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Charles J. Bonaparte writes to Senator Dixon encouraging him to garner support and help campaign for Theodore Roosevelt in his 1912 Progressive Party bid for the presidency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-04-27
Governor Hadley offers his views on the presidential situation in Missouri. He believes that Theodore Roosevelt could secure a majority of delegates from Missouri but the ambiguity of Roosevelt’s candidacy is allowing President Taft’s supporters to secure the state convention by default. Hadley understands Roosevelt’s difficult situation but is confident that the majority of the Republican Party would prefer Roosevelt over Taft as a presidential candidate. If Roosevelt agrees, Hadley believes that it is Roosevelt’s duty to announce that he will accept the nomination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-01-16
John A. Gilbreath is disgusted with the machine politics in Missouri and does not believe that President Taft can win Missouri in 1912. He calls for a late convention not composed of federal office holders to allow Missouri Republicans to “act upon matured thought.” Gilbreath is willing to support Theodore Roosevelt and wants the Republican Party to nominate a presidential candidate that is better then the party as a whole.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-01-06
Leslie Combs recounts the victories won by Progressive Republicans at the Kentucky state convention. Judge Edward C. O’Rear was nominated for governor, Senator William O’Connell Bradley’s candidate for lieutenant-governor was rejected, and O’Rear’s platform was largely adopted. Combs believes that if O’Rear wins, the Progressive Republicans will take control of the state party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-14
Representative Vreeland must postpone his visit with Theodore Roosevelt because of an illness. He wishes to speak with Roosevelt regarding upcoming financial legislation, as is Chairman of several Congressional Committees related to the matter, and considers it a very important subject. Vreeland also wishes to consult with Roosevelt on state-level matters within New York, but realizes that that conversation can wait. Nevertheless, he hopes that Roosevelt will accept the temporary chairmanship of the state convention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-08-04
Secretary of State Root informs President Roosevelt that he has agreed to preside over the Republican State Convention in Saratoga, New York, and asks for campaign literature to bring himself up to date about what to say in his remarks and to the people. Root has heard from Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon that children in Central America are dying of childhood diseases. Root is reassured by Japanese Ambassador Kogoro Takahira’s letter, but is cautious in his expectations concerning Japanese cooperation in limiting Japanese workers from entering the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
Anna Roosevelt Cowles writes to her brother, President Roosevelt, about the political situation in Connecticut. In particular, she has recently seen Judge Marcus H. Holcomb, who is satisfied with the action of the state convention, especially in regard to how the Senators were handled. Cowles has joined the Grange, and tells Roosevelt that he would have been amused to see the reaction of the members of her household.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-30
Charles William Anderson encloses a letter that will show that Stewart L. Woodford is likely involved in a scheme to organize bolts of African American men across the South. At the conference, Anderson noted that Charles Evans Hughes could not be nominated, and Woodford took exception. Anderson relays his role in the conference to William Loeb.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-01
Per Secretary of War William H. Taft’s request, Timothy L. Woodruff sends President Roosevelt a letter from Stewart L. Woodford. The letter is in response to Woodruff’s request to repay the expenses from the State Convention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-29
Stewart L. Woodford regrets that Charles William Anderson will be a delegate to the National Convention for two reasons. First, controversy at southern conventions makes it unwise for federal office holders such as Anderson, a tax collector, to be part of the nominating convention. Second, in light of the controversy surrounding the dismissal of African American soldiers at Brownsville, Anderson, an African American, will be put in an awkward position in deciding whether to defend or condemn the soldiers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-29
Stewart L. Woodford tells Timothy L. Woodruff that he will not contribute to the New York State Convention, as it hurt Governor Charles Evans Hughes’s political prospects. The New York delegation only nominally supports Hughes, but in reality supports Secretary of War William H. Taft. Woodford will pay the expenses for the National Convention at Chicago, and inquires how much it will be.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-25
