Your TR Source
Secretary of State Root writes President Roosevelt that he, Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, and William Randolph Hearst are all the same.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-28
Senator Lodge explains the urgency in the matter of appointments in the Atlantic Fleet from his previous letter. Lodge is also very disappointed at the results of the most recent election. While Republicans won some key districts, Democrats, especially in states like New York, had a particularly strong showing that is disheartening and concerning.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
Victor Thrane thinks that an endorsement from President Theodore Roosevelt, the greatest living American, will ensure the victory for Charles Evans Hughes against William Randolph Hearst in the election for governor of New York. Hearst stands only for himself, and the citizens of the Pacific Coast share the sentiment which Thrane is sending to Timothy Woodruff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Timothy L. Woodruff, Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, responds to President Roosevelt’s telegram about whether Woodruff called on Roosevelt to deny a Hearst publication. Woodruff confirms that he did not publicly suggest that Roosevelt reply to the publication, but explains from where that understanding may have derived. Woodruff also attaches a telegram that generally illustrates his correspondence about Roosevelt’s endorsement for the upcoming New York Governor’s election between William Randolph Hearst and Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Secretary of War Taft reports on his progress and assessment of conditions on the campaign trail. He is traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, and from there to Idaho. He has had success in Ohio, but the state elections there may be in jeopardy because of disputes between two factions of Republicans. The situation in Illinois is good. Although Taft thinks his trip may do some good, it is more from his presence than his speeches, as he does not feel comfortable with the short talks he has to give. Taft also writes about the possibility of receiving the Republican presidential nomination in 1908, and thinks that the people would prefer to nominate Roosevelt again, with Taft a very distant second. He believes the Democratic party is rather apathetic about the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-31
President Wheeler of the University of California gives President Roosevelt an update on the San Francisco Graft Trials. Wheeler also gives Roosevelt a summary of the candidates for the 1906 California gubernatorial race and relates how California schools are segregating Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-31
Jacob A. Riis thanks President Roosevelt for clarifying and thinks Roosevelt is entirely right. Riis asks if Roosevelt has seen that Nathan Straus has come out publicly in support of William Randolph Hearst. Riis believes that Straus’s brother, Oscar S. Straus, is all right. Riis tells Roosevelt that the word cat is not spelled with a K but thinks Roosevelt should spell it that way for consistency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-01
Secretary of War Taft updates President Roosevelt on the progress of his trip across the United States, as he gives speeches to help candidates in the upcoming election. Nebraska is likely to go Republican, as the prosperity there under Roosevelt’s policies has hampered William Jennings Bryan’s campaign. The person nominated for the Senate, however, is someone who Taft and Roosevelt did not wish. Public sentiment is the same as in Illinois in calling for Roosevelt’s running for president again, as his policies have been very successful. The only place Bryan may have a foothold is in Ohio. Taft thinks that William Randolph Hearst’s strength in New York has been overstated. He also informs Roosevelt about several conversations he has had with people, and about a letter he received from Gifford Pinchot.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-01
Silas McBee provides feedback to President Roosevelt on a speech or essay, expressing particular concern with an added paragraph. McBee feels the paragraph does not have enough of Roosevelt’s voice in it, and Roosevelt’s positive judgment of the issue does not come across clearly. McBee adds that he hopes Secretary of State Elihu Root’s speech will “help to bury out of sight Hearst and all that he stands for.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-03
Secretary of War Taft informs President Roosevelt of the political situation in Idaho where he was sent to campaign for the reelection of Governor Gooding. Gooding is confident that he will win the gubernatorial race, but he faces significant opposition in response to the arrest of Charles Moyer and William Dudley Haywood and the efforts of the Western Federation of Miners to defeat him. Senator Dubois has been trying to make Mormonism another central issue in the campaign and to portray Taft in a negative light by associating him with the religious group. Taft concludes by stating his admiration for Secretary of State Root’s speech on William Randolph Hearst.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-04
