Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is not hurt by Finley Peter Dunne’s cartoons, and thinks they are written in “the nicest possible style.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-09
President Roosevelt thanks John T. McCutcheon for the cartoon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-05
Cartoon depicting Sam Davis’s support of the Goldfield miners’ strike and lockout.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-04
A political cartoon depicting President Theodore Roosevelt and lawyer Francis Heney comparing hunting kills. Roosevelt’s two dead bears identify him as a boodler and a land thief, and Heney’s bears are labeled grafter and U.S. Senator.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-25
Kermit Roosevelt misses riding with President Roosevelt and has nothing to do. He asks Roosevelt to give him information on the “negro troop question,” likely referring to the events that took place in Brownsville, Texas, as the newspapers are not saying anything about the matter. He mentions a “nasty cartoon” he saw about it in Harper’s Weekly, as well as a poem he had read in Collier’s Weekly about President Roosevelt, which was “very nice.” He also comments on a recent letter he received from a cattle rancher.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-13
“Teddy” Roosevelt spurs a bucking horse which is branded “Rough Riders” on its right hip, while Thomas Collier Platt looks on from behind a wall. Roosevelt’s lariat forms the phrase “Nomination for Governor.” The caption reads: Uncle Tom Platt – “My, What stunts! I wish that fellow would stop. He makes me awful nervous.”
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1898-08-05
President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Bucklin Bishop to discuss cartoons depicting him as a dictator and the effect they may have on the presidential campaign. He also asks Bishop to visit him and Nicholas Murray Butler.
1904-06-04
Theodore Roosevelt and three potential presidential rivals are depicted as different species of flowers. A female figure labeled Columbia (likely representing the U.S.) is watering the Roosevelt flower, Beautii Americanus Teddyum, with a can labeled 1904. The flower names given to the rivals portray them in a negative way. They are Groverum Third Terminus (Grover Cleveland), Sixteen to Oneicus Rubberum (William Jennings Bryan), and Peanutti Politicus Dave Hillum (David B. Hill).
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-04-15
President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit that he offered Edwin Arlington Robinson a position but Robinson refused. He has had great luck in hunting with Alexander Lambert and Philip Battell Stewart despite having a touch of Cuban fever. He has a dog to bring back to Archie and is feeling homesick. Roosevelt adds that he is amused by the cartoons about him and urges Kermit to go hear Jacob Riis speak. Kermit scribbled some math problems on the back of the envelope.
1905-05-07
President Roosevelt thanks Clinton Rogers Woodruff for sending the cartoon, which he had not seen and is forwarding to Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-14
Roosevelt has told Postmaster General George B. Cortelyou about the cartoon and quatrain and “he is on their track.” Roosevelt has asked the Department of War to communicate directly with Senator Spooner but he would be glad to appoint Spooner’s friend as long as there are no denominations in order or outstanding promises for the position already.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-17
President Roosevelt counsels Speaker of the House Cannon to “pay no further attention” to a recent cartoon and the stories surrounding it. Additionally, Cannon “need never waste…time thinking that I will misunderstand you,” as Roosevelt knows Cannon is looking out for the welfare of the country and the Republican party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-25
President Roosevelt is sure that after reflection John A. Sleicher will come to the conclusion that William Jennings Bryan can be defeated by politicians other than Roosevelt. He thanks Sleicher for showing him the nice cartoon, and returns it as requested. Roosevelt clarifies to Sleicher that, regarding the matter of meat packers, he never quoted Upton Sinclair, and if the meat packers had been content to allow Congress to pass legislation quietly they would have avoided the negative publicity that has resulted.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-12
President Roosevelt tells John A. Sleicher that his mind is “irrevocably made up” about not accepting the nomination for a third term as president. He also appreciates that Sleicher said in his letter that the Republican party does not belong to corporations, as it is a “party of the plain people.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-28
President Roosevelt thanks John R. Arbuckle for remembering him, and particularly likes the cartoon he sent.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-20
President Roosevelt asks Frank E. Rowley of the Chicago Chronicle to thank Everett E. Lowry and Richard Linthicum for the cartoon, which he prizes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-08
President Roosevelt thanks James S. Dunn for sending him the cartoon. It amused him so much that he framed it in a way that allows him to both see the picture and read the editorial on the back.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-06
President Roosevelt tells Casper S. Yost that he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt have already seen and enjoyed the cartoon by DeVoss Woodward Driscoll, and are pleased to have the original. He asks Yost to thank Driscoll for them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-05
Theodore Roosevelt recently saw a political cartoon published in Judge magazine which gives “currency in a pictorial way to a peculiarly base set of slanders.” He asks whether John A. Sleicher, editor of Leslie’s Weekly, is still connected with Judge. While Roosevelt is aware that there are many things that men in public life have to face, and agrees with Sleicher’s last letter, he feels this recent cartoon crosses a line.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-21
President Roosevelt found journalist John Revelstoke Rathom’s article and the cartoon interesting and is glad they share the same perspective on the matter, and which Roosevelt believes “all manly men ought to take.” He is also interested in Ranthom’s memory of “the canteen incident at Siboney.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-09