Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Henry P. Curtis describes a recent publication on European natural history that he believes Theodore Roosevelt might be interested in. He explains how many towns were named after the animals that once resided there, such as Wolverhampton (wolves).

Curtis also shares with Roosevelt that his father was a Whig, while Curtis is a Republican. He expresses admiration for Senator John Sherman, discusses his political adversaries, and wishes that Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, and Daniel Webster could have been presidents.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

William K. Bixby sends Theodore Roosevelt a copy of the Itinerarium of Dr. Alexander Hamilton, written in 1744 but not printed until recently. Bixby notes that Hamilton’s account of the customs of early settlers in Albany and elsewhere may be of interest to Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-12

Ambassador to Great Britain Reid updates President Roosevelt on various matters, including poet Algernon Charles Swinburne and his “suppressed” poem, the Newfoundland modus vivendi, and happenings in Parliament. Reid also details how he “warded off…the offer of some brand-new territory and responsibilities” in Nicaragua.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-28

John Lewis Griffiths praises President Roosevelt’s character and the achievements of his administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-03

Uncle Sam wears a coat labeled “The Constitution” and looks at Secretary of State Elihu Root. On the ground are books labeled “Jefferson Doctrine” and “The Federalist by A. Hamilton” as well as a club labeled “Big Stick” lying on top of the Declaration of Independence.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon by Jack H. Smith, today a justly neglected cartoonist, displays an awkward caricature of Secretary of State Elihu Root, and a rather obscure point. Evidently the cartoon charges Root with trampling on the Constitution and founding documents, yet if any charges were to be leveled at the Administration — and such charges were not uncommon — President Roosevelt would have been the more logical recipient. In fact the Administration — in this year, 1906, of reforms and calls for even more radical reforms — floated ideas of an income tax and forms of municipal ownership, that some observers regarded as proto-Socialistic.

Theodore Roosevelt likes Muriel Hamilton Olmsted’s middle name and who it honors. Roosevelt also likes the photograph Olmsted and her father sent and sends his regards to her mother.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-31

Theodore Roosevelt has heard that Frederick Scott Oliver is the real author of one of the plans for reforming the House of Lords. He would like Oliver to send a copy and information of the proposed plan to The Outlook. Roosevelt is currently trying to get “a proper mixture” of Alexander Hamitlon’s and Thomas Jefferson’s principles into the modern political movement, but progressives are resistant to it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-08

Theodore Roosevelt feels that William Smith Culbertson has done a good job of grasping the real Alexander Hamilton in the piece he sent. Roosevelt invites Culbertson to visit in New York if he is able.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-10-16

Theodore Roosevelt compliments Frederick Scott Oliver’s book, Alexander Hamilton. If the United States enters the war, Roosevelt hopes to raise a cavalry regiment similar to the Rough Riders and serve with his four sons. He argues that Great Britain would probably not have entered the war if Germany had respected Belgian neutrality and is distressed at his own country’s failures to defend international rights. Roosevelt has been annoyed at the activity of pacifists. English pacifists should be concerned about defeating Germany and American pacifists should be demanding that the United States follow through on the country’s international obligations. Pacifists are “playing Germany’s game” by demanding peace without regard to the terms of peace. Roosevelt believes a nation must be strong to preserve friendships and respect. He would like the United States and Great Britain to have a “peculiarly close degree of friendship.” Roosevelt is currently out of sympathy with the American public and commands little support.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-07-23

Theodore Roosevelt speculates in a letter to W. S. Budlong on whether Alexander Hamilton or George Washington had more influence on how federal papers were set up.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-12-16

President Roosevelt concurs with William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, on Hamiltonianism and Jeffersonianism. Roosevelt strives for a balanced take on both founding fathers’ philosophies; trusting people without worshipping them like Jefferson and striving for an effective administration like Hamilton. He wishes White could help advise him on which conflicts to pursue and which to let go with Congress in the last days of his administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-19

President Roosevelt enjoyed Louisa Lee Schuyler’s letter, and says he will send it along to Kermit Roosevelt. Roosevelt asks if Schuyler and her sister, Georgina Schuyler, would be able to visit this winter, as he would like to talk with them.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-17

President Roosevelt does not know the address of Hamilton’s father, but suggests M. Burr Wright contact Allen McLean Hamilton for the information he needs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-21

President Roosevelt tells Franklin W. Collins that he supports the work of the Alexander Hamilton National Memorial Association, and thinks that it is “little short of a scandal” that there is not a monument to Hamilton in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-07

President Roosevelt thanks Kenneth Grahame for the books he sent, saying he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will especially enjoy them. Roosevelt invites Grahame to stay at the White House.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-20

Theodore Roosevelt writes to William Roscoe Thayer on the subject of criticism. Roosevelt feels that those who do are more aptly placed to be critics as to who do not, using the comparison that the authors of the Federalist were political doers who also criticized and acted. He then extends the metaphor to cover Harvard’s struggles in sports competitions with Yale and Cornell.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-01

President Roosevelt informs Lucien Hugh Alexander he will allude to James Wilson’s service as statesman during his upcoming speech at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. However, he cannot speak at the Wilson Memorial. Regarding past statesmen, Roosevelt finds no value in attending memorial meetings. Instead, as president and when necessary, Roosevelt feels he should “point a lesson in present day affairs from their lives.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-24

President Roosevelt informs President of Harvard Eliot of his plan to send a separate message to Congress regarding the Reed memorial and asks him to send supporting materials to raise a subscription for the widow. Regrettably, he is unable to speak at Harvard next year. In “strict privacy,” he shares of President of Cuba Tomás Estrada Palmas’ request to intervene and in connection, discusses the justification of the Revolutionary War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-13

President Roosevelt agrees with Senator Lodge about wanting an appointee who follows the tenants of Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall. He is pleased with the outcome in Maine given the previous harm caused by the issue of temperance and liquor laws. Roosevelt shares how he took “solid satisfaction” in taking a shot at journalist Norman Hapgood. Reading Winston Churchill’s biography of his father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, reaffirmed Roosevelt’s dislike of both father and son.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-12

President Roosevelt sends Frederick Scott Oliver, a Scottish political writer, an extract of a letter from Henry Cabot Lodge, who has just finished Oliver’s book on Alexander Hamilton. Roosevelt asks that Oliver keep the letter confidential, as he did not ask permission to send it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-21