Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Peter R. Gatens for his letter and for his work on the campaign. Roosevelt also hopes that after the nomination Gatens and his friends will work hard until the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-07
Theodore Roosevelt returns documents to William H. H. Llewellyn. Roosevelt would like to meet with Llewellyn and George Curry. Roosevelt is aware that William H. Taft’s men are “against Fall’s election and that Andrews had been a strong opponent.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-07
Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary writes John McGuinness that the postcard McGuinness addressed to Dr. Lyman has been forwarded for his attention. Roosevelt’s Secretary replies that Roosevelt voted with the Republican Party for James Blaine in 1888 and did not vote for Grover Cleveland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-05
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Elizabeth Fleck for her letter and says that if nominated he will campaign in the South as well as the North, particularly in his mother’s state of Georgia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-03
Theodore Roosevelt is sorry that he cannot visit California. Roosevelt feels that President Taft may not be able to regain lost ground despite recent actions. Roosevelt also believes Mexico needs a more conservative leader.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-22
Theodore Roosevelt received John St. Loe Strachey’s letter after Roosevelt published his article on “hyphenated Americanism.” He congratulates Strachey on his son-in-law’s military service. He informs Strachey that he will never again run for public office, but will continue speaking and writing while the World War is ongoing and will then retire.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-10-09
Theodore Roosevelt might have known that Flavel Sweeten Luther would have approved of his article in the Times. Roosevelt plans to quote Luther’s letter in an article on which he is working. Roosevelt appreciates the last paragraph of the letter, in which Luther says that his relations to the rising generation made it improper for him to fully express himself about the election. Roosevelt got over the difficulty by quoting the Bible, which he considers an ever-present help in that kind of time of trouble.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-11-28
President Roosevelt thanks John J. Wynne for the letter, and appreciates his congratulations about the result of the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-09
President Roosevelt congratulates Charles Hitchcock Sherrill on the success of the procession in honor of William H. Taft and J. S. Sherman.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-01
President Roosevelt is surprised by news he has received from Timothy L. Woodruff about the political situation in Kansas. William H. Taft cannot speak in Kansas unless he speaks in every other state. Roosevelt asks if the business Woodruff wants to talk about can wait until he returns to Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-05
President Roosevelt is pleased to be associated with Lyman Abbott, editor of The Outlook. Roosevelt says William H. Taft wants him to wait until his letter accepting the Republican nomination is released before Roosevelt releases his own letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-29
President Roosevelt praises Senator Lodge’s speech to the Republican National Convention as one that will certainly go down in history, noting humorously that attacks from the Sun should be considered as the highest praise. What Lodge said was “exactly right,” and “exactly as [Roosevelt] should have wished it.” Roosevelt believes that Presidency is a very powerful office and that power should be used without hesitation, but this requires strict accountability to the people and no one should keep the office too long. After leaving office, Roosevelt is planning a trip to East Africa for a year to hunt and gather scientific specimens for the National Museum at Washington. Scribner’s has offered Roosevelt $50,000 for the serial rights to articles Roosevelt writes during the trip, and while Collier’s offered $100,000, Roosevelt prefers to have the trip sponsored by Scribner’s, as “there is such a thing as making too much money out of a given feat,” even if earned honestly. Roosevelt thinks William H. Taft will win the coming election, unless he makes some kind of hopeless mistake.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-19
President Roosevelt thanks Governor Herrick for the kind letter. Roosevelt does not wish to intrude upon the presidential campaign or give unasked-for advice. Nonetheless, he will do anything he can to help.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-25
President Roosevelt thanks author Palmer Cox for the letter, and jokes that if anything could make him alter his determination to not run for president, it would be Cox’s literary characters, the Brownies. However, Roosevelt thinks that the Brownies will be very pleased with Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-10
A letter sent “by direction of President Roosevelt” provides Senator Lodge the text of a telegram the president sent to Augustus Peabody Gardner. In the telegram, Roosevelt stated that bringing about the resolution could cause damage to both Lodge and Secretary of War William H. Taft if it is beaten. Even the introduction of the resolution would damage Lodge on a state and national level. As such, Roosevelt advised that the resolution be abandoned and said Gardner can quote him on that.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-09
President Roosevelt tells his son, Kermit Roosevelt, about playing tennis, and while he enjoyed it he will keep to walking for the time being for exercise due to the cold weather. Roosevelt had delivered a speech on trusts and labor to Congress. With the election coming closer, the public are beginning to pay more attention to what the candidates are saying rather than himself, and Roosevelt relished one of his last opportunities to speak before Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-02
President Roosevelt has heard that some officers of Department of the Treasury plan to renominate Roosevelt for a third term during the Republican National Convention. Roosevelt impresses upon Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou how important it is that this is avoided and requests that Cortelyou inform any members of his department who plan to do so that such an action will be seen as violating their professional obligations and will be treated accordingly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-19
President Roosevelt tells cartoonist Homer Davenport that his “good enough for me” cartoon helped contribute to Roosevelt’s electoral victory, and he thanks him for it. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt invites Davenport to visit soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
President Roosevelt writes to Lyman Abbott, editor of The Outlook, to tell him how much he appreciated some commentary on his presidential campaign that had recently been published. The article accurately stated Roosevelt’s views on a number of positions, and described Roosevelt’s motivations better than he could have done himself. If Roosevelt is victorious in the election, he wants Abbott to come spend a night at the White House.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt is pleased that his brother-in-law William S. Cowles is returning to vote for Roosevelt. Roosevelt notes that his son Quentin Roosevelt and nephew “Sheffield”, William Sheffield Cowles, are quite cunning. The Roosevelt family eats breakfast together daily, barring guests, which is the main time he has with his family. Roosevelt writes that while no one knows about the upcoming presidential election, things look favorable for his reelection. First lady Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt is planning a feast for Cabinet members on election night that could evolve into a celebration party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-18