Your TR Source
President Roosevelt enjoyed reading James Brown Scott’s manuscript essay on Alexander Hamilton, and is proud that the State Department “has connected with it a man capable of writing such an article.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-18
President Roosevelt enjoyed reading Frederick Scott Oliver’s book on Alexander Hamilton, and sends him some of his related thoughts. Roosevelt greatly prefers Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson, and feels that Jefferson largely did harm to the United States, although he acknowledges that there were several points on which Jefferson was better than Hamilton. Roosevelt remarks on Oliver’s statement that he lacks direct familiarity with American politics, and invites him to visit the United States and come to the White House.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-09
President Roosevelt is extremely pleased by Henry Bryant Bigelow’s skill of writing scientific works. Roosevelt believes that it is better for a book to be worth reading but dull than it is to have a well-written work that is not worth reading. The best case, however, is for a book to both be worth reading and well written. He suggests that Bigelow may be the sort of author to write an important scientific work that is able to be read and understood both by scientists and the general public, and encourages him to not be content with only sending pieces to magazines, but to write a book himself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-29
President Roosevelt thanks Sterling E. Edmunds for his letter and the attitude Edmunds’s paper, the Chronicle, took about Roosevelt’s election. Roosevelt dismisses Edmunds former criticisms of him, and acknowledges that some of his expressions in his writing were “over-drawn, over-colored, and made in a way which would naturally provoke bitterness on the part of believes in the men whom I attacked,” even while he still believes he presented a sound historical viewpoint. He invites Edmunds to come visit him to discuss his Life of Benton.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-01
President Roosevelt compliments the article written by George Otto Trevelyan and is pleased that he fought back against the damage being done to historical writing by Mr. Bury. Roosevelt comments on the current deficiencies in historical and scientific training and writing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-25
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt was pleased with Ramage’s reference to his view of pioneers and Indians in his article “Tennessee’s Place in History.” He appreciates Ramage’s understanding of his perspective on writing “the facts exactly as they are” to both pay tribute to frontiersmen and recognize their involvement in “gross brutality.” The recent protests against Roosevelt’s comments on John Sevier illustrate that some people will always be “unable to differentiate between hysterics and history.” He commends the Sewanee Review.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-29
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks John McCormick Lea for the letter from William Robertson Garrett. He thinks the protest against his comments on John Sevier comes from the belief that historians should not “tell the truth about certain favorite heroes.” Roosevelt considers this perspective a disservice. He wishes there was a better chance of him visiting Tennessee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-29
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt wants to see the card and protests William Robertson Garrett referred to. He is willing to make corrections if needed, but there is no room for doubt in the particular incident concerning John Sevier unless new manuscript material has been discovered. Roosevelt feels the protests come from failing to understand that “a historian is bound to tell the truth.” He suggests Garrett refer to B. James Ramage’s recent article “Tennessee’s Place in History” and show it to Hoss.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-29
James Ford Rhodes has just begun writing a history of the United States from President Hayes to McKinley, but after this work is finished would like to write the history of the United States from 1897 to 1909. Rhodes encourages Roosevelt to write an autobiography, as it will be of great use to historians. He would like to interview Roosevelt several times after Roosevelt returns from Africa. Rhodes thanks Roosevelt for the hospitality he has already shown him, for the insight he has given into the affairs of state, and the introductions to important people within the government.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-04
General Lee read Archibald Gracie’s letter about the Battle of Chickamauga with great interest. He compliments Gracie’s research and writing abilities. Gracie’s manuscript summarizes the battle well and Lee believes it will be the true history. He realizes much that is not true history will be recorded as such. Only historians and men like Gracie will arrive at the truth when all participants are dead.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-12
Edited draft of a paper describing President Roosevelt’s views of the Civil War when he was the New York Governor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-11
Dr. John Allen Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, offers an address at Richland College giving an overview of the five phases he sees in the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Moving from the early hero-worship of Roosevelt in the years after his death, Gable sees historical opinion vary between critical perspectives of Roosevelt and more favorable representations, frequently moving in conjunction with the issues of the era the author is writing in. The most contemporary era, Gable believes, is a revival of Roosevelt’s reputation and scholarship. Further developments in the field of Roosevelt studies, Gable believes, will come from a stronger holistic understanding of the various facets of Roosevelt’s personality. Throughout his address Gable relies on a number of instances from Roosevelt’s life to illustrate his points, including the Venezuela Crisis, the Storer Controversy, and the 1912 Assassination Attempt.
For more information on some of the episodes in Theodore Roosevelt’s life that Dr. Gable mentions, see the Theodore Roosevelt Center’s encyclopedia articles on the Dear Maria Controversy, the Venezuela Debt Crisis and Roosevelt Corollary, or some of the multiple blog posts and articles about the political campaign of 1912, John Flammang Schrank and his attempt to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt.
