Ireland, John, 1838-1918

Letter from Maria Longworth Storer to Theodore Roosevelt

Maria Longworth Storer is happy the Roosevelt family will be living in her house. Storer is hoping her husband, B. Storer, will be given another post in either Paris or Berlin in the spring, depending on vacancies, and discusses the tensions in Spain following President McKinley’s recent message. Storer notes efforts to bolster “Republican Catholocism” in France.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1900-12-11

Creator(s)

Storer, Maria Longworth, 1849-1932

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Maurice Francis Egan

President Roosevelt expresses interest in Ambassador Egan’s article and is glad that he likes his post. Regarding an issue with Secretary of War Taft, Roosevelt writes that Egan can stay in Copenhagen as long as he likes, and asks him to have Archbishop Ireland write Taft.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1908-03-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root

President Roosevelt summarizes two letters he has received from Oscar K. Davis for Elihu Root. The letters, from Times reporter William Bayard Hale, describe an interview Hale had with German Emperor William II. In the first letter, Hale describes the two-hour interview itself, in which William makes several incendiary statements regarding England, Russia, China, Japan, the United States, and the Catholic Church. In the second letter, Hale reports that after showing the interview to the German Foreign Office and American Ambassador David Jayne Hill, both decided it would be unwise and improper to quote the emperor. Roosevelt told Davis that he strongly discouraged making the interview public. In domestic news, Roosevelt is making a “quiet canvass” of feeling regarding the re-nomination of Charles Evans Hughes for governor of New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Michael Walsh

President Roosevelt tells Catholic newspaper publisher Michael Walsh that his main point of contention in the recent incident regarding B. Storer and Maria Longworth Storer was the damage done to Archbishop John Ireland. Roosevelt notes that he does not regret anything he stated in the private letters that were recently published. The letter is marked “Private” and Roosevelt scrawls “Not for publication” at the top.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Maurice Francis Egan to Theodore Roosevelt

Maurice Francis Egan tells President Roosevelt that he likes James Jeffrey Roche’s letter, especially what he said about the Storer affair. As a side note, Egan says he communicated with Archbishop John Ireland. He wonders how Roosevelt feels about Catholic politicians.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-15

Creator(s)

Egan, Maurice Francis, 1852-1924

Letter from James Jeffrey Roche to Theodore Roosevelt

James Jeffrey Roche shares his views on a range of topics with President Roosevelt, including Roosevelt’s handling of Bellamy Storer’s “indiscretion” in Rome, the public’s response to the Brownsville case, and Roche’s support for Roosevelt’s simplified spelling idea.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-28

Creator(s)

Roche, James Jeffrey, 1847-1908

Extracts from letters to Maria Longworth Storer

Archbishop Keane tells Maria Longworth Storer that he sent Bishop Richard Scannell to talk with Cardinal Raphael Merry del Val, and Scannell reported that the Cardinal’s sympathies are not with them. Princess Alexandrine Windisch-Graetz informs Storer that she met with Pope Pius X about Archbishop John Ireland, and Ireland will be made Cardinal at the next Consistory.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-14

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Thomas O’Gorman to Theodore Roosevelt

Bishop O’Gorman writes a letter of recommendation for Thomas St. John Gaffney for a position in the diplomatic service.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-19

Creator(s)

O'Gorman, Thomas, 1843-1921

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Callan O’Laughlin

Theodore Roosevelt writes to John Callan O’Laughlin about the recent appointment of new Cardinals. Roosevelt is disappointed that no one from the Ireland school of thought was appointed.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-11-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Hay

President Roosevelt asks if there is any reason why he should not congratulate the new Pontiff as suggested by Archbishop John Ireland. In a note at the bottom, Secretary of State Hay notes that he advises against sending congratulations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Bellamy Storer

Bellamy Storer has been advocating for Archbishop Ireland to be made a cardinal. However, people will not differentiate between what Storer says as an American Catholic and what he says as an American Ambassador. As such, while Storer is in the United States service he can take no part in these religious matters. President Roosevelt admires Archbishop Ireland but, as President, he can not interfere with the advancement of any man in any church.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Telegram from George B. Cortelyou to Matthew Stanley Quay

George B. Cortelyou informs Senator Quay that President Roosevelt would like him to convey an offer to John Mitchell. Roosevelt suggests adding a representative of labor and Archbishop Ireland to the proposed commissioners.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-14

Creator(s)

Cortelyou, George B. (George Bruce), 1862-1940

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt writes to Governor General of the Philippines Taft to discuss the agitation among American Catholics regarding the friars in the Philippines. Opposition to Archbishop John Ireland and the schools have complicated the political situation and could be damaging during the congressional elections. Roosevelt hopes that Luke E. Wright can succeed Taft as Governor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-07-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Maurice Francis Egan

President Roosevelt is pleased that Maurice Francis Egan likes his current post. He is sure that if Secretary of War William H. Taft is elected president, Egan will be able to stay in Copenhagen as American Minister to Denmark for as long as he wishes. Roosevelt advises Egan to ask Archbishop John Ireland to write to Taft as a precaution.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Maurice Francis Egan

President Roosevelt thanks Maurice Francis Egan for his letter, and hopes that Archbishop John Ireland understands that Roosevelt does not wish to meet or provoke Maria Longworth Storer, although he considers her harmless.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root

In a letter to Elihu Root (and possibly intended for a wider audience), President Roosevelt gives his perspective of his conflict with the recently-recalled Austrian Ambassador Bellamy Storer. Embedded within the letter are reproductions of private letters between President Roosevelt, members of his administration, and Storer. The letters detail the saga of the Storers’s push for Archbishop Ireland to become Cardinal and the fracturing of their friendship with the Roosevelts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry White

President Roosevelt is sure that Ambassador White acted correctly regarding Archbishop John M. Farley visiting him, and is pleased that White showed Archbishop John Ireland the courtesy he did. He agrees with White regarding Secretary of State Elihu Root’s trip to South America, and praises the work that Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon has done as Acting Secretary. Roosevelt further agrees that White’s brother-in-law would be a good candidate for a position and has forwarded a letter to Bacon saying as much, although he is not sure if there is any likelihood of a vacancy in the service soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ernest Harvier

President Roosevelt thanks Ernest Harvier for the editorial. Roosevelt explains, for Harvier’s information, what the situation was involving Maria Longworth Storer and Archbishops John M. Farley and John Ireland, saying that she began to interfere in the politics of the Catholic Church to such a degree that it appeared that Roosevelt was sanctioning the interference. The final dismissal of her husband, Bellamy Storer, from the ambassadorial service came, however, because they were not answering Roosevelt’s letters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene A. Philbin

President Roosevelt thanks Eugene A. Philbin for his letter, and is pleased to know that many people in the Catholic hierarchy understand the situation with Maria Longworth Storer. Roosevelt agrees with Philbin’s comment that the situation shows why church and state need to be kept apart, and comments that Storer “could not get rid of the idea that there ought to be church politicians as well as state politicians and that they should enter into reciprocal obligations with one another.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919