Senator Lodge thanks President Roosevelt for the telegram and informs him that an agreement has been reached that explicitly states the convention’s support for William H. Taft, but does not make a formal resolution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-10
Booker T. Washington requests that nothing be done in Alabama to disrupt Tuskegee Postmaster Joseph O. Thompson’s authority without his consent. Thompson has been working out the situation and currently has it under control. If the conflict between Thompson and Charles H. Scott cannot be resolved, Scott should be given a position out of state, as it is imperative that Thompson’s influence over the Alabama State Committee be maintained.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-07
Timothy L. Woodruff updates William Loeb on the status of politics in New York state. He believes that Congressman Charles Luman Knapp is all right, and will head the delegation from Lewis County at the convention. At a dinner hosted by Senator Chauncey M. Depew, Woodruff arranged to sit between Congressmen John W. Dwight and Edward B. Vreeland, and believes that they will also be all right. Senator Thomas Collier Platt would prefer not to go as a delegate at large, and Depew will go instead.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-06
William Allen White of the Emporia Gazette shares his thoughts on William H. Taft’s candidacy for president in the upcoming election and the trial of Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah. White fears that politicians may ruin Taft’s chances in various states, as they would support Roosevelt for a third term, but will give their support to men like Senator Joseph Gurney Cannon or Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks when Roosevelt declines to run. White says the political organization in Colorado is against Taft. S. S. McClure, who was originally prejudiced against Borah, now supports him and asked White to write an article defending him, which White refused both because he is personal friends with Borah, and because he is busy with his own writing. White hired C. P. Connelly, a lawyer, to look into the matter for him, and Connelly told him that he believes Borah to be innocent. White shares his thoughts regarding the impossible situation Borah is in, where a mistrial will be as bad as a conviction for his career. White asks Roosevelt to meet with Borah. In a postscript, White points out that the trial of Charles H. Moyer, which Borah is prosecuting, will take place in the same month as Borah’s own trial, and how disadvantageous this will be for all involved.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-25
Secretary of War Taft does not think that making a speech on the Brownsville affair would be useful. He relays his recent travels for personal enjoyment and political meetings. Taft wants the Ohio Convention to be delayed until February. He is glad to be at his Quebec estate, Murray Bay, and hopes the environment will help him recover from his cold.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-07
Senator Lodge writes to President Roosevelt about a serious situation developing in Massachusetts politics. At a recent state convention of the American Federation of Labor, the group denounced Lt. Governor Draper and nine of the eleven Republican Congressmen. Lodge believes that “Gus”, his son-in-law Augustus Peabody Gardner, “is a good fighter, but with this labor attack and the character of his opponent he has before him a very severe contest.” His opponent was a man named Schofield, a “Native-american demagogue with a great deal of local popularity.” Lodge spoke yesterday at the state convention in Rhode Island where a “Hearst man” is giving Republicans a tough fight as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-12
Frances M. Wolcott writes to President Roosevelt regarding the shipping of bobwhite quail to the estate of Count Pourtales in Silesia. Wolcott also recounts his attendance at the Democratic State Convention in Buffalo, New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-11
Henry Cabot Lodge discusses the upcoming elections. He thinks the Republican Party will carry the House, but worries about Massachusetts and New York. The Republican National Convention went “without a ripple” thanks to Winthrop Murray Crane, William H. Moody, and others. There are still bad feelings around Representative Charles Curtis, though. Ex-Governor John Lewis Bates, who took his unmerited defeat in “the most manly way,” gave one of the best speeches Lodge has ever heard. Lodge discusses District Attorney John B. Moran’s treatment of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Moran, who is running for Governor of Massachusetts, supports William Jennings Bryan and William Randolph Hearst and his platform reads like a “manifesto of a Jacobian Club.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-06
John A. Sleicher thinks that political platform speeches at state conventions need reworking considering “the new conditions that now affect us.” Sleicher sends President Roosevelt a draft of the platform and asks if he might make edits and return it to him tomorrow at the United States Hotel in Saratoga.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-22