honored to join Roosevelt’s cabinet next winter. Meyer discusses conditions in Russia he has witnessed like Russians living conditions, their oppression, their lack of education, and the difficulty the Socialists or Anarchists will have in convincing the people that the Tsar is not “their little Father.” Meyer expresses his concern that the Revolutionists want everything at once and that none among them is a stand out leader. Meyer discusses the progress of his cure in Bavaria but assures Roosevelt that he is ready to return to St. Petersburg at a moment’s notice.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-02

Creator(s)

Meyer, George von Lengerke, 1858-1918