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President Roosevelt likes Assistant Attorney General James Clark McReynolds’s suggestion and asks Attorney General Bonaparte if he can wait until next week so they can review it together. Roosevelt is pleased with Alford Warriner Cooley’s letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-02
Attorney General Bonaparte has spoken to Assistant Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock about the political situation in Alabama, particularly regarding Assistant U.S. Attorney Oscar R. Hundley and an open judge seat. One faction supports Hundley’s nomination because it would be a blow to a second disgruntled faction which wants to take control of the Alabama delegation to the National Republican Convention. This faction wants Shelby S. Pleasants chosen. Bonaparte also reports on a conference with James Clark McReynolds about the Tobacco Trust. Bonaparte will be ready to brief President Roosevelt on this matter on Monday or Tuesday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-08
President Roosevelt is pleased with the conclusion Attorney General Bonaparte came to and appreciates his advice. Roosevelt suggests edits for Bonaparte’s letter and memorandum addressed to William H. Murray on the Oklahoma constitution matter. This exchange is likely related to objections Roosevelt had to segregationist and racist clauses in the new state constitution. In a post script, Roosevelt mentions an editorial that advises similar action to that which Bonaparte advised in connection with Assistant Attorney General James Clark McReynolds and tobacco antitrust cases.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-09
President Roosevelt informs Attorney General Bonaparte that he has directed the Department of Commerce and Labor to make the census of Oklahoma Territory that Bonaparte suggested. Roosevelt trusts Bonaparte’s judgement regarding a novel way to deal with the illegal tobacco trusts that had recently been proposed. Roosevelt would prefer to see the trust offenders put in prison, but thinks the seizure of businesses acquired against the law will be almost as effective.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-20
President Roosevelt is disappointed by Luke Lea’s letter sent to him by Silas McBee. While the president is pleased about what Lea says regarding Roosevelt’s attitude concerning “social equality,” the president has concerns about several other portions in Lea’s letter. Roosevelt disagrees with almost everything Lea says about politics in Tennessee. First, the president has tried to appoint good leaders, even if they have not been Republicans, something Lea thinks Roosevelt is not doing. Second, Lea believes men should be allowed to hold office no matter what their color, another policy Roosevelt has already been pursuing. Finally, Roosevelt says the campaign buttons in question had the opposite effect Lea mentioned. The president tells Abbott he can show Lea Roosevelt’s letter if he wishes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-15
Felix H. Levy sends Theodore Roosevelt various telegrams associated with the dissolution of the Tobacco Trust. He invited Hugh Campbell to attend the meeting with Roosevelt. Levy believes that the Circuit Court’s decision will allow the Tobacco Trust to “go unwhipped of justice” and feels it is the duty of every citizen interested in the country’s welfare to stand against “this wicked monopoly.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-09
Charles J. Bonaparte confirms some details of antitrust suits that occurred against Standard oil and the Tobacco Trust around the time he was Attorney General in Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. He asks Roosevelt if he knows anything of the details surrounding a proposed political organization that claims to stand for the principles of Republicanism, as he is somewhat skeptical of it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-26
Attorney General Bonaparte is not clear how seriously the attached letter should be taken, and as such cannot fully comment on it. The letter’s author, Benjamin B. Hampton, is an advertising agent unfamiliar with the laws related to the American Tobacco Company and has obtained his information primarily through communications with management of said trusts, but is certain that President Roosevelt has violated the law in his administration’s prosecution of the trusts and is acting on incorrect information. Bonaparte dismisses these allegations and does not believe Hampton to have any of the contextual or legal knowledge necessary to speak on the issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-11
Attorney General Bonaparte updates President Roosevelt on several matters before him. Assistant Attorney General Alford Warriner Cooley has been investigating the situation in Alabama, where Bonaparte deems it necessary for Roosevelt to “call down” several politicians who are complicating judicial confirmations and the workings of the attorney general’s office with concerns over political patronage. In Arkansas, Cooley reports that there are many well qualified men to replace Assistant District Attorney Ulysses S. Bratton, who has been involved in improper conduct in a case involving postal inspectors. Bonaparte has recently met with Census Director S. N. D. North and explains the problems he has encountered with obtaining an accurate census of Oklahoma Territory, resulting in problems with representation of citizens there, and makes recommendations to solve the problem. Bonaparte has requested summaries for the injunction regarding the picketing of the Allis Chalmers company in Wisconsin, and is appointing a special counsel to take charge of litigation against a prominent official there. Bonaparte is ready to move against the Tobacco Trust and James Buchanan Duke.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-18
William H. Moody informs President Roosevelt that he has received a message from U.S. Attorney Rourke indicating that the Great Northern Railroad is reporting violence and resistance in North Dakota. Railroad employees in North Dakota are being threatened with mob violence and locals refuse to offer food or shelter. Rourke requests U.S. deputy marshals to prevent disturbances.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-16
Kenneth D. Crews reviews John Milton Cooper’s dual biography The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. Crews highlights Wilson’s leadership of Princeton University, disagrees with Cooper’s emphasis on the year 1907 as pivotal for both presidents, and looks at their differing philosophies in the 1912 campaign. Crews also believes that Cooper’s characterization of Roosevelt as a warrior and Wilson as a priest is problematic, but he concludes that the book “is essential and excellent reading.”
The review features an excerpt from the book highlighted in bold, italicized text.
President Roosevelt would like Commissioner of Indian Affairs Leupp’s opinion of Assistant Attorney General James Clark McReynolds before deciding if the disagreement between the two should be referred to Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-15
The attached letter by Benjamin B. Hampton regarding investigation into the American Tobacco Company betrays Hampton’s poor grasp of the situation and the law in general. Attorney General Bonaparte in particular notes a section where Hampton suggests that President Roosevelt and founder of the American Tobacco Company James Buchanan Duke settle the matter privately as gentlemen rather than through the court system.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-11
Postmaster General Payne writes to William Loeb to inform President Roosevelt that Charles Henry Robb will be with Assistant Attorney General James Clark McReynolds for a meeting at Oyster Bay, New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-26