MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964

General Wood informs President Roosevelt about the situation in the Philippines, reporting that besides the areas of Leyte and Samor, the situation is relatively quiet. He recommends that America keep the islands garrisoned to prevent agitators from upsetting order. Wood opines that the Filipinos are far behind Cuba on the path to deserving independence, but praises the Spanish for having evangelized and civilized the Philippines. Wood recommends the recovering Lieutenant Gordon Johnston for the Medal of Honor. Wood plans to send his family home to the United States for the children’s schooling, and after the Filipino elections hopes himself to visit France and Germany to observe military maneuvers and methods there. Wood hopes afterwards to be appointed to New York where he can work on seacoast defense, but is willing to return to the Philippines if requested. Wood also discusses his opinions on the results of the Russo-Japanese War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-18

Creator(s)

Wood, Leonard, 1860-1927

Secretary of War Taft is preparing to board a train to travel to Havana and he is sending President Roosevelt several legal opinions regarding his options in issuing an executive order to establish a military government in Cuba. Taft reports that Roosevelt’s letter to Cuban Representative Carlos Manuel de Cespedes y Quesada polled strongly with the Cubans and Robert Bacon is carrying a copy of the president’s proclamation to arm the Cuban insurgents, though Taft thinks they should hold off in announcing it. Meanwhile, Joseph Bucklin Bishop is taking charge at the Isthmus and working on the president’s visit to the canal site. Taft admits he is not completely clear on the situation in Cuba but he knows who he is dealing with and every event will be met promptly. If they have to send in the army, he suggests putting Douglas MacArthur in charge and that he start recalling other staff officers. He knows this goes against the conventional thinking that MacArthur should serve as Chief of Staff to General James Franklin Bell, but this suggestion is only made against a remote possibility.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-16

Creator(s)

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

Seven books, including two memoirs, are examined in six review essays in this edition of the “Book Notes” section. Michael L. Manson reviews two books on Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 scientific expedition to Brazil; one penned by Roosevelt and the other by Joseph R. Ornig. Manson praises the forewords to both books written by Tweed Roosevelt, and he finds Ornig’s book provides a detailed look at the expedition and the cast of characters besides Roosevelt who made it successful. Stacy A. Cordery notes that journalist Joseph Alsop’s memoirs deal mostly with the major events and figures of the mid to late twentieth century, and she reveals Alsop’s opinions of various senators, presidents, and generals.

Richard P. Harmon faults Peter Collier’s The Roosevelts: An American Saga for focusing too much on the private lives of the two Roosevelt families, and he says that many of Collier’s assertions are not backed by evidence and that the book relies too much on a psychohistory approach. James Summerville asserts that H. Paul Jeffers’s look at Roosevelt’s tenure as Police Commissioner of New York City, Commissioner Roosevelt, disappoints and that readers should turn to Jay S. Berman’s study or to coverage of this period of Roosevelt’s career in biographies. John A. Gable provides a positive and short review of a short book, William H. Harbaugh’s fifty page history of Pine Knot, which Gable says is written with “charm and style.” Robert D. Dalziel, President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), reviews the memoirs of Hamilton Fish, a winner of the TRA’s Distinguished Service Medal. Dalziel says that Fish’s opinions are straightforward and blunt like their author.

Two photographs appear in the section: one shows three members of the Rio Roosevelt Expedition of 1992 and the other dignitaries of the Dutch government at the Roosevelt Study Center in the Netherlands.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Obituary of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the first born and last to die of Theodore Roosevelt’s children. The obituary details her celebrity status during her father’s presidency, her wedding to Congressman Nicholas Longworth, and his career in the House of Representatives. The notice also examines Alice Longworth’s decades long position as a Washington, D.C. power broker and socialite, and it notes her friendship with presidents, journalists, and celebrities. Her work in compiling an anthology of American poetry, her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and her efforts to memorialize her father are also covered. The obituary notes her love of reading, acerbic wit, and sense of humor.

Four photographs accompany the article: the first shows Alice in 1904; the second shows the entire Roosevelt family, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt and all of their children and Alice’s husband, Nicholas Longworth, at the White House; the third shows Alice with her sister Ethel Derby and her brother Archibald Roosevelt at Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C.; and the fourth is of Alice late in life.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt birthplace committees is included in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Sheet music for “Hold Firm the American Way,” a patriotic song. The cover features vignettes and quotes from several presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt. The back page features a photograph of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the “American pledge.”

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1952

Creator(s)

Cunningham, Clarence E.