Laffan, William M.

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Allen White

President Roosevelt understands that the clipping William Allen White sent is funny and meant in jest, but he takes exception to the implication that, along with William Jennings Bryan, Oklahoma governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, and William Randolph Hearst, he is also a liar and a rascal. Roosevelt writes that certain “conscienceless and unscrupulous” journalists who imply that there is no difference between honest and dishonest men, are worse for public life than the worst businessmen and politicians. He believes that White is a decent journalist who does not want to confuse the public and urges him not to publish such jokes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Reuterdahl

President Roosevelt is interested in what Henry Reuterdahl has to say about the attitudes of the Sun, Herald, and Post towards the navy, and discusses his opinion on the stances of each paper. In a postscript, Roosevelt says he has received the painting of the Great White Fleet Reuterdahl has sent and is delighted with it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit that Secretary of War William H. Taft’s victory in the presidential election seems assured, despite the American Protective Association’s movement among Protestants who are against Taft because he is Unitarian. Roosevelt also lashes out at some of the newspaper men he says spread lies. He closes by saying he was interested in Kermit’s letter to Mother.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lawrence F. Abbott

President Roosevelt thanks Lawrence F. Abbott for sending him proofs of the articles that he has written. He will send Abbott two more articles to review. Roosevelt would appreciate if the offices of The Outlook would handle his mail while he is on safari in Africa, as he does not wish to answer letters while he is there. Roosevelt is glad that Abbott likes what he wrote about Delavan Smith, William MacKay Laffan, “and company,” and comments on the strangeness of journalism and colleges of journalism.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt acknowledges receipt of William Dudley Foulke’s letter and does not have anything to add to it. Roosevelt announces the classification of all fourth class post offices in Eastern and North Central states, as he thinks it would be good to get it done as soon as possible. He also returns a letter regarding Delevan Smith, and asks that Foulke wait to publish it until after his message goes to Congress.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt believes the statements made by Delevan Smith in the Indianapolis News are patently false, and that refuting them will bring them undue attention. Because William Dudley Foulke insists that a reply be made, however, Roosevelt writes to refute the charges of a scandal involved in the purchasing of the Panama Canal zone from France. Roosevelt particularly refutes the charge that the affair has not been transparent, as documents related to it have been freely available. Roosevelt has refuted other false charges leveled against his administration, but the newspapers continue to print them, so he doubts whether his denial will be effective.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Watson Gilder

President Roosevelt writes Richard Watson Gilder a lengthy refutation of an article in the Evening Post in which William Garrott Brown misconstrues his actions in the Republican Party. Namely, Brown accuses Roosevelt of neglecting Republicans in the South and of doing a poor job of making nominations to local offices and positions. Roosevelt asserts that where the Republican party is not strong in the South, he has had to appoint Democrats who were quality men, rather than incapable men who are Republicans. Where he believes the party has a chance to compete with Democrats, he does all he can to support it. Roosevelt also writes that he did not use his influence on officers to get William H. Taft the nomination, but rather Taft was nominated because Roosevelt’s policies were popular, and Taft is the man who will continue those policies. Roosevelt believes that Brown is either ignorant or willfully ignorant of a number of facts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-16

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lawrence F. Abbott

President Roosevelt assures Lawrence F. Abbott that he was not at all annoyed by the New York papers’ stories about The Outlook‘s alleged association with Standard Oil. Abbott’s father, Lyman Abbott, explained to Roosevelt last summer that James Stillman, who is associated with Standard Oil, had helped him purchase The Outlook from Henry Ward Beecher thirty years ago. He believes the story originated in The Sun, and expresses his distaste for William MacKay Laffan, that paper’s editor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

