Inheritance and transfer tax

George O. Sanborn informs Theodore Roosevelt of his travels across the country and tells him of the people’s strong opinion to have him run for the 1911 presidential elections. Sanborn states how the people are dissatisfied with William H. Taft’s tariff policies and hopes Roosevelt decides to serve his American duty by honoring the presidential nomination.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-23

Marshall Stimson relays to Theodore Roosevelt that William H. Taft’s presidency has come and gone and informs him of his criticisms on him. Stimson wished Roosevelt had run for presidency with Hiram Johnson so that the country could be before great progressive republic leaders and fails to remember why Roosevelt once told him to support Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-20

Secretary of War Taft explains why he partially disagrees with President Roosevelt regarding the tariff. Taft also requests the privilege to differ from Roosevelt regarding the Interstate Commerce Commission and “the issue of bonds and stocks of interstate railways.” Taft hopes to return from his trip to Berlin via the Siberian Railway and wants Roosevelt’s advice before making arrangements.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-06

Senator Lodge writes to Stephen Minot Weld about rumors of an inheritance tax being proposed. Lodge points out that the country has a budget surplus and is not in need of raising money, but says that he finds inheritance tax to be one valid method of raising funds for civilized nations. Lodge thinks rich men should pay tax upon their property to even the burden. Public ownership of property, for which William Jennings Bryan, John B. Moran, and others are calling, verges on socialism and could cause disaster. Lodge is confident in President Roosevelt’s stand against government ownership.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-09

Stephen Minot Weld tells Senator Lodge that he does not support President Roosevelt’s positions on the income and legacy taxes. If Roosevelt does not soften his position, Weld will have to vote for another Republican candidate. He believes this issue is too radical and could destroy the party.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-08

Wayne MacVeagh writes to President Roosevelt that he hopes Roosevelt was able to find “the act of Congress and its affirmance by the Supreme Court.” It was accepted quietly and approved, hardly a “violent form of anarchy.” Although not well-drafted, MacVeagh believes the idea is there. A few weeks after Roosevelt’s speech on graduated inheritance taxes, H. H. Asquith, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, announced support to begin graduated income taxes, after experiencing success with inheritance taxes since 1894.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-09

Lyman Abbott acknowledges receipt of letter from President Roosevelt. Abbott indicates support of graduated inheritance tax, quotes an Oxford University professor regarding the future problem of political economy as not the accumulation of wealth but the distribution thereof, and confirms further discussion in future issues of The Outlook.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-27

William N. Tilchin examines the contents of Outlook Editorials which consists of eleven editorials written for The Outlook magazine by Theodore Roosevelt over five months in 1909. Tilchin contends that the editorials show Roosevelt’s combination of of advancing progressive ideas with a commitment to finding practical, common sense solutions to problems. Tilchin quotes extensively from the editorials within sentences and in twelve excerpts that demonstrate Roosevelt’s penchant for balance and moderation. The editorials discuss a variety of topics from socialism, to immigration, naval preparedness, and the inheritance tax. 

Photographs of Roosevelt, the Great White Fleet, and the cover of Outlook Editorials supplement the text. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

William J. Vanden Heuvel looks at the connections between Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, especially their shared commitment to American engagement with the world and promoting conservation. Vanden Heuvel highlights Theodore Roosevelt’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize and his support for an inheritance tax, and he notes that both Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to regulate corporations and the wealthy for the benefit of the working class. Five photographs of Vanden Heuvel accompany the text of his address.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2003-10-24

President Roosevelt hands “Congress” three balls and points at the toys labeled “corrupt politics,” “island possessions,” “labor questions,” “waterways,” “legislative obstructions,” “disease microbes,” “national waste,” “swollen fortunes,” “dishonest wealth,” “unjust judges,” “inadequate wages,” and “inheritance tax.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

After a day to absorb President Roosevelt’s Annual Message, which would be the last of his presidency, Jay N. “Ding” Darling offered his readers, and posterity, a cartoon-capsule summary of its contents. Typical of the cartoonist’s clarity, the main topics of the president’s lengthy message are depicted, and — an important component of the cartoon — it is not Uncle Sam, nor an iconic figure representing “the public,” who is addressed by the barker Roosevelt, but the Congress.

President Roosevelt agrees that spelling reform is needed. He does not believe in violent revolution, but in growing the right direction. He hopes to enact both inheritance and income tax.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1906-08-28

William Emlen Roosevelt encloses a letter regarding the inheritance tax on Cornelius Roosevelt’s estate. This is the final unsettled matter for the estate and Roosevelt hopes to conclude it as soon as possible. He requests that President Roosevelt authorize Roosevelt & Kebbe to represent him in order to make the matter more economical.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-11-12