Secretary of War Taft updates President Roosevelt on his progress through Idaho, where he has been speaking on behalf of Republican candidates. The longer he is in Idaho, the more he believes that the Western Federation of Miners has been working to defeat Senator Frank Robert Gooding. He describes Gooding’s involvement related to the lawsuit against Charles Moyer and William Dudley “Big Bill” Haywood. Taft feels somewhat doubtful about Gooding’s election. Another issue of note in Idaho relates to the Mormons and their stance regarding polygamy. He also comments on elections in other areas of the country, and reiterates what he has previously said regarding the importance of Roosevelt’s influence in this election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-04
John St. Loe Strachey agrees with President Roosevelt’s characterization of William Randolph Hearst as a dangerous man. He also thinks that Roosevelt is right about William Jennings Bryan as a “kindly example of the Jefferson type.” Strachey discusses the status of antitrust law in the British Parliament.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-06
In the handwritten memorandum, Colonel Crook is asked to obtain a copy of the London Spectator containing the attached article. The author of the newspaper article quotes the Spectator in saying, “America is beginning to realize that unless equality of opportunity is maintained by constant State interference, opportunities will soon become flagrantly inequal,” and “the only alternative to Hearst is Roosevelt.” President Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst both represent the same national longing, but the majority of the people believe Roosevelt’s is the better way.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-06
Paul D. Cravath congratulates President Roosevelt on the election of Charles Evans Hughes in New York, because without Roosevelt’s help and the speeches of Elihu Root he thinks that William Randolph Hearst would have been elected instead. He nevertheless thinks that Hearst will continue to be a strong factor in New York politics. The politics of labor and capital will continue to be the most important political question in the coming years. Cravath admits that in the past he has had some doubts about Roosevelt’s policies, but now promises to try to influence the opinions of his friends on Wall Street to Roosevelt’s side.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
Charles Sprague Smith spoke with Nicholas Murray Butler, and thinks Charles Evans Hughes’s campaign for governor of New York is in good shape. They tried to enlist Jacob A. Riis’s help, but he is unwilling to help due to a newspaper attack on his friend Richard Watson Gilder. Smith also believes that the Republicans should enlist the help of rabbis to help convince Jewish voters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-29
Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte encloses an article he believes President Roosevelt will appreciate. The writer, who was counsel for Standard Oil Company, has been “getting off, at intervals, oracular utterances” about Roosevelt being in sympathy with William Jennings Bryan, William Randolph Hearst, anarchists, and others who undermine the interests of the country.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Richard Watson Gilder praises President Roosevelt’s “righteous wrath” as compared to Lincoln Steffens’s analysis regarding William Randolph Hearst. Gilder has just seen the Hearst tract with Roosevelt’s and Hearst’s views in parallel columns, which he thinks is the “limit,” but can see how it might affect certain minds. Gilder thinks it is important to reach Hearst’s readers, and wishes Roosevelt were free to do so, as Roosevelt is the person the people believe in more than any other man opposed to their “great deceiver.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Senator Lodge did not intend to cause an inconvenience for President Roosevelt by sending his previous letter. He agrees with Secretary of State Elihu Root that Roosevelt should not write any more letters about the current campaign, and especially not letters regarding William Randolph Hearst or John B. Moran. Lodge explains his motivation for sending his previous letter. He remarks that much has been said about the dangers of capitalists and corporations, but demagogues will have to be addressed eventually. He does not want Roosevelt to take any action, but simply wanted to let him know his thoughts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-25
An impression has been circulating through newspapers and among the people that implies that Theodore Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst are “practically on the same platform.” Riis is very upset that this idea seems to be gaining traction, and implores Roosevelt to speak to the people and show them that they “are being misled to their own and the country’s hurt.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-26
Davis writes President Roosevelt to give him a worker’s perspective on how the gubernatorial election campaign of William Randolph Hearst, whose election he thinks inconceivable. Davis worries that there might be a bad showing upstate. He believes that workers were more interested in Charles Evans Hughes’s ideas on political economy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-27