Rhodes, James Ford, 1848-1927 | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt tells William Dudley Foulke that when Maria Longworth Storer wrote to him saying that Francis Augustus MacNutt must be received at the White House in order to be reinstated in the Papal Service, Roosevelt “strongly objected to being used in such a manner,” and refused to do so. He does not see why this conversation should require him to investigate MacNutt’s removal, which happened more than twelve years ago. Besides which, he now distrusts any information that came from Mrs. Storer. Roosevelt has also been reading Life of Morton, and is impressed. He compares the work of various authors of history.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Henry S. Pritchett and James Ford Rhodes to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry S. Pritchett, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes to President Roosevelt about “the Negro question.” Pritchett claims that Republican Reconstruction was a failure, and argues that the federal government should stop trying to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, since legislative threats are not making the Southern states comply. He recommends that the Southern states be allowed to control their own voting laws, subject only to outside criticism without force. Pritchett admits the Southern states will immediately disenfranchise most African Americans, but that this will be fair since they will also disenfranchise ignorant whites. He believes Roosevelt will still be allowed to make some African American appointments pending approval of local white leaders. Pritchett encloses an article he wrote on the subject and pages from James Ford Rhodes’s history. Rhodes, a historian specializing in Reconstruction, adds a postscript to Pritchett’s letter saying he agrees with Pritchett’s recommendations and will discuss with Pritchett conversations he had previously on the subject with Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-06

Creator(s)

Pritchett, Henry S. (Henry Smith), 1857-1939; Rhodes, James Ford, 1848-1927

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Otto Trevelyan

President Roosevelt tells Sir George Otto Trevelyan of his happiness regarding the recent 1904 presidential election, and remarks that he is glad people decided to support the positive message of the Republican Party, rather than the negativity of the Democratic Party. The president attributes his victory to the clear-cut message in his speeches and addresses as well as those canvassing for him. Roosevelt discusses the differences between the American president and other political leaders and believes the American president is more like the British prime minister than the French president. he additionally reflects on his intention not to run for a third term. Even without the convention of only two terms, the president believes it would be better for Secretary of War William H. Taft or Elihu Root to succeed him; they are similar in policy, but would have fresh thoughts and ways. Roosevelt concludes by discussing his recent reading. He praises a section from one of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches after his reelection and equates certain American political leaders to characters in Charles Dickens’s works.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Crowninshield Endicott

Theodore Roosevelt wishes he could accept William Crowninshield Endicott’s invitation, but he is already engaged for every meal while in Boston, Massachusetts. He looks forward to seeing him at James Ford Rhodes’s dinner. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt is doing better.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Endicott Peabody

Theodore Roosevelt is glad to hear about Quentin Roosevelt. He informs Endicott Peabody that, unfortunately, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will not come with him during Thanksgiving. Roosevelt asks what time he should speak on Friday so he can schedule his other engagements.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lawrence F. Abbott

Theodore Roosevelt expresses to Lawrence F. Abbott his disappointment over learning that George Kennan is the author of an article Roosevelt found distasteful. He feels Kennan is “guilty of the suppression of the truth and the suggestion of the false.” Roosevelt also makes several publishing suggestions to Abbott.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-02-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Sydney Brooks

President Roosevelt sends Sydney Brooks a copy of a letter he wrote to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge accurately predicting the outcome of the recent presidential election. He is greatly amused to hear about the reaction of the British press to his involvement in the campaign of president-elect William H. Taft, and briefly comments on American politics. Roosevelt is glad to be joining the staff of The Outlook after leaving the presidency, and is looking forward to his safari, which he has received a great deal of help planning from his British friends. He is sorry to learn that a number of American papers have been attacking Britain for its rule over India, and says that he believes that while there have been faults committed, it is nevertheless “one of the mighty feats of civilization.” He also notes that some British papers have criticized the United States for its work in the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt is glad that Secretary of War Taft offered to go to Santo Domingo, but believes that it is not necessary as matters there have died down. He is very interested to hear what Taft thinks of conditions in Panama, especially following reports in the press about friction among members of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Roosevelt hopes Taft and his wife Helen Herron Taft will join Secretary of State Elihu Root at a dinner with historian James Ford Rhodes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt says that there is no need for Secretary of War Taft to go to Santo Domingo, but he would like to meet with him to discuss “the whole canal business.” He also would like Taft and his wife to come to dinner to meet the historian James Ford Rhodes. Roosevelt encloses a letter from Representative John Sharp Williams and asks him to look into “the soldier matter.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry S. Pritchett

President Roosevelt agrees with Henry S. Pritchett’s sentiment about Abraham Lincoln, calling him “the most real of the dead Presidents.” Roosevelt has tried to follow the policies Lincoln established, although he does not like to say that in public as it seems presumptuous. Roosevelt’s view of the Southern question is fundamentally the same as Pritchett and James Ford Rhodes’s beliefs. The president wonders if the increased invitations to Southern cities suggests they have started to not see him as their enemy. Despite bitterness in the South against Roosevelt, however, it has had little impact on the Southern vote, as Roosevelt notes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry S. Pritchett

President Roosevelt fundamentally agrees with Henry S. Pritchett and James Ford Rhodes about the Southern question. Although Roosevelt believes it is unwise and impractical to repeal the Fifteenth Amendment now, he does agree it should not have been passed in the first place. The president can also agree with Pritchett and Rhodes that Congress should not press for active enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment; however, it cannot go too far with Mississippi Senator John Sharp Williams having more power than Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon. Roosevelt believes Southern states cannot enforce the laws themselves because they are trying to readopt slavery through peonage. Additionally, Southerners demand the exclusion of African Americans from offices, although Southerners have approved of Roosevelt’s choices for offices in the South on the whole even though the president has appointed some African Americans. Roosevelt insists he has tried Pritchett’s course of action, but it has not worked because the South has not met him even halfway. The president believes cooperation depends on Southerners, and the difficulty will vanish when they “quit lying.” Finally, Roosevelt says he has not observed outside criticism of the South and asks Pritchett how Congress needs to respond since it has not controlled the South. Roosevelt concludes by asking for one specific thing he is doing wrong, as he wants to learn.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Albert Bushnell Hart to Theodore Roosevelt

Albert Bushnell Hart hopes Theodore Roosevelt can attend the annual American Historical Association dinner at the Metropolitan Club on December 1st. Hart would like Roosevelt to attend the Buffalo meeting after Christmas. Hart hopes to have another meeting in Boston or Cambridge in 1912 when Roosevelt will become President of the American Historical Association.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-22

Creator(s)

Hart, Albert Bushnell, 1854-1943

List of American Members of the League for International Conciliation

List of unknown origin titled “American Members of the League for International Conciliation,” enclosed with a letter created by Nobel Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler. Andrew Carnegie and Andrew D. White are listed as “Honorary Presidents,” 12 people are listed under “Council of Direction,” and 46 people are listed as “Members.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George von Lengerke Meyer

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Secretary of the Navy Meyer but regrets that it is not possible for him to accept. Roosevelt wonders if Meyer is going to Harvard on December 13 for the overseers’ meeting, as Roosevelt will be going then. He will be staying with James Ford Rhodes, but if Meyer is going, he will make a date to see him, too.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1911-10-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from William Roscoe Thayer to Theodore Roosevelt

Editor of the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine William Roscoe Thayer discusses the need for additional faculty in Harvard University’s Department of Modern Military and Government. Thayer suggests that President Roosevelt’s graduating class of 1880 ought to consider creating an endowment for a faculty position in the department.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-09

Creator(s)

Thayer, William Roscoe, 1859-1923