Dr. John Allen Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, offers an address at Richland College giving an overview of the five phases he sees in the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Moving from the early hero-worship of Roosevelt in the years after his death, Gable sees historical opinion vary between critical perspectives of Roosevelt and more favorable representations, frequently moving in conjunction with the issues of the era the author is writing in. The most contemporary era, Gable believes, is a revival of Roosevelt’s reputation and scholarship. Further developments in the field of Roosevelt studies, Gable believes, will come from a stronger holistic understanding of the various facets of Roosevelt’s personality. Throughout his address Gable relies on a number of instances from Roosevelt’s life to illustrate his points, including the Venezuela Crisis, the Storer Controversy, and the 1912 Assassination Attempt.
For more information on some of the episodes in Theodore Roosevelt’s life that Dr. Gable mentions, see the Theodore Roosevelt Center’s encyclopedia articles on the Dear Maria Controversy, the Venezuela Debt Crisis and Roosevelt Corollary, or some of the multiple blog posts and articles about the political campaign of 1912, John Flammang Schrank and his attempt to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt.
Gregory A. Wynn writes that his criticisms of Michael Cullinane’s Theodore Roosevelt’s Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon amount to “merely quibbles,” and he states that it is thoroughly researched and well-written. Wynn highlights the work of Kathleen Dalton, Henry F. Pringle, and John A. Gable in his review, and he describes the wide ranging topics addressed by Cullinane, including the work of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in safeguarding the memory of Theodore Roosevelt. Wynn notes that Cullinane’s work should serve as an inspiration to members of the TRA to continue the organization’s work.
Two photographs, including one of Cullinane, supplement the text.
Gregory A. Wynn addresses the role that the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) and the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal (TRAJ) have played in shaping the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Wynn dwells on the work and contributions of John A. Gable, a long-time editor of the TRAJ in both fostering scholarship on Roosevelt and producing his own. Wynn highlights the work of Roosevelt biographers such as Edmund Morris, Kathleen Dalton, and Henry F. Pringle, and he identifies deficits in the study of Roosevelt that need to be addressed such as his presidency and his intellect.
A photograph of Wynn, the front cover of Dalton’s biography, and an excerpt of a letter from Gable to Wynn accompany the address.
Joe F. Decker provides a comprehensive bibliography of the various accounts of Theodore Roosevelt’s attempt to form a volunteer division during World War I. Decker begins with Roosevelt’s own first account in 1917 and concludes with John Milton Cooper’s version in The Warrior and the Priest of 1983. Decker examines books, book chapters, and articles on the subject, and finds that the story still has not been “dealt with satisfactorily.” Decker points out the biases and the shortcomings of some of the authors, and notes that many of the accounts strongly favor either Roosevelt or his antagonist President Woodrow Wilson.
A full page-photograph of Roosevelt and General Leonard Wood accompanies the article. A photograph of Harrison Engle and Sidney D. Kirkpatrick who directed documentary films on Roosevelt is featured, along with three photographs of Roosevelt from newsreel footage used in the film The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt.
A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association as well as the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is on page two of the article.
John A. Gable reviews Nathan Miller’s The Roosevelt Chronicles, a history of the Roosevelt family in America. He acknowledges that Miller covers the lives of the well known Roosevelts: Theodore, Franklin, Eleanor, and Alice Longworth, but he believes that the real value of the book comes from its examination of lesser known members of the famous family. Gable looks at four of these figures: Nicholas Roosevelt, a pioneer in steamboats; James Roosevelt Bayley, an important figure in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church; Robert B. Roosevelt, Theodore’s uncle, who was a conservationist; and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Theodore’s son, who would earn the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day, 1944.
Frederick W. Marks describes the research he undertook for his book Velvet on Iron, and surveys the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt beginning in the 1920s. He argues that there persists a divide between his record as a restrained diplomat and the perception “of him as bellicose and impulsive.
A photograph of Marks accompanies his article.
This review of President Roosevelt’s work, Life of Benton, alleges that Roosevelt ends up contradicting his own actions by his words as he criticizes the hostile expansion of the earlier United States, while at the same time driving imperialism in the Philippines in the current day. Roosevelt also delves further into hypocrisy through his mention of Benton’s nomination to commanding general during the Mexican American War, which the author of this piece compares to Roosevelt’s own promotion of Leonard Wood to Major General. Such inconsistencies between Roosevelt the author and Roosevelt the president persist through the book.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
Charles Prestwood Lucas’s recent book The Canadian War of 1812 is a worthy counterpart to works by Captain A. T. Mahan and President Roosevelt, although it is somewhat overshadowed by the fame of the others. Each author approaches the subject from a different point of view, which justifies the existence of all three works.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-10
Governor Roosevelt compliments General Johnson on his genealogical research at the Maryland Historical Society and shares some of the Roosevelt lineage. Specifically, Roosevelt’s family ties to Oliver Cromwell and Robert Blake. Roosevelt also jests that if he does not obtain reelection, he would very much enjoy visiting Johnson.
1900-05-18