Your TR Source
President Roosevelt congratulates Thomas K. Niedringhaus on being the first Republican Senator from Missouri since the end of the reconstruction period.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-09
President Roosevelt tells James Ford Rhodes he has just finished reading his fifth volume, which has tied in well with Roosevelt’s other readings of Thomas Babington Macaulay’s History and Abraham Lincoln’s letters and speeches. Although the president agrees with Rhodes that the right is not all on one side and the wrong is not all on the other in quarrels, Roosevelt thinks the American Civil War is the exception, as he believes “the right was exclusively with the Union people.” Roosevelt talks about his plans to build up the Navy to avoid war, believing the Panama Canal will help. Finally, he discusses problems he has been having with the tariff and Southern states. He disagrees with Rhodes that the South is not trying to reinstate slavery, as there is peonage in three states right now. Roosevelt closes by mentioning how his opponents helped him during the election campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-29
President Roosevelt tells Lyman Abbott that his editorial was beneficial, showing him newspaper clippings from Mississippi as evidence. Additionally, Roosevelt wishes that Abbott could have heard some Missourians discuss the Missouri senatorial situation, as it would have helped him understand why Roosevelt did not interfere in Delaware. Roosevelt asks Abbott to tell the “gentleman whose letter you showed me” to visit him Washington, D.C., and says he will be happy to explain the entire situation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-21
President Roosevelt shares his feelings about the recent election with Senator Crane, mentioning that he was pleased to have carried Missouri, but was saddened to learn of Massachusetts Governor John Lewis Bates’s defeat. Having secured victory, Roosevelt notes that he followed the decision he and Crane had come to by announcing immediately he would not be running for a third term. The president explains to Senator Crane he has written to Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge about the Newfoundland reciprocity treaty, which Roosevelt believes needs an honest effort even though he does not think the United States will succeed with Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-12
President Roosevelt discusses several matters with Senator Lodge, including his correspondence with Massachusetts Representative Augustus Peabody Gardner, his amazement at carrying Missouri in the presidential election, the Newfoundland reciprocity treaty, and visits with mutual friends. The president hopes to see Lodge and his wife, Anna Cabot Mills Davis Lodge, soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-12
President Roosevelt thanks Graeme Stewart both for his letter of congratulations and for everything he did during the campaign. The president is delighted about Illinois and Missouri and says, “Think of our carrying every ward in the city of Chicago!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-12
President Roosevelt is shocked by the result of the election, particularly in carrying Missouri. Even though the campaign had been extremely dishonest in Roosevelt’s opinion, he still won by “such a landslide.” Roosevelt tells Major General Wood that he realizes he will have difficulties during the next four years, but at least there will not be “criminal blunders” regarding the Philippines, the Army and Navy, or foreign policy in general.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-14
President Roosevelt writes an “egotistic letter” to Anna Cabot Mills Lodge about the election. He was overwhelmed by the election results, especially because they demonstrated the impotence of the Evening Post and other New York journalists Roosevelt dislikes. He intends to spend his next four years in appreciation to the American people. The president was, however, disappointed by the defeat of Governor John Lewis Bates in Massachusetts and Senator Francis Marion Cockrell in Missouri, whom he considers the best Senator in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt himself was prepared for defeat during the past two weeks, which were quite trying for him and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-10
President Roosevelt is pleasantly surprised about the presidential election results, but is dumbfounded about Massachusetts Governor John Lewis Bates’s loss. Roosevelt is glad Lodge approved of his timing announcing he would not run for a third term in office. He looks forward to speaking with Lodge in person soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-10
President Roosevelt congratulates Assistant Treasurer Akins and other Republicans in Missouri for their work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-11
President Roosevelt thanks Adolphus Busch for his telegram and says Busch has contributed more than anyone else to the result in Missouri.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-10
President Roosevelt thanks Robert J. Collier for his letter. He quotes a portion of a letter from Albert Shaw that clears up some of the situation surrounding the controversy with the Missouri election. Roosevelt also comments on the way that Mr. Adams may have used the supposed comments, dismissing him as dishonest, using Adams’s former comments on Delaware appointments as an example where he was completely inaccurate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-31
President Roosevelt insists that he never said that he believes Joseph Wingate Folk to be a better man than Cyrus Packard Walbridge, the candidates for Governor of Missouri. Roosevelt fully supports Walbridge as the Republican candidate, but still believes Folk has done some political good in the past. Because of this, Roosevelt thinks Folk’s support of Democratic presidential candidate Alton B. Parker and Democratic candidate for Governor of New York D. Cady Herrick either a “grave error or a grave wrong,” as Roosevelt does not have a high opinion of either of them. Roosevelt believes it would be absurd to expect a Democrat to support a Republican in any election, or vice versa. Finally, Roosevelt expresses his belief that a Presidential election is ultimately of far more consequence than a gubernatorial election, and lists the accomplishments of his administration over the last three years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
President Roosevelt asks Albert Shaw to send him a copy of the letter he sent to Missouri, which has possibly been misconstrued by Collier’s as saying Roosevelt believed Cyrus Packard Walbridge to be a better man than Joseph Wingate Folk.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
President Roosevelt says he has received a letter from Dr. Albert Shaw explaining that he never said Roosevelt believes Cyrus Packard Walbridge to be a better candidate for Governor of Missouri than Joseph Wingate Folk. Roosevelt reproduces a part of Shaw’s letter for Robert J. Collier, which explains the situation. Roosevelt emphasizes that while Collier may show this correspondence to Norman Hapgood and Lincoln Steffens, he does not want the matter discussed in public and cannot understand how anyone could have misunderstood him in the first place.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
After receiving letters from Albert Shaw and his secretary, President Roosevelt believes the misunderstanding about his statements regarding Missouri gubernatorial candidates Joseph Wingate Folk and Cyrus Packard Walbridge was due to a “mere matter of terminology.” Ultimately, Roosevelt is tired of answering “all kinds of people on all kinds of subjects about which they really have no right to information.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-27
President Roosevelt writes to Thomas J. Akins about a letter written by Dr. Albert Shaw. Roosevelt says that Shaw misremembered a phrase that Roosevelt used regarding Joseph Wingate Folk and Cyrus Packard Walbridge. Roosevelt did not say “Walbridge is a better man than Folk,” or make any comparisons between the two. He asks that if Shaw’s letter is in the possession of any Republican committeemen it be immediately withdrawn.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt asks Albert Shaw to withdraw a previous letter he wrote, in which Shaw attributed to Roosevelt a comment comparing the candidates for governor of Missouri. Roosevelt wishes to make clear that he could not have made such a comment, as he knows neither candidate, and would of course support the Republican ticket in Missouri. He hopes that Shaw may be able to come visit early in the next week.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt sends Albert Shaw a copy of his response to Robert J. Collier, regarding the letter supposedly written by Shaw about the candidates for the Missouri governorship. Roosevelt tells Shaw that even though he never saw a copy of that letter, he knows Shaw did not say Roosevelt “thought Walbridge a better man than Folk.” Roosevelt will ask Collier not to print or allude to the letter, as it would be “idiotic to do so.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-22
President Roosevelt asks that editor and publisher Robert J. Collier treat this letter with confidentiality. Roosevelt thinks Cyrus Packard Walbridge is the better candidate for Missouri Governor than Joseph Wingate Folk, although he has never said so publicly. Any comments made by William Allen White about Roosevelt changing his opinion of Folk are “arrant nonsense.” Folk had compromised his potential by appearing on the ticket with “boodlers” (those who obtain money dishonestly). It should be assumed that the president does not intervene in state matters, but if he did, he would support his party, not a Democratic candidate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-20