Libel and slander

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethel Roosevelt Derby

Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s letter from Rome, Italy, has arrived and her parents read it to each other. Theodore Roosevelt understands her desire to avoid invitations and have some quiet time on a honeymoon. He envies Ethel’s trip to Italy and agrees that her social settlement work will be helpful to Richard Derby’s career. Roosevelt’s libel suit begins soon and he is prepared to lose. The area around Sagamore Hill is changing rapidly and the Roosevelts have had many days to themselves.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1913-05-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethel Roosevelt Derby

The libel suit is over and Theodore Roosevelt won. The trial was in Marquette, Michigan, and Roosevelt stayed with George Shiras. Roosevelt’s witnesses were “good fellows” and he was touched by their devotional zeal. The trial lasted six days and the evidence was so overwhelming that George A. Newett retracted his charge and Roosevelt requested no damages. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has been visiting Archie and Quentin Roosevelt at Groton. Kermit Roosevelt has joined a “big contracting company in South Brazil.” In a postscript, Roosevelt has arrived home and received Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s telegram. He knows that Richard Derby will fit in with the family.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1913-06-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethel Roosevelt Derby

Theodore Roosevelt was pleased to receive Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s letters and wants Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to rest at Sagamore Hill for at least ten days before traveling to Syracuse, New York. Roosevelt is unsure of the outcome of the libel suit. The judge is very legalistic and Roosevelt finds his technical rulings incomprehensible. However, he believes that his case has been made “pretty clear.” The Wilkinsons are great hosts and admire the Derbys.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1915-05-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethel Roosevelt Derby

Theodore Roosevelt was pleased to hear about Surgeon-Lieutenant Derby. He hopes his daughter approves of his comments on the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, as he finds it difficult to restrain himself regarding President Wilson and Secretary of State Bryan. In the libel suit, the judge has struck most of Roosevelt’s important evidence. He does not understand “so wicked a ruling” and cannot see a way to win. He is looking forward to seeing Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt soon.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1915-05-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to A. H. Harshard

Theodore Roosevelt denies purchasing land to the “exclusion of actual settlers.” The minister who made this statement is lying and Roosevelt would like to see him defrocked and “put in stripes.”

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1917-04-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles

Theodore Roosevelt describes the end of a lawsuit in which an editor who libeled him eventually gave in. Roosevelt believes he succeeded in putting the matter behind him and he is pleased with the way his friends supported him through the ordeal.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1913-05-31

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Anna Roosevelt Cowles for the holiday gift of a rocking chair and hopes she likes the zebra skin he sent. Roosevelt is happy he was able to travel to Farmington to visit her and her family before she goes further south. Governor Baldwin has decided not to proceed with bringing his libel suit against Roosevelt, even though Roosevelt refused to retract or apologize.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-01-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles

Theodore Roosevelt offers advice to Anna Roosevelt Cowles about opportunities for her son, William Sheffield Cowles, Jr., to learn to ride horses. Roosevelt suggests that the Cowles’ upcoming trip to Europe provides an ideal chance to arrange riding lessons at reputable riding schools in major cities, including Paris, Berlin, and Rome. He is knowledgeable about the subject and outlines goals for Cowles, Jr., recommending that riding be approached with the discipline required of any other study. Finally, Roosevelt jokes that Will and Joe were probably amused by the quiet dissolution of Governor Baldwin’s proposed libel suit.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-01-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Josiah H. Benton

President Roosevelt regrets that Josiah H. Benton did not receive his thank you note for the book.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1908-04-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Columbia and the department of music

A letter to the editor written by Nicholas Murray Butler in the New York Times, concerning the alleged resignation of Edward MacDowell, Professor of Music at Columbia University. He points out that the Evening Post printed a story that it knew was untrue in connection with Professor MacDowell’s resignation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-08

Creator(s)

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

The story that should have been told in Sing Sing

The newspaper article attacks the integrity of Grove L. Johnson, a former Representative from California. Johnson attacked William Randolph Hearst on the floor of Congress in an 1897 speech. The article claims that Johnson is only out of prison for previous crimes because the statute of limitations passed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-09

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from John Augustine McCall to Theodore Roosevelt

John McCall informs President Roosevelt that James H. McIntosh, General Solicitor of New York Life Insurance Company, has permission to bring libel charges against the Washington paper due to an article which McIntosh will be speaking to President Roosevelt about.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-23

Creator(s)

McCall, John A. (John Augustine), 1849-1906

Letter from Tams Bixby and Thomas B. Needles to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

Tams Bixby and Thomas B. Needles write to Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to request an immediate investigation relating to the integrity of their work, which is being challenged by media and others.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-26

Creator(s)

Bixby, Tams, 1855-1922; Needles, Thomas B. (Thomas Berry), 1835-1914

Letter from Oswald Garrison Villard to Theodore Roosevelt

Oswald Garrison Villard writes to President Roosevelt to submit a list of disparaging remarks regarding the service of General Leonard Wood. He encloses some clippings he believes Roosevelt will find interesting.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-22

Creator(s)

Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949

Telegram from Henry C. Payne to Theodore Roosevelt

Postmaster General Payne writes to President Roosevelt to advise him to give an authoritative denial to the New York Sun about a mock celebration on July 3, 1903. If Roosevelt wants to contact Payne, he can be reached in care of James Sullivan Clarkson.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-15

Creator(s)

Payne, Henry C. (Henry Clay), 1843-1904

Letter from R. A. Alger to William Loeb

R. A. Alger writes to William Loeb demanding that Secretary of War Root investigate Harper’s Weekly’s article criticizing the former Secretary of War’s administration under President McKinley. Alger requests the article is brought to President Roosevelt’s attention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-16

Creator(s)

Alger, R. A. (Russell Alexander), 1836-1907

Pretty story, but untrue

Though President Roosevelt has been accused of withholding Grover Cleveland’s name as chairman of the Coal Strike Arbitration Board, that is a libelous accusation not supported by the facts. In fact, Roosevelt greatly desired Cleveland’s involvement, for he believed that the cooperation of the current President and an ex-President would have a weighty impact on the citizenry, especially since the two leaders would be “separated in political faith but united in one effort for the common welfare.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06-24

Creator(s)

Leupp, Francis E. (Francis Ellington), 1849-1918

Letter from Elihu Root to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Root encloses a copy of comments by Governor General of the Philippines William H. Taft regarding the complaints made by B. F. Mellor and Bert. R. Dorr in relation to the libel and sedition cases in the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-18

Creator(s)

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

Letter from William H. Taft to Elihu Root

Governor Taft explains the reasons for his support of the prosecution of the Freedom newspaper for libel under the libel and sedition laws of the Philippines. He also argues for the fairness of the laws and the independence of the judiciary in the Philippines. Taft suggests that legal appeals are unlikely to uncover any problems with the rulings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-23

Creator(s)

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Letter from George F. Becker to Theodore Roosevelt

George F. Becker writes to explain his wife’s connection to a rumor in the papers in which she stated that Mr. Cleveland was no more likely to beat his wife than President Roosevelt would be.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-23

Creator(s)

Becker, George F. (George Ferdinand), 1847-1919