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Theodore Roosevelt has had breakfasts with Platt and Governor Odell, but does not think the events have been viewed as important by the judge, of whom Roosevelt does not think highly. Roosevelt also does not approve of President Wilson’s and Secretary of State Bryan’s relations with Germany.
1915-05-14
Theodore Roosevelt discusses public service and the duties of public servants such as politicians and Supreme Court judges. This record also contains Roosevelt’s handwritten opinion of President William H. Taft as a 1912 presidential candidate.
1912
In his speech to the Saint Louis, Missouri City Club, Theodore Roosevelt shares his opinion on public service, describes his own service and he makes the case for social progressivism. Among his examples of public servants, Roosevelt mentions past Presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Buchanan, and Franklin Pierce.
1912-03-28
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Amy Gordan Galt Grant, wife of Robert Grant, for his recent visit and jokes about the Progressive Party. Roosevelt also encourages the Grants to visit him at the Sagamore estate in the spring.
1911-01-31
Henry W. Taft believes that Governor of the Philippines William H. Taft is a better politician than he would be a judge. Taft can influence more people as a statesman than if he were held within the limitations of the bench.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-01-16
New York State Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt reports to his wife Alice he has caused quit a stir with his speech against the Elevated Railroad Judges. There is a real fight ahead getting the debate from the table. He wishes he could be with Alice during her “nervous fits.”
1882-04-06
Theodore Roosevelt tells Brooks Adams he is pleased with his letter and he agrees with his attitude. He also agrees with what Adams has said about Taft on the bench.
1906-05-07
A list of lawyers and jurists selected by President Roosevelt to be delegates to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists in St. Louis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09
Further wage concessions are offered to end the Anthracite Coal Strike.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-08
An unknown writer pledges that his organization will not challenge the jurisdiction of any judge appointed by President Roosevelt and will accept the results from the day the miners return to work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-08
Theodore Roosevelt writes to his sister Anna about recent happenings in Washington. Roosevelt has begun to vary his civil service work, with his “chief ally” being Charles J. Bonaparte. He recently spent a few days in New York visiting friends. Their sister, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, is having difficulty with her in-laws.
1891-04-05
In a courtroom, a prisoner and a police officer stand before a judge. The prisoner is explaining to the judge why he assaulted another person. Caption: Judge — You admit you sand-bagged the man. Have you any excuse? / Prisoner — Yes, yer Honor. De sand-bag wuz me own property and J.P. Morgan says a man has de right ter do wot he pleases wit’ his own property.
In this cover cartoon, ostensibly a simple gag about a tramp, arrested for assault, grasping for a mitigating excuse by quoting J. P. Morgan, Puck cannot resist making a point about the negative aspects of the prominent mogul’s philosophy. “Logical extensions” should be questioned, Ehrhart stated via this cartoon.
In a country courtroom, a judge pronounces a verdict based on the testimony of a cowboy standing in front of the clerk’s desk. Caption: Rube Roundup — Yes, your Honor, I admit I shot the tenderfoot, but he asked me to play a game of “ping-pong” with him. / Lead Gulch Justice — Discriminatin’ sarcumstances. When he gets out o’ the hospittle I’ll see thet you get the justice of his commitment. Next case.
As happens with society’s fads and fancies, something of momentary obsession attracts the attention — and, usually, the wit and sarcasm — of cartoonists. Puck in 1902 just did not seem able to embrace the fad of that new indoor game, ping pong.
A schoolboy stands outside a “Public School.” On the left is Charles M. Schwab sitting atop a large money bag labeled “Manager of Steel Trust $1,000,000 yearly salary,” resting on a steel factory; and on the right is Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller holding a balance scale in one hand and a tiny money bag with the label “Chief Justice of U.S. $10,500 yearly salary,” sitting on a large book labeled “Law and Constitution.” Caption: “Shall I be wise and great, or rich and powerful?”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1901-06-12
President Roosevelt congratulates Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte for his speech at Chicago, which showed his fair enforcement of the law. His attackers use the press and their wealth to recruit powerful people, like college presidents and corrupt judges, to their side at the cost of the “plain people.” These attackers know that developments like the Hepburn Rate Law, the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and protections for workers have been effective against moneyed interests and criminals, but they are often lawyers or editors who answer to the corporations. The individual men to whom he refers are, however, merely puppets, and the true issue should be taken with the offenders who stand behind them and control enormous wealth. He and Bonaparte are not responsible for the economic panic, but are striving for the right “in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-23
President Roosevelt informs Speaker of the House Cannon about the proper precedence at the upcoming judiciary dinner. Under ordinary circumstances Roosevelt has heard that Attorney General William H. Moody would be glad to have Cannon take precedence over him. However, in the case of the judiciary dinner, Cannon cannot come ahead of the Justices of the Supreme Court because they are all the guests of honor and it would be a slight to the Supreme Court. In a postscript, Roosevelt explains proper precedence at other dinners he has held.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-02
Theodore Roosevelt has not received Judge Baldwin’s letter, but has seen extracts from it in newspapers and wishes to answer some of Baldwin’s accusations. The quotations Baldwin references were from incorrect transcriptions of Roosevelt’s speech, which Roosevelt corrects by summarizing the main points of his speech. Roosevelt does not believe that people, driven by desperation, cannot be bound to contracts that do not protect them in case of injury. Referencing George W. Alger’s Moral Overstrain, Roosevelt notes that many judges have taken the opposite position and, while he is sure they are legally sound, he believes they are nevertheless retrogressive in this view. As Baldwin agrees with these other judges in his own legal decisions, Roosevelt felt justified in saying he was not progressive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-10
President Roosevelt praises Judge George Gray’s work on the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission and agrees with his opinion on the composition of the arbitration conciliation committees.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-31
James Hervey Merwin’s letter will be given to Theodore Roosevelt upon Roosevelt’s return from a speaking tour. Responding to Merwin’s letter, Roosevelt’s secretary is distressed to hear another example of a judge misunderstanding the “trend of the times.” He believes that in a few years there will be unprecedented development of the nation’s water power.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-10-08
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary acknowledges J. B. Burtt’s letter, which arrived just as Roosevelt departed for a month’s tour in the West. The secretary agrees that J. B. Burtt is correct about the judges: those who have done their duty do not fear review of their decisions, while those who have failed to do what they ought have reason to fear.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-09-04