Your TR Source
Secretary of War Taft consults President Roosevelt on the potentially fraudulent Panamanian elections and the possible future role of the United States and the Isthmian Canal Commission in elections.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Charles P. Gray for the map of Panama and appreciates his kind thoughts and words.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-02-03
A collection of reprinted stories and editorials about Theodore Roosevelt’s successes during his presidency and political career, specifically diplomatic achievements. One editorial calls for Roosevelt’s nomination in the 1916 presidential election.
1916
In a chapter titled “A Most Just and Proper Revolution,” taken from the second volume of his biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris details the machinations in Washington, D.C. and Panama that resulted in the revolution against Colombian rule on the Isthmus and the establishment of the independent nation of Panama. Morris describes the careful actions and words of administration figures like Roosevelt and Secretary of State John Hay, and he charts the movement of ships of the United States Navy sent in support of the insurrection. Morris adds to his Panama narrative interludes about the November 1903 elections in the United States, Roosevelt’s visit to Sagamore Hill, and his compilation of a reading list.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2001
In a letter to his son Kermit Roosevelt, President Roosevelt describes aspects of his trip to Panama to check on the progress of building the Panama Canal. Roosevelt notes the heavy rain, the work of the steam shovels, and his long days of inspecting various aspects of the project. Roosevelt remarks that the jungle flora and fauna renewed his interest in natural history.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1906-11-20
Michael F. Moran chronicles the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s (TRA) Panama Canal Centennial Strenuous Life Adventure of March 2014. Moran describes the itinerary of the group, highlighting its passage through the canal on a cruise ship and its stop at various offices and sites associated with the construction of the canal. Moran also refers to figures prominent in the building of the canal such as John F. Stevens. Moran describes the condition of Colon, Panama, highlights the group’s bird watching expedition, and notes the costumes of the native Embera Indians.
Twenty photographs and a map appear in the text while a photo album of seventy-two color photographs arrayed in twelve pages follows the article.
Tweed Roosevelt describes two failed attempts by Scottish settlers to establish a colony on the isthmus of Panama. Roosevelt examines the conditions in seventeenth-century Scotland, notably a prolonged drop in temperatures or “the Little Ice Age,” that prompted the exodus, and he highlights how the lack of proper planning, poor leadership, and the harsh conditions doomed both expeditions. Roosevelt highlights one of the survivors of the second attempt, Archibald Stobo, who settled in Charleston, South Carolina, rather than return to Scotland. Stobo’s daughter would marry into the Bulloch family and her lineage can be traced to Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt’s mother.
Two photographs and two illustrations appear in the article.
John M. Thompson examines the domestic political dimensions of the United States’ efforts to secure a canal zone in Central America. Thompson identifies those who favored canal routes in Nicaragua or Panama, and he looks closely at the Congressional reaction to the revolt in Panama and the United States’ quick recognition of the new nation. Thompson lays out the opposition to the subsequent canal treaty from Democrats and anti-imperialists, and he details the publicity campaign waged by President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration to justify its course of action and win Senate approval of the treaty. Thompson highlights the role of Southern Democrats who supported the treaty because they saw the canal as aiding their region’s economy and because Democrats did not want to be seen as opposing a popular policy of constructing a canal. Thompson concludes his article by examining the various aspects of domestic politics that Roosevelt had to consider when making foreign policy decisions.
Ten photographs and five political cartoons populate the article.
The front cover of the Fall, 1989 volume of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal features Theodore Roosevelt atop a steam shovel in Panama during his 1906 inspection of the construction of the Panama Canal. The back cover shows a delegation from the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) to the Netherlands, as well as the winners of the third annual Lawrence J. Saunders Awards of the TRA at the Roosevelt Study Center.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1989
In a pair of quotes, Theodore Roosevelt comments about how the Panamanians were justified in their revolution from Colombia, and that while he did not foment the revolution, neither did he stop it from happening.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1903-1915
In two quotes Theodore Roosevelt explains that he did not foment a revolution in Panama, but concedes he did prevent Colombia from turning the revolution into a larger war, and did not suppress the revolution.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1914-1915
Theodore Roosevelt appears before the public at a formal event in Panama. A marching band and soldiers pass by an American bar called “The Turf.” Roosevelt and others in formalwear climb the steps to a stage, decorated with heralds, bunting, and a painting of Roosevelt.
Sherman Grinberg Film Collection
1906
Photograph showing President Roosevelt standing with men at ceremony.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1906
John A. Gable begins the “Book Notes” column with a review of Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady. In doing so, he provides a shorter, but still complete examination of Roosevelt’s life, and highlights the research Morris did utilizing letters, Roosevelt’s diary, and interviews.
Three pictures of Edith Roosevelt are included in the review: one considered the favorite of her husband, Theodore Roosevelt; a drawing by John Singer Sargent; and a third of Edith Roosevelt with Lou Henry Hoover, the wife of Herbert Hoover.
In Gable’s following review of Frederick W. Mark’s Velvet on Iron: The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt, Gable places the work in the context of other studies of Roosevelt and argues that it represents a further step in an ongoing reappraisal of Roosevelt. He quotes extensively from Marks and from Edmund Morris’s review of the work.
A picture of Roosevelt at his desk at Sagamore Hill accompanies the review.
Obituary of Anne Lyon Haight (Mrs. Sherman Post Haight) who was a leader in the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association, the Women’s Theodore Roosevelt Association, and the Theodore Roosevelt Association. She worked in an English hospital in World War I, flew with Charles Lindbergh, and helped run the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1977
A poem about Panama written by W. R. Coates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-06
Poultney Bigelow compares the challenges Ferdinand de Lesseps faced constructing the Suez Canal to those of the Panama Canal. He argues that real-estate ownership among canal officials is responsible for the crowded, unsanitary conditions of Colon and that the government has failed in its administration of the canal zone.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09
This page from the Springfield Daily Republican presents Charles J. Bonaparte’s letter to the newspaper about Panama, as well as the newspaper’s editorial in reply.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-26
Surveyor of Customs Clarkson suggests that President Roosevelt meet with Leigh S. J. Hunt, who has just returned from abroad and has a lot to say about his experiences in Egypt and the Sudan, as well as the Russo-Japanese War. Clarkson reports that in New York, the Democrats are turning against Alton B. Parker. The Republicans in New York are nervous regarding the Secretaryship of the Panama Commission, with support for Edward Charles O’Brien. It has been asserted that five of the seven commissioners are Democrats, and Clarkson suggests that Roosevelt consider whether there is a Republican secretary who could be as good as the Democrats.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-11
Admiral Glass reports to Secretary of the Navy Moody about conditions in Panama, in particular regarding the movements of both Colombian and United States warships, and the activity of American sailors in the area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-16