Hofstadter, Richard, 1916-1970

Report on the results of a poll taken by the C-SPAN television network of presidential historians and C-SPAN viewers. The report highlights the rankings accorded Theodore Roosevelt–ranked fourth by historians and third by viewers–and it traces the evolution of Roosevelt’s reputation through the decades from its low point in the 1930s. The report also discusses the rankings of other presidents and highlights some of the historians who participated, in particular those who are associated with the study of Roosevelt. The report includes a listing of the top ten presidents in both the historians and viewers polls, and it includes a list of most of the presidential historians involved in the study.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2000

Creator(s)

Unknown

Susan Dunn examines Theodore Roosevelt’s policy positions during and after his presidency and asks whether Roosevelt was a cautious conservative or a radical progressive. Dunn emphasizes that Roosevelt often made it difficult for others to determine his stance because of his muddled language, but she asserts that Roosevelt was constrained by the need to work with others in the Republican party and by the Constitution which, with its checks and balances, limited the power of the president. Dunn notes that some of Roosevelt’s stances, favoring an inheritance tax and the review of judicial decisions, cost him the support of friends and colleagues such as Henry Cabot Lodge. Dunn labels Roosevelt “a bold, courageous leader” who achieved much despite the need to compromise with his party and the Constitution.

 

Seven photographs of Roosevelt from 1875, 1880, 1899, 1901, 1910, and 1914 illustrate the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

John A. Gable examines three titles in the “Book Reviews” section, encompassing a work on leadership, a study of the two branches of the Roosevelt family, and a collection of wartime letters. Gable notes that James M. Strock’s Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership should be considered a management book, but he believes that its study of Theodore Roosevelt’s philosophy of life gives it wide appeal. Gable highlights the feud between the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park, New York, branches of the Roosevelt family in his review of The Three Roosevelts, and he stresses the main points of the book: that Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt represented a progressive front over a century of American history and that Theodore Roosevelt was more progressive than conservative. In his glowing review of Andrew Carroll’s War Letters, Gable highlights a letter written by Theodore Roosevelt after the death of his son Quentin Roosevelt, and he notes the contributions of historian Douglas Brinkley to the book. 

 

In her review of A Tale of Two Teddies, Linda E. Milano emphasizes that this children’s book does not tell the familiar tale of Theodore Roosevelt’s bear hunt, but rather looks at the competition among the earliest makers of the teddy bear. A photograph of Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and two text boxes with information about the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the section,

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Lee Cullum challenges the conclusions of historian Richard Hofstadter who downplayed the achievements and intellect of Theodore Roosevelt. Cullum claims that Roosevelt was superior to Woodrow Wilson in his handling of diplomacy and big business, and she asserts that Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had a lot in common.

An illustration of Roosevelt in a dynamic speaking pose and a listing of the officers and members of the executive committee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1987-12-27

Charles C. Goetsch examines the legal, philosophical, and political dispute between Theodore Roosevelt and Simeon E. Baldwin, a Yale Law School professor, Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, and Governor of Connecticut. He details the conservative legal outlook of Baldwin and how this view clashed with the progressive political beliefs of Roosevelt. Goetsch shows how a legal dispute over the constitutionality of the Federal Employers Liability Act extended from the courts to the 1910 election campaign where Roosevelt’s rhetoric prompted Baldwin to consider a libel suit against the former president.

Two pictures, one of Simeon E. Baldwin and the other of Theodore Roosevelt speaking from the platform of a train car, are included in the article.

A listing of the officers and the members of the executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees of the Theodore Roosevelt Association is included in the article as well as an advertisement for the Roosevelt Savings Bank of Garden City, New York.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

G. Wallace Chessman looks at the evolving historiography of the study of Theodore Roosevelt and places his own work on Roosevelt’s time as Governor of New York within that framework. He asserts that Roosevelt’s reputation suffered in the 1930s with the publication of Henry Pringle’s biography (Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography), but the work of historians such as George Mowry and John Blum served as a correction to Pringle’s work. Chessman argues that the 1930s, with its isolationism in foreign affairs and its hostility to big business, further undermined Roosevelt’s standing.

Chessman argues that as Governor of New York, Roosevelt mostly took stands that should be viewed as “progressive,” and that he successfully navigated a course between obedience to the New York political machine led by Thomas Platt and his own reform agenda. He says that Roosevelt’s time as governor prepared him for the presidency, and he concludes his essay by contending that Roosevelt, however much he loved the American West, should primarily be seen as a man of New York City: “T.R. was surely an urban man.”

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1975