Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to say the magazine he writes for, Outlook, has been feeling the effect of his defeat in the presidential election and he is not sure he can make the Progressive Party permanent. He adds that he will begin work on his autobiography next year.
1912-12-07
Theodore Roosevelt believes that President Taft “means well feebly,” gets under the influence of the people next to him at any given moment, and is without the power of vision or the gift of sympathetic imagination. Although Roosevelt thinks that electing Taft on the Republican ticket is better than letting the Democrats “come in,” Taft has allowed the Republican party to back-slide into its anti-progressive attitudes and letting skilled political bosses and big financiers manage the party’s interests. Roosevelt believes that he was forced into accepting the Republican nomination for president in order to stand for the “forces of rational progress” and characterizes the break within the party: the “foolish extremists under the rather insincere and… demagogic leadership” of Robert M. La Follette and the “equally foolish and rather more sinister… reactionaries under the flabby leadership” of Taft. Finally, Roosevelt encloses a copy of the speech he made at Carnegie Hall, asking Archie Roosevelt to show it to Judge Kent, Mr. Lowell, Mr. Fernández, and Mr. Andrews.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-26
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Robert Harry Munro Ferguson for his letter to Kermit Roosevelt and wonders why Ferguson did not write up his trip to the Hudson Bay, as he is one of the few people who can “see clearly and beautifully and then write about what they have seen.” Roosevelt does not feel like he could shirk leadership at the present time, as too many people want him as a leader as well as some “decent” leadership. Although he does not believe he will be nominated as the Republican candidate for president, Roosevelt does not trust the Democratic party to solve the problems at hand. He also mentions the split within the Republican party: the “stupid and sometimes sinister reactionaries under the flabby leadership of President Taft” and the “foolish and violent extremists under the purely self-interested and demagogic leadership of Robert M. La Follette.” Finally, Roosevelt encloses a copy of the speech he made at Carnegie Hall and notes the safe return of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and Ethel Roosevelt from Panama and Costa Rica.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-26
Theodore Roosevelt thanks James M. Ingersoll for his letter and confides that many Progressive Party leaders do not think the political party will be strong enough to have its own ballot.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-03
Gifford Pinchot writes to Republican Committee Chairman Will H. Hays about the importance of farmers to the Republican Party. He believes it is the farmers of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Illinois that will be most vital to the next presidential election, not those of New York and Pennsylvania. Pinchot feels the danger that the Democratic Party may end up becoming the progressive party in the United States, particularly if it draws in the returning veterans of World War I. For the Republicans to attract them, the party must offer more than policies that the veterans will accept; Pinchot says that it must “label those policies with the names of men whom they will follow.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-09-04
Secretary of State Root is glad President Roosevelt enjoyed the performance at Saratoga. While he notes that it was difficult for men who Governor Charles Evans Hughes had treated poorly to nominate him again, Root sympathized with them in a way that helped avoid true conflict. Hughes disrespects the aspects of the Republican party which led to his nomination. Root finds Roosevelt’s letter to William Jennings Bryan to be cutting, and lets Roosevelt know of his upcoming travel plans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-24
Article forecasting the 1908 election based on results of a survey given to subscribers. The article begins with a statement of the paper’s non-partisanship, followed by a description of how the poll was conducted, and then analyzes the results with a state by state breakdown. According to the subscribers, William H. Taft will be the winner over William Jennings Bryan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10