Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ralph M. Easley

President Roosevelt does not need further recommendations from Ralph M. Easley until George W. Goethals comments on Gertrude Beeks’s book. Secretary of State Elihu Root will likely not be able to speak at Easley’s conference, but Roosevelt would be delighted if Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou could. Roosevelt agrees with Root about the proposed Reynolds Commission’s excellence.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt agrees with Secretary of War Taft regarding the street paving contract, but will wait for Taft to return before making decisions. The New York papers disparage Taft and Roosevelt’s speeches. Roosevelt admires Senator Henry Cabot Lodge’s Provincetown speech and sends it to Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt thoroughly commends Senator Lodge for his speech, which he sent a copy of to Secretary of War William H. Taft. Following up from previous correspondence, Roosevelt feels Lodge’s letter to E. T. Colburn is acceptable and informs Lodge that he took up the submarine boat issue with Secretary of the Navy Victor H. Metcalf. The New York newspapers disparage Roosevelt’s speech. He asks for Lodge’s insight on a memorandum about Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt agrees with Attorney General Bonaparte’s conclusions in the Standard Oil and Chicago Alton Railroad case. While he thinks Bonaparte’s letter to Henry Lee Higginson is admirable, Roosevelt thinks it best not to publish it and open himself to further attacks by the press. He cautions against attending the conference of attorney generals. Roosevelt suggests how to respond to United States District Attorney N. M. Ruick and handle the situation in New Mexico.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to G. W. Woodruff

President Roosevelt informs Acting Secretary of the Interior Woodruff that he does not feel warranted in using the Department of State’s funds without talking with Secretary of State Elihu Root and First Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon, who are currently unavailable.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt agrees with Secretary of War Taft and has removed the reference to receivership from his speech. The “Philippine question” is the only point on which he remains uneasy. He details his thoughts and concerns about the United States’ continued relationship with the islands, including their strategic importance in the event of a conflict with Japan and the issue of granting autonomy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Gifford Pinchot

President Theodore Roosevelt will try to make Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield take a vacation. Assistant Secretary Robert Bacon is off for five weeks and Roosevelt is not happy about Secretary of State Elihu Root’s health either.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas J. O’Brien

President Roosevelt does not need to see diplomat Thomas J. O’Brien ahead of his appointment as ambassador to Japan. Frederik VII, King of Denmark, speaks well of O’Brien.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-19

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt comments on the potential economic panic and other issues. He sends Senator Lodge a copy of his Provincetown speech.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Andrew Carnegie

President Roosevelt felt compelled to reply to Andrew Carnegie’s letter as “it is one of the most refreshing communications I have had.” Secretary of War William H. Taft, Secretary of State Elihu Root, and Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer agree. Roosevelt hopes Carnegie can visit the White House soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt agrees with Secretary of War Taft regarding the tariff and employee negligence. Secretary of State Elihu Root has not said anything concerning Taft’s travels to Siberia or Japan, and Roosevelt suggests Taft make plans to go. He asks if Taft can meet on Tuesday with Root. Later, the president wants to meet separately with Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt finds the letters Senator Lodge forwarded from Representative William S. Bennet to be interesting. They could aid in easing relations with Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Twining Hadley

President Roosevelt thanks Arthur Twining Hadley, president of Yale University, for sending his book, Standards of Public Morality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Hermann Speck von Sternburg

President Roosevelt was impressed with the account of a German military attaché in Japan that German Ambassador Sternburg recently sent him, especially in the assessment that racial tensions are driving relations in the Pacific. Roosevelt looks forward to seeing Sternburg and his wife this weekend.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft that his endorsement by the Republican Party of Ohio is already having an effect on the New York newspapers, which previously had been supporting New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes for president in the upcoming election. Roosevelt advises Taft to not hurry election matters too much, but after his return from the Philippines he should make an attack on Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. Roosevelt complains about Senator Eugene Hale’s efforts to curtail the navy’s attempts to repair battleships, saying Hale thinks that by keeping the United States unfit for war with Japan, war will therefore be averted. In a handwritten postscript Roosevelt tells Taft to avoid talking about tariff matters for the time being.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Allen White

President Roosevelt shares his thoughts regarding the upcoming presidential election and the land fraud case against Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah with William Allen White. Roosevelt outlines his personal reasons for supporting Secretary of War William H. Taft for president as well as the political considerations necessary to secure his nomination. In the case of Borah, Roosevelt would like White to come to Oyster Bay to discuss the matter with him and Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte; Roosevelt thinks it would look bad for Borah to come himself, and asks White to bring Borah’s lawyers on August 9.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-30

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Alvey A. Aldee

President Roosevelt forwards an approved telegram from Secretary of State Elihu Root to Acting Secretary of State Adee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-30

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reed

President Roosevelt approves of the response sent to the Smart Set magazine in response to a request for his endorsement. He says reports of Ambassador Reid’s “ostentation” and other unflattering news reports about official embassy conduct are harmless; he appreciates all the speeches Reid has made in an effort to unite the “right classes” of Americans and English people. Roosevelt agrees with Reid regarding pursuing arbitration in a treaty dispute with Great Britain over fisheries in Newfoundland. He also comments briefly on the result of the trial of Big Bill Hayward, calling it a “gross miscarriage of justice.” Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt appreciates the silver bowl Elisabeth Mills Reid sent as a gift.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert Shaw

President Roosevelt praises Albert Shaw for his recent book, saying it is the kind of material young Americans should model themselves by. Roosevelt also asks Shaw if he has seen Secretary of State Elihu Root’s recent lectures at Yale University, which Roosevelt praises.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Hermann Speck von Sternburg

President Roosevelt will show German Ambassador Sternburg’s letter to Secretary of State Elihu Root. He does not think that the settlement in Mexico and Hawaii of former Japanese soldiers is part of some plan by the government of Japan but rather believes it is due to their disinclination to return to a boring peacetime life.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-24