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Patronage, Political--U.S. states

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Letter from Francis Bennett Williams to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Francis Bennett Williams to Theodore Roosevelt

Francis Bennett Williams details the political situation in the last election, including voter participation and corruption by Democrats. He suggests possible replacements for Walter L. Cohen and gives a very bad report of H. Dudley Coleman. Finally, Williams states that the opinion of President Roosevelt in the American South is changing, largely due to the effectiveness of his policies and appointments there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-24

Letter from F. Norton Goddard to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from F. Norton Goddard to Theodore Roosevelt

Republican Party official F. Norton Goddard continues his campaign for Marcus M. Marks to be appointed postmaster. Goddard has enclosed two more letters of reference, from labor representatives Samuel B. Donnelly and Edward A. Moffatt, as well as a clipping of a newspaper column. Goddard has heard that Governor Odell wants William R. Willcox, a former commissioner of Mayor Seth Low, to be postmaster. Goddard thinks Willcox is a poor choice.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-16

Letter from Augustus Peabody Gardner to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Augustus Peabody Gardner to Theodore Roosevelt

Representative Gardner has received President Roosevelt’s telegram responding to his request to publish a letter from Roosevelt on the matter of the selection of the postmaster at Haverhill, and explains why he cannot go to Nahant or speak to the senators from Massachusetts at this time, as Roosevelt had suggested. He regrets that he was unable to speak with Roosevelt in person, either about the possible appointment of Charles M. Hoyt or his wish to publish Roosevelt’s letter. Gardner apologizes for bothering Roosevelt with the issue. In a handwritten postscript, Gardner notes that he received the telegram reversing Roosevelt’s decision and permitting him to publish the letter. While Gardner appreciates the courtesy, he had already declined to share it with the press, and thinks it is probably better this way.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Watson Gilder

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Watson Gilder

President Roosevelt writes Richard Watson Gilder a lengthy refutation of an article in the Evening Post in which William Garrott Brown misconstrues his actions in the Republican Party. Namely, Brown accuses Roosevelt of neglecting Republicans in the South and of doing a poor job of making nominations to local offices and positions. Roosevelt asserts that where the Republican party is not strong in the South, he has had to appoint Democrats who were quality men, rather than incapable men who are Republicans. Where he believes the party has a chance to compete with Democrats, he does all he can to support it. Roosevelt also writes that he did not use his influence on officers to get William H. Taft the nomination, but rather Taft was nominated because Roosevelt’s policies were popular, and Taft is the man who will continue those policies. Roosevelt believes that Brown is either ignorant or willfully ignorant of a number of facts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Graham Brooks

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Graham Brooks

President Roosevelt outlines and refutes the falsehoods in Alfred Holt Stone’s Studies in the American Race Problem. He tells John Graham Brooks that he judges a work’s reliability by seeing what it says about a subject he is familiar with, and then deciding if he can trust it on things that he does not know as much about. He explains that Stone is spreading falsehoods about the so-called “referee” system in the Southern states, especially Mississippi. Roosevelt points out that the practice was common with presidents before him, and that it is necessary in areas where the Republican party does not have a strong enough presence to provide good appointees to positions. He also discusses his handling of the case of African American postmistress Minnie M. Geddings Cox, who was forced by an angry mob to resign her position and leave town.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert M. La Follette

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert M. La Follette

President Roosevelt tells Senator La Follette that while he appreciates La Follette’s feelings regarding the postmastership of Marinette, Wisconsin, the course Roosevelt has decided upon seems to be the most equitable one, and one which will not create a damaging precedent. If Roosevelt were concerned only with La Follette, he would have been pleased to reappoint the man who currently holds the position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-30

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte discusses the political situation in Baltimore regarding the vacancy for Deputy Surveyor of Customs and recommends that President Roosevelt leave the position unfilled until after the election and then appoint James Campbell. Bonaparte then discusses the political situation between Clarence C. Pusey, Abraham Lincoln Dryden, and John B. Hanna, recommending that Roosevelt suggest that Pusey wait until November 1st to take office, which would be considerate to William H. Jackson without offending Pusey’s supporters. Bonaparte also discusses whether two ships should make a trip to New Orleans or not.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-10

Letter from Herbert Parsons to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Herbert Parsons to Theodore Roosevelt

Herbert Parsons writes to Theodore Roosevelt that the state of New York may fall under the custodian of Benjamin Odell, Thomas Collier Platt, and Lemuel Quigg unless Roosevelt takes an active role. He offers recommendations for how Roosevelt can combat the growing influence of Odell, Platt, and Quigg in endorsing a candidate in the gubernatorial campaign.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-17

Letter from Spencer B. Adams to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Spencer B. Adams to Theodore Roosevelt

Chairman Adams writes to President Roosevelt describing the North Carolina Republican State Convention. Adams was elected chairman of the state Republican Party at the convention and believes the convention was a success. Adams assures Roosevelt that as chairman, he will not allow patronage hiring. He asserts that Roosevelt is very popular with the people of North Carolina and if harmony persists in the Republican Party, it will have great success in North Carolina.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-12

Letter from Elliot H. Goodwin and Samuel H. Ordway to Civil Service Reform Association

Letter from Elliot H. Goodwin and Samuel H. Ordway to Civil Service Reform Association

Elliot H. Goodwin and Samuel H. Ordway, Secretary and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Civil Service Reform Association, respectively, write to the members of the organization to urge them to write to New York Governor John A. Dix and ask him to not approve the resolutions from the State Civil Service Commission. The Commission, as previously appointed by Dix, was made up of people hostile towards the civil service law, and their recommendations, Goodwin and Ordway suggest, would perpetuate the spoils system, rather than improving the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-22

He killed the albatross

He killed the albatross

Charles F. Murphy is proudly sitting on the bow of a ship with an albatross labeled “Tammany Rule,” its wings labeled “Graft” and “Patronage,” that he has shot with an arrow labeled “Murphyism.” Caption: And I had done a hellish thing, / And it would work ’em woe.–Coleridge “The Ancient Mariner.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-11-26