Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt writes to his sister Anna Roosevelt about his recent trip to Paris with his wife Alice on their honeymoon. The Roosevelts enjoyed the tomb of Napoleon, Cluny, and dress buying. Alice got sick crossing the Channel and they are buying presents for people back home.
1881-09-05
Senator Bourne believes that centralization of capital and labor is inevitable, but man can create laws to ensure that both operate efficiently. He believes that the individual who comes up with a solution will be greater than Julius Caesar or Napoleon I and thinks that President Roosevelt could be that man, but must serve a second elected term. Bourne suggests that a national arbitration committee should be established between labor and industrial interests and that the members will be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate and asks about Roosevelt’s thoughts on his suggestions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-19
William Roscoe Thayer disagrees with President Roosevelt’s opinion that “doer” and “thinker” should be separated, with the concern that students will believe that “doing” without “thinking” is efficient. Thayer hopes the newspaper reports about Roosevelt’s son’s condition are inaccurate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-05
John St. Loe Strachey relays to President Roosevelt an account of his trip to France and Germany. He and his wife visited Ambassador Charlemagne Tower and his wife in Berlin as well as Ambassador Robert Sanderson McCormick and his wife in Paris. Strachey believes that Chancellor Bernard Fürst von Bülow will be defeated in his reelection bid and that the Emperor was also held in disfavor by the German people. Strachey is concerned about the warlike nature of the Germans. He relays his thoughts on some of the French politicians and theologians whom he met; he found the French people and politicians generally to be pacifistic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-11
John F. Stevens writes to Secretary of War Taft that news has reached Panama that steam shovels and men are coming to “make dirt fly.” Stevens warns that careful organization is needed, especially if they use the labor of southern African American prisoners.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-31
Theodore Ayrault Dodge asks for a letter of introduction to Henry White, the new ambassador to France. He reports that the former ambassador, Robert Sanderson McCormick, treated him well. He comments on President Roosevelt’s Irish Saga and promises to send copies of his biographies of Napoleon I by April.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-17
President Roosevelt, dressed like French Emperor Napoleon I, stands next to a picture of Napoleon I with “the stick” underneath the picture.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-18
Description and photograph of a souvenir handkerchief from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition featuring the event program and images of President Roosevelt, President Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, and exposition president David R. Francis.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1904
In this article excerpt, Thomas Nelson Page discusses the role Thomas Jefferson played in establishing the University of Virginia. Jefferson’s quest to discover more knowledge compelled him to purchase the Louisiana Territory as well as build a university.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905
Arnold White writes about the international situation in Europe, addressing first Russia’s desire for a warm water port, and then his impression of Germany’s goals with regards to Europe. Germany, White says, is the only nation with something to gain from a European war, and that the push for war is coming from the Jewish influence in Germany. With President Roosevelt’s election and friendship towards Germany, the United States has been removed as a potential deterrent toward German aggression. White ends with a prediction that if war happens, it will come through German aggression towards the Netherlands moving towards a collision with Great Britain, and he admonishes his reader that Germany must be watched.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-04
This is a book review for Marquis de Barral-Montferrat’s de Monroë à Roosevelt (From Monroe to Roosevelt). This review appears in the “histoire” (history) section of De la librairie plon (From the Plon bookstore). The book examines President Theodore Roosevelt and the Monroe Doctrine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-01
William II, Emperor of Germany, exchanges his coat and helmet for a hat and coat in the style of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. Bernhard von Bülow stands next to him, also dressed in the style of an early 19th century French aristocrat, holding a cape draped over his right arm. Caption: Valet Von Buelow–Sapristi, Herr Wilhelm! They become you most beautifully!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1905-07-26
Charles M. Schwab, as Napoleon, sits on a rock in the middle of the ocean, looking back at the setting sun labeled “Business Reputation.” He is holding in his right hand papers labeled “Investigation Ship Building Scandal,” and other papers labeled “Steel Trust” are in his coat pocket.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1904-03-09
Theodore Roosevelt is unable to give Alberto Lubroso his opinion of Napoleon in an “offhand fashion.” Like Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, he would require an entire volume.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-22
Theodore Roosevelt will see F. V. Greene when he returns. He admires Greene’s enclosures but has two suggestions, which he discusses at length. First, Greene only needs to state that King of Prussia Frederick II’s approbation of George Washington seems to be a myth, as he never showed interest in Washington or the American Struggle. Roosevelt comments on Helmuth Moltke’s opinion of the Civil War and how France could have implemented similar cavalry tactics. His second suggestion is that it is incorrect to say that America’s action in the peace settlement of the Russo-Japanese War did not produce the current hostile relationships with Russia and Japan. He discusses the other factors involved.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-07
Theodore Roosevelt does not remember having had a photograph taken at Napoleon’s tomb, and believes that such a photograph could not have been taken without his knowledge.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-06-04
Theodore Roosevelt does not understand C. Grant La Farge’s question, but suggests that Henry Adams’s History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and History of the United States During the Administrations of James Madison will give the most detailed account of the matter. Concerning Napoleon’s account, Roosevelt urges La Farge to “discriminate between the real and make-believe facts.” Roosevelt believes that Great Britain was worse to the United States than France.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-05
President Roosevelt was recently reading a volume of John Morley’s work Critical Miscellanies, and wished to write to him about a number of the issues he raises, and critiques several other historians and works of history. Roosevelt pivots to talking about the recent election in the United States as he identifies it as having taken place under circumstances similar to those identified by Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay–with a recent financial panic and a demagogue opposing William H. Taft–but because of the moral superiority of the Republican party, Taft became president-elect. Roosevelt believes that foolish optimism can get in the way of sane optimism, but also believes that there is cause to hope in the future. He would like to see Morley when he visits England in 1910.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-01
President Roosevelt was very touched by the letter from Grafton D. Cushing, and feels just as he does. Many people in Roosevelt and Cushing’s social circles do not realize the fervor with which many Americans demand a change in the social order. If progress is not made under reasonable leadership, there is a risk of approaching revolution or tyranny, as occurred in France during the French Revolution. Likewise, if leadership is given to radicals like William Jennings Bryan or Eugene V. Debs, Roosevelt thinks that they will try to enact impossible programs and fail, leading once again to revolution. Roosevelt agrees with Cushing’s statement that the government must be concerned with the primacy of justice and the equality of opportunity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-27
President Roosevelt finished George Otto Trevelyan’s recent volume on the American Revolution, and sincerely praises it as “one of the few histories which can deservedly be called great.” Although biased, Roosevelt places the American Revolution among the great historical events. Trevelyan treats it well, and Roosevelt compares him to other authors of military history. He especially appreciates the justice Trevelyan gives Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, as he believes in giving men credit regardless of their allegiance. Roosevelt rejoices in interesting books like Trevelyan’s, particularly when he has much to worry about. He will send a volume of his speeches.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-11