Your TR Source
A collection of reprinted stories and editorials about Theodore Roosevelt’s successes during his presidency and political career, specifically diplomatic achievements. One editorial calls for Roosevelt’s nomination in the 1916 presidential election.
1916
List of votes for Republican, Democrat, and Socialist presidential candidates for the election of 1912 published in the Toledo Weekly Blade. The list shows more Ohioans voted for Theodore Roosevelt over President William H. Taft, the Democrats, and the Socialists combined.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-07
The Brooklyn Young Republican Club writes resolutions of their reasons for opposing the candidacy of Edwin A. Merritt for Speaker of the New York State Assembly and Ray B. Smith for Clerk of the New York State Assembly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-28
Bela Tokaji, President of the National Progressive Republican League of the State of New York, endorses William Loeb for Republican National Chairman. Loeb would be able to bring together some of the feuding wings of the party to help defeat the Democratic party candidate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-25
In a letter to the editor of the Buffalo Express, the writer argues that Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts in the 1910 elections spared the Republicans from even worse defeats than they suffered. Roosevelt has been blamed for the defeat by many, but the writer believes that he was one of the only Republicans who was fighting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-11-11
Natalie A. Naylor charts Theodore Roosevelt’s support of women’s suffrage from his writing an essay supporting equal rights for women as a Harvard student, to his tepid support of the movement as president, and his embrace of the right of women to vote in his 1912 Progressive Party campaign for president. Naylor notes the unsuccessful efforts of pioneer suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to move Roosevelt on the issue while president, and she shows how the 1912 campaign saw a change in Roosevelt’s attitude that he would maintain until the end of his life. Naylor details Roosevelt’s efforts in support of women’s suffrage in the years surrounding World War I, including the successful passage of women’s suffrage in 1917 in New York State.
The article includes a transcript of Roosevelt’s undergraduate essay “Practicability of Equalizing Men and Women before the Law” along with a one page hand-written excerpt from the essay. Two photographs of Roosevelt speaking and a drawing by Roosevelt supplement the article.
In a speech given shortly after Theodore Roosevelt’s death, George Haven Putnam discusses his friendship with Roosevelt, and he highlights aspects of his character, leadership ability, and episodes from his political career. Putnam details Roosevelt’s role in the 1884 presidential contest, his dispute with the Postmaster General during his time as a Civil Service Commissioner, and examines the effort to secure the election of Charles Evans Hughes as Governor of New York in 1908.
A photograph of Roosevelt in 1905 appears on the first page of the speech. A listing of the members of the executive committee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) supplements the piece along with a text box with the heading ” A Membership Honor Roll” that lists members of the TRA who have enrolled in three premium membership categories.
John Robert Greene tells the story of Frederick Morgan Davenport of New York state, whose political affiliations would move from the Republican party to the Progressive party, back to the Republicans, and would end with him as a supporter of the New Deal working for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Greene covers Davenport’s early career as a minister and teacher with an interest in the history of American revivals. He details his entry into New York politics and discusses his interest in adoption of the direct primary which led him to seek the support of Theodore Roosevelt. Greene examines the warfare in the Republican party between 1912 and 1916, and he notes Davenport’s work for Syracuse University in the 1920s. Davenport’s support of President Herbert Hoover and his work on behalf of tariff reform are covered as is Davenport’s gradual embrace of the New Deal while heading two agencies dealing with government personnel matters. Greene notes that Davenport was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1951.
Two of Davenport’s campaign posters, a photograph of the 1912 Progressive Party convention in Chicago, and a political cartoon from the 1912 campaign illustrate the article.
William N. Tilchin examines the foreign policy views of President Theodore Roosevelt and President Harry S. Truman. Tilchin provides an overview of the major crises and decisions faced by both presidents, and he also looks at the administrations between Roosevelt and Truman and how each president approached the practice of diplomacy. Tilchin notes the importance of four Secretaries of State: John Hay and Elihu Root under Roosevelt and George C. Marshall and Dean Acheson under Truman, and he outlines their core beliefs and how they influenced each president. Tilchin concludes by comparing aspects of Roosevelt’s and Truman’s foreign policies and by asserting that each understood the primacy of power in international affairs.
A photograph of Roosevelt on horseback, without an accompanying caption, supplements the text. A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is found on page two of the essay.
Gary M. Lavergne provides an introduction to a document written by John Millicent Parker of Louisiana who lobbied President Woodrow Wilson to allow General Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt to form a division for service in World War I. Lavergne edited Parker’s recollection and John A. Gable provides an introduction to the article. Parker discusses his relationships with Wilson and Roosevelt and details his May 1917 White House meeting with Wilson. Parker notes the points he raised with Wilson arguing for a command for both Wood and Roosevelt, and he also details Wilson’s rebuttal and his refusal to allow the formation of a division by the two most famous veterans of the Spanish-American War.
