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President Roosevelt holds the head of a man in a “political cemetery” as Roosevelt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell stand by “the ‘easy’ boss” headstone.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-27
New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell wait pleasantly at a table for President Roosevelt to serve the “presidential meat.” Platt sits on “the leadership end” while Odell is at the “something equally as good end.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-28
New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell and New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt chase each other around in a circle. Odell has torn part of Platt’s sash, “boss,” while Platt retains “the ‘easy.'” President Roosevelt looks on.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-30
President Roosevelt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell hoist New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt up on the “same old shelf.” Platt holds a sash that reads, “the uneasy boss,” while Odell has a “$500,000 patronage New York” paper in his pocket.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-03
New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell and New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt fire revolvers at a “Roosevelt boom—highly explosive,” which has a tag that reads, “time fuse 1904.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-03
President Roosevelt holds the reins to the “New York Republican delegation” horse as child-like New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell each hold the end of a rein. Caption: Senator Platt and Gov. Odell have agreed to share between them the control of the New York Republican delegation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-28
President Roosevelt holds a “presidential nomination” football as Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks and Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna all attempt to tackle him. New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell plays on the same team as Roosevelt and blocks Hanna’s charge.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11
Grover Cleveland looks at the “Dem Party” as they walk “to the White House.” New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell and New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt stand behind a tree and shine a flashlight.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-01
New York Senator Chauncey M. Depew points at New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and laughs. President Roosevelt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell sit on a couch in the background and also laugh. There is a picture of Abraham Lincoln on the wall. Caption: “A conference was held last week at the White House, when it was arranged that Benjamin Odell should assume control and re-organize the Republican fences in New York State. Senator Platt is said to resent this, and will be assisted in his fight for Supremacy by Senator Depew.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-05
This collection of cartoons addresses presidential candidates for the 1904 election season, Cuban reciprocity, industrial trusts, and the Post Office scandal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-06
An African-American man holds two hands of playing cards. One hand includes cards that feature the faces of President Roosevelt, Chair of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou, J. Pierpont Morgan, Charles W. Fairbanks, New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell, and New York Lieutenant Governor Frank Wayland Higgins. The other hand includes cards that feature the faces of Patrick Henry McCarren, Charles Francis Murphy, William Jennings Bryan, David B. Hill, Alton B. Parker, and Henry Gassaway Davis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10
President Roosevelt is tied to an “official chair” like his “big stick” is tied to the wall. Both are attached to a “November 9 time lock.” There is a pile of papers in front of Roosevelt, and he looks out the window at a “Democratic mass meeting” where Alton B. Parker is giving a speech.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-04
A number of Republican and Democratic politicians play a game of baseball while large crowds look on. President Roosevelt is the pitcher while Charles W. Fairbanks is the catcher. The “voter” stands at the “White House” home base while Alton B. Parker tries to run to home base. Thomas Taggart tells Parker, “Get ready to slide, Judge.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-11
A statue of President Roosevelt stands on a plinth, holding “the big stick” and “the Earth.” New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt lies on the ground pointing accusingly at New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell holds a “governor” sword. In the background, Abraham Gruber, Lemuel Ely Quigg, and John Raines brandish their swords and walk away.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-15
President Roosevelt stands beside a number of men, including Ohio Representative Charles Henry Grosvenor, who holds a book entitled “Lives of the Presidents—A Few Left,” New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt, John Edward Charles O’Sullivan Addicks, Postmaster General Henry C. Payne, Louis Frisbie Payn, New York Representative Lucius Nathan Littauer, and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell. Roosevelt holds a sign that reads, ‘The principles which we profess are those in which we believe with heart and soul and strength. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Our actions speak even louder than our words for the faith that is in us.’ T. R.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-16
President Roosevelt brands a Republican elephant with his initials “T.R.” underneath a crown. The elephant is chained to the ground and wears “pension order” and “postal fraud” covers on its front legs. Chair of the Republican National Committee, New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell, New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge all watch from behind a fence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-17
The writer of the memorandum discusses the current political situation in the state of New York surrounding who will be chosen to succeed the outgoing Senator Thomas Collier Platt. Current Secretary of State Elihu Root is the favored candidate, but several Republican members of the state legislature oppose Root. However, the support is spread between several candidates, and the writer complains that “bosslets” like Timothy L. Woodruff could defeat Root if only they could decide on a single opposition candidate rather than focusing on “petty jealousy” and bickering.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908
At a meeting of his supporters in the Republican County Committee, Senator Thomas Collier Platt spoke at length in favor of Congressman Jacob Van Vechten Olcott’s election as president of the committee. Platt believes that while both men would act independent of machine politics, Olcott is a better choice than Representative Herbert Parsons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-24
Representative Olcott has received the letter from President Roosevelt stating that in light of a statement from Representative Herbert Parsons, he should withdraw from the running to be party chairman. Olcott fears that if he withdraws, in spite of Parsons’s statement declaring his independence, it will appear to be a victory for former Governor of New York Benjamin B. Odell’s faction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-30
New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell has revived speculation that he will remove George Hilliard from his position as special deputy commissioner for the New York City Department of Excise. Hilliard supports Senator Thomas Collier Platt. The newspaper reports that the rise of a Republican party insurgency is possible, and that if Platt loses a supporter, President Roosevelt will not have a solid delegation in the state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-17