Revivals

Theodore Roosevelt is very interested in Joseph Bucklin Bishop’s recent letter and agrees that President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary William Jennings Bryan have “created such a revulsion of feeling” that they will lose to whomever the Republicans nominate. Roosevelt feels that “any man who will stand for national defense and national honor is to be preferred to the present combination,” even Elihu Root, who Roosevelt still faults for his actions at the Republican Convention of 1912.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-18

John Robert Greene tells the story of Frederick Morgan Davenport of New York state, whose political affiliations would move from the Republican party to the Progressive party, back to the Republicans, and would end with him as a supporter of the New Deal working for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Greene covers Davenport’s early career as a minister and teacher with an interest in the history of American revivals. He details his entry into New York politics and discusses his interest in adoption of the direct primary which led him to seek the support of Theodore Roosevelt. Greene examines the warfare in the Republican party between 1912 and 1916, and he notes Davenport’s work for Syracuse University in the 1920s. Davenport’s support of President Herbert Hoover and his work on behalf of tariff reform are covered as is Davenport’s gradual embrace of the New Deal while heading two agencies dealing with government personnel matters. Greene notes that Davenport was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1951.

 

Two of Davenport’s campaign posters, a photograph of the 1912 Progressive Party convention in Chicago, and a political cartoon from the 1912 campaign illustrate the article.

Theodore Roosevelt is pictured as an evangelist preaching from “My Policies” in a tent with “Sherman, Cannon, Aldrich, Ballinger, Aldridge, Barnes, [and] Woodruff” sitting on the left, and “Depew, Lodge, [and] Odell” sitting on the right. “Crane”, who had been sitting on the right, has gotten up and is walking out. “Beveridge” is standing in the back at the entrance to the tent, and Dr. Abbott is next to Roosevelt, playing a piano. Across the tent hangs a banner that states, “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour, but look out for the 8th of November.” Caption: And the sinners who won’t be saved.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-09-07