A photograph of Parker and Roosevelt onboard a boat in 1915 accompanies the article.
President Herbert Hoover holds an “open house” event at the White House on New Year’s Day. A crowded line of people slowly moves toward the White House. Secretary of State Henry Stimson, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and Alice Roosevelt Longworth, are all captured individually on camera.
Sherman Grinberg Film Collection
1931-01-01
Stephen Fox reviews T. J. Jackson Lear’s No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920. Fox lists some of the attributes of the movement as well as some of its well known adherents, and he contends that the conservation movement also belongs to the antimodernist tradition. J. David Valaik finds that Dale L. Walker’s Death Was the Black Horse: The Story of Rough Rider Buckey O’Neill adds little to our knowledge of one of Theodore Roosevelt’s most famous troopers. John A. Gable argues that Richard L. McCormick’s From Realignment to Reform: Political Change in New York State, 1893-1910 provides valuable context for understanding Roosevelt’s political career in the Empire State.
An advertisement for the Roosevelt Savings Bank of Garden City, New York, listing its various branch offices is found at the end of the reviews.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
Drawing of the Progressive Party convention in Chicago, June 1916.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1981
The Lincoln Farm Association invites Theodore Roosevelt to attend the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial Hall. Includes a card about special trains, an invitation from Governor Augustus Everett Willson, and a list of officers and trustees of the Lincoln Farm Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-09
The results of the presidential poll conducted by the Valley Farmer in February 1911.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04
Edward Earl Britton writes his autobiography in several parts, discussing his youth and involvement in many business pursuits. He breaks briefly in 1908 before continuing in a second portion, written in 1911. After reaching the present, Britton continues on by offering a prediction for the future of economic development in Central and South America. During his life Britton became connected with the Eagle Savings and Loan Company, wand was sentenced to serve some time in prison for the company’s deeds. The final pages of his autobiography feature several letters from friends petitioning New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes for clemency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York invites Theodore Roosevelt to attend a reception in honor of Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes. A card is included for Roosevelt to present to gain admittance to the event.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-21
A variety of individuals jump for joy: Uncle Sam, President-elect William H. Taft, Vice President-elect J. S. Sherman, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Iowa Governor Albert Baird Cummins, President Roosevelt, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, and the Republican elephant.
Sometimes the very simplest concept and presentation is the most effective. Jay N. “Ding” Darling proved that many times over his career — most notably in his eulogistic cartoon on the death of Theodore Roosevelt. Astride a horse and headed up a ghostly trail to Heaven, Roosevelt turned and waved to readers.
On the eve of the election, vignettes on New York and presidential politics are presented. At the upper left, candidate for Governor of New York Lewis S. Chanler stands tall as two men, including Charles Francis Murphy, look on and say, “Hero.” Caption: Chanler takes a stand at last: He says he is opposed to the shot-gun license law. Opposite this, a banner reads: “We are willing to be regulated but not by Governor Hughes. Charlie Murphy is good enough for us. The Franchise Grabbers’ Anti-Hughes Club.” At the bottom, John D. Rockefeller with a “$29,000,000 fine” tag says, “I think I’ll vote for you, Mr. Taft.” William H. Taft raises his hands in the air and says, “Don’t.” Looking on, William Jennings Bryan smiles and says, “Oh I’m so happy” while President Roosevelt says, “Don’t let him tell you that, Bill. Soak him one. It’s a plot.”
Arcane issues of 1908 presidential politics, and even the minutia of New York State affairs, permeate this informal but clever group of vignettes by Floyd W. Triggs, published on election eve.
President Roosevelt and William H. Taft trudge up a snowy mountain to rescue New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, who is depicted as a dog.
The premise of Democratic cartoonist W. A. Rogers’s drawing in the Democratic New York Herald in the last weeks of the 1908 political campaign is that New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes was desperate for help in his reelection effort. The incumbent was recently re-nominated over sporadic resistance within his own party, but his reelection was never seriously in jeopardy. Rogers’s portrayal of a crisis requiring a rescue effort by President Roosevelt and Republican candidate William H. Taft was more wishful thinking than political reality. Roosevelt indeed fretted over defection from Hughes affecting the national vote — and harming the state’s reliability in the presidential electoral column; but that fear was also ill-founded, the result of Roosevelt’s congenital insecurity before election days.