Your TR Source
Review of General Miles’s “insubordination and unfriendliness” towards the Roosevelt administration which is damaging the army and will ultimately lead to the general’s retirement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-22
President Roosevelt protests a recent editorial in The Outlook, and tells Lyman Abbott that it condoned mutinous and insubordinate conduct in the Navy by defending Admiral Willard H. Brownson. He quotes a letter he received from General Grenville M. Dodge on the topic of Brownson’s resignation. Dodge opines that Roosevelt should have insisted Brownson obey the order and if he refused to then court-martial him instead of just accepting his resignation. Roosevelt explains why he did not follow this course, but says that this may have set a precedent for rampant insubordination in the armed forces, which The Outlook has not helped.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-17
President Roosevelt writes to the New York Tribune editor regarding the article titled “Honorable Retirement” about former Chief of the Bureau of Navigation Willard H. Brownson. Roosevelt finds it inexcusable that they published a piece praising Brownson’s conduct when he has been completely discredited by his spiteful insubordination. It was not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of his behavior, that is the problem, and he has been disloyal to the Navy and the Nation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-26
Attorney General Bonaparte forwards President Roosevelt messages exchanged between Oregon Attorney General William C. Bristol and himself, as well as reports from those involved with the land fraud cases that demonstrate Bristol’s negligent behavior in performing his job. The Department of Justice has received many complaints about delays in the proceedings of the land fraud suits, and Bristol has repeatedly ignored official communications. Bonaparte does not recommend Bristol be renominated as Attorney General of Oregon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-10
The writer asserts that Max Pracht and W. Scott Smith are “working together” and offers evidence. Pracht was suspended from the Land Office for insubordination and sought help from Senator John H. Mitchell; but when Mitchell was unable to help, Pracht turned to Smith and Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock to obtain his current post at the War Department. Events discussed since then by Pracht could only be known through a source close to the Secretary of the Interior such as Smith.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907