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Victor A. McClanahan tells Theodore Roosevelt of “chautauquas,” meetings held throughout Illinois to promote honesty and temperance. They have raised enough money to bring in a “headliner” for the next assembly, and although several big names were suggested, they hope Roosevelt will speak.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-10
McClanahan, Victor A. (Victor Augustus), 1869-1952
Secretary of War Taft agrees with President Roosevelt on Senator Henry Cabot Lodge’s speech and on the negative press from the New York papers. He describes his trip thus far and makes predictions about his success based on what he has been told. In light of the gerrymandering involving Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, Taft asks Roosevelt to help defeat an inadequate constitution in Oklahoma. Taft has asked Joseph L. Bristow to form another report on Panama, and he mentions an editor named Joseph Ralph Burton who has been attacking Roosevelt. Taft discusses the political campaigns and conflicts in the states he is passing through, in particular the political campaigns in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Denver. Taft’s mother Louise Maria Torrey Taft is recovering, and although the trip has been exhausting, Taft has a few days of rest ahead.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-30
Robert J. Collier recently met with Albert Shaw, who helped explain President Roosevelt’s view of the situation in Missouri. Collier hopes to be able to make it up to Roosevelt after his reelection to show that the Weekly does not hold the sorts of hostility towards Roosevelt that has been exhibited in the recent letters of Samuel Hopkins Adams.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-03
Albert Shaw clarifies matters regarding a letter that he sent to William F. Saunders. While President Roosevelt approves of Cyrus Packard Walbridge’s candidacy for governor of Missouri and stands with the Republican ticket, he did not say that Walbridge is a better man than Democratic candidate Joseph Wingate Folk, who he previously praised for his work as Circuit Attorney. The letter that Shaw sent to Saunders with this sentiment was meant to be entirely confidential.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-31
A man holds five playing cards with faces of American politicians on them: Missouri Governor Joseph Wingate Folk, Wisconsin Governor Robert M. La Follette, President Roosevelt, Secretary of State John Hay, and Illinois Governor Charles Samuel Deneen.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-30
McKee, Homer
A large group of politicians and journalists appear as knights on a crusade against graft and corruption. Many carry large pens like a lance. Periodicals mentioned are “Colliers, Harper’s Weekly, Life, Puck, [and] McClure’s” Magazine. Caption: Marching embattled ‘gainst the Saracens of Graft.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1906-02-21
President Roosevelt debates Dr. Albert Shaw in an ongoing dispute over whether or not Roosevelt said that Cyrus Packard Walbridge is a better man than Joseph Wingate Folk. Both are candidates for Governor of Missouri. Roosevelt asks that Shaw have Colllier’s magazine retract Shaw’s letter. Roosevelt says he could not have made the statement as he does not know enough about either man to compare them. Shaw should state that Roosevelt supports the Republican ticket in all states, but has and will not make any personal comparisons either for or against Walbridge or Folk.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
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
In an ongoing dispute regarding a letter by Shaw published in Collier’s Weekly, President Roosevelt says either Shaw or the publication has misquoted him. Roosevelt asks to see a copy of Shaw’s letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
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 complains to his friend Albert Shaw, editor of the American Review of Reviews, that both his and Shaw’s views regarding political figures in Missouri are being misrepresented by Peter Fenelon Collier and Robert J. Collier in their publication Collier’s Weekly. Shaw sent a letter to the Colliers, and they have made false claims regarding its contents. Roosevelt says he will tell the Colliers not to publish or make any further allusion to said letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-22
President Roosevelt acknowledges the invitation of the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin, to make a trip on the Mississippi River with the Inland Waterways Commission. He reflects on the importance of the nation’s rivers as “highways” for products to supply any inadequacy of means of transportation over land. He intends to travel with the Commission down the Mississippi for three or four days in October. A note at the bottom of the letter indicates that it was sent to each of the governors who signed the invitation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-16
President Roosevelt refutes a claim by Norman Hapgood regarding his supposed interference in the 1904 Missouri gubernatorial election where he said that one candidate was “a better man” than the other. Roosevelt quotes the text of several letters written in connection to this issue to back up his claim that he did not say this, and that his actual sentiment was misinterpreted. This misinterpretation, Roosevelt suggests, was part of an effort to influence the election in Missouri against Roosevelt’s presidential campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-17
President Roosevelt thanks Robert J. Collier for his letter. He quotes a portion of a letter from Albert Shaw that clears up some of the situation surrounding the controversy with the Missouri election. Roosevelt also comments on the way that Mr. Adams may have used the supposed comments, dismissing him as dishonest, using Adams’s former comments on Delaware appointments as an example where he was completely inaccurate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-31
President Roosevelt asks Albert Shaw to withdraw a previous letter he wrote, in which Shaw attributed to Roosevelt a comment comparing the candidates for governor of Missouri. Roosevelt wishes to make clear that he could not have made such a comment, as he knows neither candidate, and would of course support the Republican ticket in Missouri. He hopes that Shaw may be able to come visit early in the next week.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt sends Robert J. Collier copies of two letters that he received from the correspondent of the Kansas City Star from Missouri. Roosevelt’s letters to Collier are being used by Samuel Hopkins Adams to try to harm Roosevelt during the final moments of the campaign. Roosevelt states that he is in favor of the Republican ticket in Missouri, as he is in every state, but never made a comparison between the Republican candidate Joseph Wingate Folk and his opponent Cyrus Packard Walbridge. He asks that Collier keep the matter to himself, as someone, whether Adams or someone else, apparently hopes to influence the election in Missouri, as well as the presidential election itself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt writes to Thomas J. Akins about a letter written by Dr. Albert Shaw. Roosevelt says that Shaw misremembered a phrase that Roosevelt used regarding Joseph Wingate Folk and Cyrus Packard Walbridge. Roosevelt did not say “Walbridge is a better man than Folk,” or make any comparisons between the two. He asks that if Shaw’s letter is in the possession of any Republican committeemen it be immediately withdrawn.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
After receiving letters from Albert Shaw and his secretary, President Roosevelt believes the misunderstanding about his statements regarding Missouri gubernatorial candidates Joseph Wingate Folk and Cyrus Packard Walbridge was due to a “mere matter of terminology.” Ultimately, Roosevelt is tired of answering “all kinds of people on all kinds of subjects about which they really have no right to information.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
President Roosevelt says he has received a letter from Dr. Albert Shaw explaining that he never said Roosevelt believes Cyrus Packard Walbridge to be a better candidate for Governor of Missouri than Joseph Wingate Folk. Roosevelt reproduces a part of Shaw’s letter for Robert J. Collier, which explains the situation. Roosevelt emphasizes that while Collier may show this correspondence to Norman Hapgood and Lincoln Steffens, he does not want the matter discussed in public and cannot understand how anyone could have misunderstood him in the first place.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
President Roosevelt asks Albert Shaw to send him a copy of the letter he sent to Missouri, which has possibly been misconstrued by Collier’s as saying Roosevelt believed Cyrus Packard Walbridge to be a better man than Joseph Wingate Folk.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25