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John M. Leach asks Theodore Roosevelt to confirm that if William H. Taft is nominated, he will lose the presidency to the democrats. Leach does not understand why Taft would not step aside, and urges Roosevelt to take up the leadership of the Republican party and run for president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-14
John P. Grant knows Theodore Roosevelt appreciates large families, so he sends him an article and mentions he himself is one of thirteen children. He says his oldest brother J. A. Grant is involved in Canadian politics and is strongly conservative. John P. Grant will be sailing to Europe soon and would like to visit Roosevelt if possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-13
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Reid gives President Roosevelt an update on international politics in Europe, especially events in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia. He assures the President that the London Morning Post has a good opinion of him, and proposes a solution to the problem of one of its correspondents writing unfairly on the Roosevelt administration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-17
Vice President Fairbanks informs President Roosevelt that he has contacted Prime Minister Laurier about reconvening the Joint High Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-29
Secretary of State Hay recounts the difficulties associated with the ongoing Alaska boundary dispute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-17
President Roosevelt is glad that Ambassador Reid has made clear to the English people that William Lyon Mackenzie King was sent from Canada on their own initiative, and without prompting from the United States. Roosevelt has been in contact with Sir Wilfred Laurier because he wants the English-speaking world to have good relations with Japan, and presenting a united front that aims toward excluding Japanese laborers, while hopefully refraining from insulting Japan, is not possible without communicating.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-30
President Roosevelt asks Arthur Hamilton Lee to thank Arthur James Balfour for the book that he sent. Roosevelt has recently received a letter from Sir Wilfred Laurier, which he thinks expressed the attitude that Canada, Australia, and the United States should take towards Japan. Just as Japan does not wish to be inundated by English-speakers, Roosevelt believes English speaking countries are within their rights to protect themselves from an influx of immigrants from Asia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-07
Responding to a letter from Arthur Hamilton Lee, President Roosevelt notes that A. Maurice Low was blacklisted from access to the White House or other governmental agencies after he printed slanderous material. Roosevelt is surprised that Fabian Ware keeps Low on the staff of London’s Morning Post. Roosevelt agrees to have Fülöp László paint his portrait. Roosevelt also informs Lee about international relations between the United States and Canada, particularly with reference to immigration from Japan. He recounts discussions he has had with William Lyon Mackenzie King on this subject, and what the position of the United States is on the matter–namely, that working class Japanese immigrants should be kept out of English-speaking countries, and that working class immigrants from English-speaking countries should be kept out of Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-02
President Roosevelt has received Representative Bates’s recent letter but cannot comply with his request to give a speech because it would make redundant his obligation to give an address at the dedication of the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio. Roosevelt will send Bates’s request to Secretary of State Root but cannot speculate on his reaction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-28
President Roosevelt encloses for Secretary of State Root a petition for the negotiation of a treaty preserving Niagara Falls. Roosevelt is unsure whether a treaty is the right way to go about this.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-14
President Roosevelt disagrees with Senator Lodge and does not believe vice president-elect Charles W. Fairbanks’s report should be published, as he does not want the United States to be triumphant about putting the Canadians “in a hole.” Roosevelt asks Lodge to speak with Massachusetts Senator Winthrop Murray Crane about the issue. The president expresses greater concern about the arbitration treaties. He believes the suggested amendments make the treaties a sham, and he does not want to pretend to fulfill campaign promises by passing arbitration treaties that are not what he—or the Republican Party—intended.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-06
Secretary of War Root, Senator Lodge, and Senator Turner have been appointed as American representatives to the tribunal that will determine the boundary between Alaska and Canada. Roosevelt instructs the representatives to impartially judge the questions that come before them and then explains the American interpretation of the boundary. This copy of the letter was sent to Root.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-03-25
Wharton Barker sees Theodore Roosevelt as a leading voice in the Canadian trade reciprocity debate, and inquires into Roosevelt’s thoughts on a pamphlet discussing a commercial union between the United States and Canada. He suspects that he has “given the question more consideration, [he is] sure, than any other citizen in our country has given it.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-29
Ida B. Hiltz informs Theodore Roosevelt that he was elected as an Honorary Vice President of the American Association for the Conservation of Vision by its board of managers, alongside several other notable figures. Hiltz urges him to lend his name to the organization, which works toward the prevention of blindness.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-25
Whitelaw Reid sends President Roosevelt an article from The Observer that provides an alternate view of King Edward VII of England’s actions regarding the Cabinet, but notes that the paper is more like American “yellow” press. Reid offers his views on gossip that has re-emerged about the new Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, and updates Roosevelt on the actions of William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-14
Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada, speaks to the Women’s Canadian Club about raising the funds to erect a “colossal statue of the Angel of Welcome and Peace” on the Plains of Abraham to welcome emigrants to Canada. This should be done to celebrate the tricentennial of the founding of Quebec. Describing Canada’s history, Grey compares the United States’ dedication to erecting patriotic monuments and preserving its past to the lack of enthusiasm in doing the same in Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-28
Governor General of Canada Earl Grey reports the success of Quebec’s tercentenary celebrations to President Roosevelt. He thanks Roosevelt for sending Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks as representative of the United States and his sister Anna Roosevelt Cowles as his personal representative. Grey comments on the lessons of nationalism found in J. Ellis Barker’s history of the Netherlands. Additionally, Grey is having a duplicate of a historical chair made for Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-11
Ambassador Reid provides President Roosevelt with a variety of pieces of information regarding the status of English politics. Douglas Robinson and Corinne Roosevelt Robinson met with many different members of the royal family. Reid recounts a scandal regarding Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman, who nine months after his wife died, was engaged to her caretaker. Regardless, Campbell-Bannerman has surprised most in Parliament at his effectiveness as a leader. Reid is disappointed that Robert Bond and the Liberal Party agreed to govern the colony of Newfoundland. The U. S. government is not pleased with this agreement, and many of the other premiers disagree with the Liberal Party’s policy. In particular, Alfred Deakin, the premier of Australia, is an outspoken opponent to this policy. Additionally, many of the colonies want preference in the British markets, and may sacrifice free trade agreements to achieve this status. Next, H. H. Asquith proposed an income tax for Great Britain that will introduce a new, objectionable system of old age pensions. R. B. Haldane proposed a permanent standing army in the British colonies. Augustine Burrill’s proposed Irish Council Bill is becoming unpopular and he does not have many successes as a politician. Overall, the Liberal Party is disappointed by Campbell-Bannerman’s performance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-24
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Reid comments on Winston Churchill’s recent promotion to the Privy Council, noting that it acknowledges his rise in the party without giving him a seat in the Cabinet. Churchill is still not well liked. Reid relays the debates on Horace Curzon Plunkett in the House of Commons and reports on English newspaper coverage of Roosevelt’s speech at Jamestown. He comments on unease over labor relations in France, the planning of an event after the Colonial Premiers’ Conference, opposition to a proposed move for a limitation of armaments at the Hague Conference, and Lewis Harcourt’s proposed English Land Bill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-01
Francis V. Greene of Niagara Lockport and Ontario Power Company lets President Roosevelt know that he approves the passing of a bill regulating power companies and power production. The bill that Greene refers to concerns the use of Niagara Falls for water power and also concerns the preservation and conservation of the waterfalls. Greene mentions that he met with Canadian officials to discuss this matter and found out that Niagara Falls was not the main focus of the Canadians. Instead, they were more concerned with other bodies of water.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-05