Your TR Source
Prospectus for the series The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, containing the front matter and sample pages. Theodore Roosevelt was asked by George Haven Putnam to write an introduction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09
George Haven Putnam is forwarding the first four volumes of Writings of Lincoln, and asks William Loeb whether a check of $100 would be appropriate for President Roosevelt’s introduction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-08
An article outlines the proceedings of the thanksgiving meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, celebrating the society’s centenary and the completion of a special fund in honor of the occasion. A portion recounting the speech by American Ambassador Whitelaw Reid which emphasized the close bond between Great Britain and the United States, and reading of a letter from President Roosevelt is highlighted.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-08
Theodore Roosevelt writes about the importance of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in American history. Original title of the article was “True American Ideals.”
1895-02
In a speech given in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Vice Presidential candidate Roosevelt emphasizes the successes of the current McKinley administration. He criticizes free silver and the platform of William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt asserts that a stable currency is the most important factor in sustaining the prosperity of the nation. Roosevelt also discusses the issue of trusts and industry, the ongoing war in the Philippines, and compares the current campaign to that of 1864 when Abraham Lincoln was re-elected.
1900-09-07
Article discusses historic political responses to first nomination of Abraham Lincoln for president. Article reprinted from “North American Review.”
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1912-10
Speech regarding Abraham Lincoln, the Whig party, the Republican party, Progressives, and California. A note by Nancy Harper Carston is enclosed, identifying Hiram Johnson as Theodore Roosevelt’s running mate in 1912.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1912
Article discusses Abraham Lincoln and the concept of righteousness. It is signed by the editor Eugene Thwing.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1912-01-02
Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, as Don Quixote, sits in a chair, reading, with a sword in raised right hand, with visions of former (and current) presidents, as well as some of the social ills that he hopes to correct. Caption: Our esteemed Vice-President takes his candidacy seriously.
Charles W. Fairbanks was a politician usually depicted by cartoonists (as by Keppler, here, in Puck) as icy and aloof. He was, in brief, the antithesis of a Theodore Roosevelt.
President Roosevelt sits at a desk pondering the Philippine and Central American issues. Papers on his desk read, “Philippine Policy,” “Panama Canal Treaty,” and “Mastery of the Hemisphere.” He imagines a statue of Abraham Lincoln, around which are vignettes showing Roosevelt denying the “Philippine Petition for Freedom,” using force against Colombia at the Panama Canal, menacing South America and Central America with a big club, and standing with arms folded across his chest, wearing imperial robes and a crown.
Abraham Lincoln was Theodore Roosevelt’s hero, a model in temperament, decisions, and wisdom. Roosevelt’s father was “the best man I ever knew” (the opening lines of his Autobiography) and Roosevelt wrote biographies of men he admired — Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Hart Benton and others in book chapters and magazine articles. But Lincoln was his political and moral hero; and of course Roosevelt was not alone with these sentiments.
President Roosevelt stands with his right hand on the left shoulder of an African American man, probably Booker T. Washington but not identified, and his left hand on a paper labeled “15th Amendment.” Behind them is a statue labeled “Lincoln – With Malice Toward None With Charity Toward All,” showing Abraham Lincoln standing at the top with freed African American slaves. Caption: President Roosevelt–Lincoln emancipated you, the people gave you citizenship and I’ll protect your rights.
The controversy that clearly inspired this cartoon by Keppler was the famous Indianola, Mississippi, post office matter. In the weeks preceding this cartoon’s publication, Minnie Cox, the black postmistress of Indianola (having been appointed by President Harrison and again by President McKinley), was forced from her office by white Democrats of her town under threats including lynching. President Roosevelt exercised his prerogative as president and ordered her reinstated, and the post office closed until she returned to her post. Residents were obliged to travel 30 miles to transact postal business. Roosevelt had offended Southern whites by inviting Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House shortly after his assuming office. President Cleveland had invited the pioneer crusader for Black rights, Frederick Douglass, to the Executive Mansion amid even greater outcries, perhaps because Mrs. Douglass was white. It is interesting that Keppler here shows Roosevelt assuring a man (likely an unlabeled Booker T. Washington) and not Postmistress Minnie Cox herself. There is no record of a public outreach to Booker T. Washington during this affair; however, he had become a political adviser publicly identified with Roosevelt, to whom he often turned for matters of policies and patronage.
An oversized Abraham Lincoln, holding an ax, addresses a diminutive Rear Admiral William T. Sampson regarding the case of Gunner Charles Morgan’s efforts toward advancement in rank in the U.S. Navy. Caption: “Don’t you think, Sonny, that your ‘five o’clock tea’ rule might shut out some good men?”
The background of this cartoon was a colorful clash, coming to a head on the floor of the United States Senate, when Senator William V. Allen of Nebraska upbraided Admiral William T. Sampson, who had recommended against the promotion of a Naval Gunner, Charles Morgan. Sampson granted that Morgan had technical and professional ability, but that warrant officers should not advance to ensign grades because they had not enjoyed social advantages perviously. He urged the Secretary of the Navy to deny such promotions. Senator Allen’s Senate speech, represented in the cartoon in milder terms by the figure of Abraham Lincoln, used terms of approbation like “snobbish aristocracy,” “disgrace,” “conceited ass,” “a class of bejeweled aristocrats,” and “arrant coward”… all directed at the Naval hero Sampson. The “tea” reference in the cartoon suggests that men in Sampson’s class were effete.
Black and white negative of the Roosevelt head being carved with scaffolding, Jefferson and Lincoln both visible.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Unknown
Black and white negative of the Roosevelt head under construction with scaffolding and tarp covering the face. Photograph taken in the winter of 1938-1939.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
1938-1939
Black and white negative of Mount Rushmore from a distance with the head of Theodore Roosevelt under construction. Photo taken from Horsethief Road.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
1940
Black and white print of Mount Rushmore lit at night with the Roosevelt head under construction.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
1938
Color photo of the Roosevelt head with American flag covering face during the 50th anniversary dedication of the Roosevelt head.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
1989-07-02
A black and white photo of a bronze bust of Theodore Roosevelt in foreground and plaster cast of Abraham Lincoln in back, both sculpted by Gutzon Borglum.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Unknown
Black and white print of the four heads on Mount Rushmore with Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln under early construction. Text below discusses the national memorial.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Unknown
Black and white negative of construction on the Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln heads.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Unknown