Judges--Evaluation

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles S. Mellen

President Roosevelt tells Charles S. Mellen in confidence that he may appoint Judge Walter Chadwick Noyes for the circuit court judge position in Connecticut, even though he has a higher opinion of lawyer John K. Beach. Judges, Roosevelt believes, especially federal judges, should be “the judge for everyone.” They should be able to sympathize with the labor faction and capitalists alike. Unfortunately the judges in New York do not understand the labor side. Roosevelt hopes to meet Noyes soon and see if he holds these qualities.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to David Starr Jordan

President Roosevelt has heard nothing bad about Judge Humphreys except for his temper. He wonders if David Starr Jordan knows of Mr. Sewall or Samuel Parker and how they are viewed by the people of Hawaii. Roosevelt would be extremely grateful if Starr could provide a full statement with reference to “Hawaiian conditions.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-10-21

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Attorney General Bonaparte tells President Roosevelt that District Attorney Edwin Walter Sims has asked for a postponement in Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis’s case, perhaps due to Landis’s behavior. The press covering Secretary of State Elihu Root and Thomas Fortune Ryan has been sensationalized, and Bonaparte feels it is unfortunate that Root is taking the blame on the whiskey situation. Bonaparte will get an update from Department of Justice Agent Peyton Gordon about Agent Ormsby McHarg. As he will be traveling, Bonaparte sends his forwarding address. He encloses telegrams from Assistant Attorney General Marsden C. Burch regarding Judge Frank Sigel Dietrich.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-04

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry T. Wills

President Roosevelt thanks Henry T. Wills for the letter and the pleasing report. Roosevelt agrees on the commercial attaches, but only Congress can enact a law allowing it. He is glad Wills approves of Judge Lebbeus R. Wilfley.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-25

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lebbeus R. Wilfley

President Roosevelt thanks Judge Wilfley for the letter and assures Wilfley that the only feedback he has heard on his work has been positive.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-25

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas MacDonald Patterson

President Roosevelt feels the same way Colorado Senator Patterson feels about Judge James Wickersham. Roosevelt says he believes the accusations about Wickersham are false, and that he has been a good judge.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George C. Holt

President Roosevelt speaks highly of New York Attorney General Julius M. Mayer and has provided him a letter of introduction to Judge Holt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Benjamin Ide Wheeler

President Roosevelt thanks Benjamin Ide Wheeler for the compliments on his speech and agrees with him about the Philippines. Roosevelt believes the head of the Supreme Court should be a statesman as well as a lawyer, and feels that the “failure to understand this fact” has caused some of the judges to “go wrong” recently.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-12-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry S. New

President Roosevelt thanks Harry S. New for the letter and will bring it to the attention of Attorney General Knox. Thus far, the general opinion has Mr. Hawkins behind other judicial candidates.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander C. Knox

President Roosevelt forwards Senator Joseph Ralph Burton’s letter, in which he does not make a recommendation but gives a poor report of Judge William K. Townsend. Roosevelt feels it is important to “get the highest type of judge at all costs.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander C. Knox

President Roosevelt asks Attorney General Knox to look at the recommendations for possible appointees to a Virginia judgeship. He then weighs the merits of Henry C. McDowell and Judge Lewis for the position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-07

Report from Redfield Proctor to Theodore Roosevelt

Redfield Proctor knows nothing of the move to nominate Charles Henry Robb to the Court of Appeals for Vermont. Proctor had thought Robb supported Judge Wendell Phillips Stafford for the position. Proctor supports Stafford as well and finds him better qualified by “training, experience and temperament.” Robb, a fine man, is also young and could fill Stafford’s position and seek nomination at a later date. As Proctor is friends with Robb, he hopes Roosevelt will keep the matter confidential.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-25

Letter from Peter Stenger Grosscup to Theodore Roosevelt

Judge Grosscup writes to President Roosevelt regarding letters in the Department of Justice’s files that question Grosscup’s fitness as a judge. Grosscup asks that the letters be removed or that a clipping and this statement be included with the letters indicating that they are untrue, as the letters may do him “injustice in the years to come.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Spencer B. Adams

President Roosevelt thanks Judge Spencer B. Adams for the letter, and tells him that he believes Spencer is approaching his duties in “exactly the right spirit,” and has “mapped out exactly the right course.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-02

Memorandum as to Judge Henry C. Caldwell

Henry Martyn Hoyt reviews Judge Caldwell’s performance as a district and circuit judge.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-11

Telegram from Philander C. Knox to Theodore Roosevelt

Attorney General Knox says the senator will be satisfied with Judge Buffington and several others support Buffington. Knox thinks highly of Buffington but does not share their opinion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-13

Letter from Henry Martyn Hoyt to Theodore Roosevelt

Assistant Attorney General Hoyt encloses a memorandum on Judge Henry C. Caldwell’s career.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-11

Letter from Ethan Allen Hitchcock to John F. Shepley

Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock believes Judge Henry C. Caldwell to be a man of great legal ability but finds his political views to be on the radical side and his legal opinions erratic. Hitchcock asks his son-in-law John F. Shepley to obtain an opinion on Caldwell from those who know him in St. Louis, Missouri. Is he a man of marked ability, good judgment, and able to conduct a lengthy and laborious investigation, with his conclusions accepted by the country as reliable and fair?

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-11