While President Roosevelt agrees with William Dudley Foulke that Delavan Smith of the Indianapolis News is bad, the publishers of the New York Sun, New York World, and Evening Post are just as bad or worse. Certain newspapers publish so many lies about Roosevelt that if he were to respond to all of them, he would spend most of his time refuting lies. Roosevelt outlines several lies that have been printed about him in various papers, and invites Foulke to visit and look over the papers that prove them false. Roosevelt would like to speak with Foulke and Lucius B. Swift about whether or not he should respond to Smith and other publishers like him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt does not think there is any use in publishing the letter. However, he hopes that William Dudley Foulke and Lucius B. Swift will visit after the election to discuss if it is worth writing a letter to settle the matter. In such a letter, Roosevelt would take on all of the newspaper editors he takes issue with at once.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt believes that the political situation has changed in William H. Taft’s favor since he last wrote Kermit Roosevelt. He does not understand the movement of the “ultra Protestant bigots” of the American Protective Association against Taft. He thinks that it may cost them Ohio and Indiana. Roosevelt also complains about various newspaper men from the New York Sun, New York Evening Post, Indianapolis News, and others.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt responds to William Dudley Foulke’s request to call the Indianapolis News to account for the falsehoods they are spreading. Roosevelt explains that he does not believe it will do any good, because the paper is simply on par with other papers like the New York World, New York Sun, and New York Evening Post. Such papers will simply repeat their falsehoods and spread new ones if they are corrected. Roosevelt believes that it is useless to deny false stories in the news because papers do not attempt to prove their assertions. In particular, Roosevelt mentions false stories about his raising campaign funds and the purchase of the Panama Canal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt explains to William Dudley Foulke that he does not think that it is worth responding to the three false editorials in the Indianapolis News. This paper, under editor Delavan Smith, is just as bad as the New York Sun and New York Evening Post. Roosevelt refutes these editorials, but does not think it is worth making public; if he were to deny all of the falsehoods and stories based on rumors that were printed about him, it would take him all day, every day.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Newbold T. Lawrence

President Roosevelt thanks Newbold T. Lawrence and the board of governors of the Rockaway Hunting Club for their action. Until Lawrence contacted him, Roosevelt did not know that the New York Sun had made an attack on him or the club. However, the newspaper has become so disreputable that such an attack could be expected, and it should not surprise or discomfit him or anyone associated with the club.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt agrees with Kermit Roosevelt about the book Martin Chuzzlewit, and criticizes Charles Dickens’s character and inability to see the positive traits of America and Americans, which led to such great men as Abraham Lincoln. He concedes, however, that some of the negative characteristics that Dickens’s characters portray do persist in some Americans, including Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, William Randolph Hearst, and John D. Rockefeller. Roosevelt enjoyed a recent visit from Kermit’s older brother, Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William E. Chandler

President Roosevelt expects that certain plutocrats will support his reelection bid, but he tells Senator William E. Chandler that he has done nothing to solicit their support, nor will he “vary one hair’s breadth” in his political positions to please them. Roosevelt suspects that he will lose some plutocrats over the Northern Securities Case and the Anthracite Coal Strike, just as he will lose some labor agitators over his open shop position in the Miller case, but he believes that “decent men” from both sides will support him. Roosevelt hopes that the “usual snarl over the governorship” will not cost him the state of New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward G. Riggs

President Roosevelt sends reporter Edward G. Riggs a letter that was sent to him by former President Grover Cleveland about the Anthracite Coal Strike. Roosevelt emphasizes Cleveland’s endorsement of a pamphlet that urged Roosevelt to confiscate the operators’ property.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission Bishop thanks President Roosevelt for his constant support, and says that if Roosevelt is satisfied with his work, then he does not mind criticism from other parties. Work on the Panama Canal is proceeding smoothly and at a faster pace than was initially thought possible, for which he gives credit to Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission George W. Goethals. Bishop blames irresponsible reporting for reopening an argument about whether a canal with locks or a sea level canal is better, but believes the upcoming visit by President-Elect William H. Taft should help settle the debate. Bishop approves of Roosevelt’s denunciations of journalists William MacKay Laffand and Joseph Pulitzer, and says that it is important to fight against “lying and debased journalism.” Bishop’s wife, Harriet Hartwell Bishop, appreciates being remembered by Roosevelt, and he praises her strength in remaining sanguine during their long residency away from the United States. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-26

Creator(s)

Bishop, Joseph Bucklin, 1847-1928

Letter from Edward Page Mitchell to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward Page Mitchell, editor of The Sun, notifies President Roosevelt that he has received the letter, read the enclosure, and forwarded it to William M. Laffan per Roosevelt’s instructions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-16

Creator(s)

Mitchell, Edward Page, 1852-1927

Letter from Philippe Bunau-Varilla to Theodore Roosevelt

Philipe Bunau-Varilla sends a clipping to President Roosevelt to inform him that somebody leaked the details of a private meeting with Roosevelt. Bunau-Varilla also urges Roosevelt to meet with William MacKay Laffan on the subject of the Panama Canal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-23

Creator(s)

Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, 1859-1940