Philosophy | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas R. Lounsbury

Theodore Roosevelt read Thomas R. Lounsbury’s volume on Robert Browning with keen pleasure and agrees with Lounsbury. He is very fond of Browning’s work, even those he cannot understand. Roosevelt theorizes that others read Browning for the puzzle of figuring out his philosophy. Lounsbury’s article on themes delighted Roosevelt, especially as Kermit Roosevelt is taking a course on the subject. He is annoyed by the general belief that some new machinery will solve educational, political, and social problems.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert S. J. Owens

Theodore Roosevelt tells Baltimore, Maryland, lawyer Albert S. J. Owens he is interested in his letter, and he remembers the statement of Xenophon of Athens, ancient Greek philosopher. However, when he read the statement, he never thought of the custom mentioned as it applied to dogs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-05

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Oliver Wendell Holmes

President Roosevelt returns the Montesquieu pamphlet to Justice Holmes, and muses about the passage of knowledge and discovery from one generation to the next.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-21

Letter from Charles H. Battey to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles H. Battey compliments Theodore Roosevelt’s recent piece in The Outlook on Wisconsin, and expounds on his perspective of the modern United States. In particular, he derides “the boasting fever without the practices that goes with promise” that has been prevalent in the last quarter-century, the “certain contemptuous attitude of the present to what is not ‘up to date”, and the “nonchalance toward the higher realms of literature, art and music, as well as the science of self-balance.” He closes with a remark that the United States has much to learn from abroad, and that “until we humble ourselves in the sackcloth of actual conditions,” advancement is unlikely.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-31

Letter from Kermit Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

Kermit Roosevelt tells President Roosevelt he is meeting “lots of fellows” by trying out for the football team at Harvard. Kermit explains the trouble he had scheduling his courses, thanks his father for the allowance he sent, and asks for a pair of rubber soled shoes and another with hobnails on them. He asks what happened to the cotton-soled shoes and if the “modified duffel bags” have arrived for their upcoming trip to Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-06

Letter from Oliver Wendell Holmes to Theodore Roosevelt

Oliver Wendell Holmes explains to Theodore Roosevelt the foreword he has written for a book on the work of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-21

Letter from George Otto Trevelyan to Theodore Roosevelt

George Otto Trevelyan discusses the books that President Roosevelt sent, and assures him that “trash” is published in England, alongside good old books that are reprinted. He has discovered a newfound love of Cicero. Trevelyan describes his apartment in Rome, and talks about his pleasant experiences with Americans there. He is particularly glad to be near his old friends Ambassador Henry White and his wife.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-01

Letter from Richard Watson Gilder to Theodore Roosevelt

Richard Watson Gilder sends President Roosevelt some philosophic thoughts he has written in verse which he believes provide a basis for the strenuous life. Gilder hopes to interest the President in the Florida Everglades, and has a book for him from one of the men who knows it best.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-04-09

The books that I read and when and how I do my reading

In his article for Ladies’ Home Journal, Theodore Roosevelt describes the benefits of reading and provides advice on how to get people of any age interested in reading “serious literature.” Roosevelt elaborates on his reading habits and book selection processes, which stem from both his current mood and educational desires.

Collection

Marple Collection

Creation Date

1915-04

Reason against unreason

Print shows the “Light of Reason” shining from the upper right, illuminating bust portraits of “Johannes Kepler, I. Kant, Th. Paine, Jefferson, B. de Spinoza, Franklin, Voltaire, E. H. Haeckel, Tyndall, Huxley, [and] Darwin.” The light is blocked by a large umbrella labeled “Bigotry, Supernaturalism, [and] Fanaticism,” behind which are hiding various members of the clergy, including the Pope, Henry Ward Beecher, and T. De Witt Talmage. In the upper left, a vignette shows three female figures around an infant in a crib, with caption “God made Man and Endowed him with Free Will, Memory, and Understanding.” In the lower right is another vignette showing the Pope and other members of the clergy torturing a man, filling him with “Superstition,” with caption, “But it took a Deal of Altering in the Man before he could be made a ‘Good Citizen’.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-03-08