Heroes

A series of nine vignettes shows men putting themselves at risk in one way or another. One man gets up in the middle of the night to attend to a screaming infant, another tests breakfast cereals, a third dares to enter the kitchen to reprimand the cook, others survive the street railroads, one suffers the attack of mosquitoes, while others endure rude opera attendees, rural life, and a tour guide. At center, each “hero” receives a pension from Andrew Carnegie who is wearing a traditional Scottish kilt.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-24

Theodore Roosevelt looks forward to reading about Truxton Beale’s father, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, as he was a hero.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Mrs. Thomas Wallace for the coin and will carry it for luck. Roosevelt admires men like Timoleon, John Hampden, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt received Mary Patterson Elkinton Nitobé’s letter and magazine article featuring the tale of Lieutenant Sakuma. He agrees there should be a book about the heroism of Japanese soldiers for Japanese school children, and adds that American school children and the world would benefit from these lessons.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt never spoke about Cromwell as one of his “four heroes” along with Washington and Lincoln. Roosevelt has always avoided referring to any men as “[his] heroes.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt offers his sympathy to Mary Washington Cabell Early on the death of her son, Jubal A. Early. Roosevelt knows that at least Early has the satisfaction of knowing that her son died “giving away his life in the effort to rescue another.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-10-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt thanks Ludwig Salvator, Archduke of Austria, for the volume he sent and notes that he has always been fascinated about the history and modern heroism of the Balkan Peninsula. The archduke’s compliments are appreciated, and Roosevelt reflects on the difficulty for leaders to balance “fealty to an ideal” with the practical matters of governance.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt was pleased to hear what Quartermaster Taylor did at Apia, Somoa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Robert B. Jennings approves of Theodore Roosevelt’s recent speech at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, and has observed that this approval is shared with people from every political party. Jennings recalls his service in the Civil War, but opines that in the future, war heroes will be obsolete, and the heroes of the people will be men like Roosevelt and Andrew Carnegie, who work to stop or prevent wars. He suggests that the reservoir which will be created by Roosevelt Dam should be stocked with fish.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-23

Creator(s)

Jennings, Robert B. (Robert Byron), 1834-1921

French Ensor Chadwick thanks President Roosevelt for the copy of the book Rough Riders, but stands his ground regarding what constitutes heroism. Chadwick puts a great deal of emphasis on the different characters of Americans and Spaniards, writing of the “fatalism and fanaticism” of the Spanish character, and how this was shown in the actions of Pascual Cervera y Topete.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-06

Creator(s)

Chadwick, French Ensor, 1844-1919

John A. Gable examines the influence that Theodore Roosevelt’s service as a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War had on the rest of his career. Gable argues that Roosevelt’s service was vital to his election as Governor of New York and as Vice President. He also contends that it made Roosevelt a more effective and convincing Commander-in-Chief as President, but Gable also believes that the power of the Rough Rider image overshadowed Roosevelt’s considerable talents as a writer and intellectual. Gable concludes by asserting that Roosevelt’s record as a Rough Rider made him the last member of a “Heroic Line” in American history stretching back to the Revolutionary War. 

A photograph of Roosevelt in his Rough Rider uniform appears in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Sheet music for “American Heroes,” a march celebrating American military heroes from the Revolutionary War to the Spanish-American War. The cover features illustrations of seventeen of the heroes, including Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1901

Creator(s)

Kaiser, Joseph J. (Joseph Julius), 1869-1942

Sheet music for “Our Heroes of To-Day,” a patriotic song celebrating Theodore Roosevelt and other American heroes. The cover features an illustration of Lady Liberty and photographs of Theodore Roosevelt, Admiral Dewey, Admiral Schley, and Wilbur Wright.

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1909

Creator(s)

Pease, W. H.; Penn, Arthur A., 1875-1941

Sheet music for “Teddy Our Hero,” a two-step and song by H. L. Berger. Cover is red, white, and blue with a drawing of Theodore Roosevelt in Rough Rider uniform on horseback.

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1903

Creator(s)

Berger, H. L.

President Roosevelt leads a group on horseback, brandishing a whip and charging. Following him are several figures from history and legend including a Roman warrior, the drunken Tam O’Shanter, Paul Revere, Don Quixote, and Sancho Panza. Also following the charge, in silhouette, are Ichabod Crane from Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a member of the Pony Express, and Lady Godiva. All the riders except Roosevelt are weary or exhausted.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-02-03

Based on the findings of the Court of Inquiry, the author directs the Department of the Navy to nominate Chief Gunner’s Mate Mons Monssen for a Medal of Honor or other appropriate recognition for his heroism during the incident on the battleship Missouri.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-14

Creator(s)

Unknown

Based on the findings of the Court of Inquiry, the author directs the Department of the Navy to nominate Acting Gunner Cox for a Medal of Honor or other appropriate recognition for his heroism during the incident on the battleship Missouri. Cox was awarded the Medal of Honor on April 14, 1921.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-16

Creator(s)

Unknown

Hugh Gordon Miller addresses the Annual Lincoln Dinner of the Republican Club of the City of New York. He jokes about his previous speaking engagement in New York. He describes the historical and contemporary relationship between Virginians and New York. He celebrates the rebuilt union of states. Miller reviews the accomplishments of the United States and New South since the American Civil War. He teases about Kentucky’s politics. He pays tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, William McKinley, and Rough Riders. Miller regrets that the South is aligned with the Democratic Party and calls on Republicans in the North to help settle “the problem of the suffrage and of the races.” Miller concludes with a vision of the ideal United States. Club President Henry Edwin Tremain introduces Senator John M. Thurston.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-02-12

Creator(s)

Miller, Hugh Gordon, 1875-

Print showing Presidents Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt in cameos connected by bunting, with the White House in the upper center between them, and respective birthplaces in the lower center.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1906-01-02

Creator(s)

Unknown

Print shows Admiral George Dewey, full-length portrait, facing front, wearing military uniform, holding hat in right hand, standing before the goddess Clio who is sitting on a throne, holding a scroll labeled “History.” Behind Dewey, a sailor holds an American flag and there are busts of George Washington and James Monroe against a wall.

Caption: History (to Admiral Dewey)–I give you a high place on my scroll. Like Washington and Monroe you have marked a new era for your country.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-10-04