Scandals--Political aspects

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 Theodore Roosevelt to William Wingate Sewall

President Roosevelt was glad to hear from William Wingate Sewall, and thinks his philosophy on political scandals is sound. He was glad to see the photographs that Sewall sent. He and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt are going to Pine Knot soon, where Roosevelt shot his first turkey.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Otto Gresham

President Roosevelt asks Otto Gresham if he can show his letter to Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte and Justice William H. Moody. He is confident that the allegation of George B. Cortelyou taking campaign contributions from the meat packers is false. However, he would like to look into the allegation that Assistant Attorney General Charles Henry Robb immediately went to Mr. Miller when beginning his investigation into Judge Christian C. Kohlsaat.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt explains to William Dudley Foulke that he cannot “be drawn into any discussion” into the situation of Francis Augustus MacNutt. He did not give Ambassador B. Storer or Maria Longworth Storer any information “which was not generally known.” He encloses Mrs. Storer’s letter, which asks for information that would exclude MacNutt from Papal service.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Emily Tyler Carow

President Roosevelt thanks his sister-in-law Emily Tyler Carow for the book that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt got him on her behalf. The Roosevelts have had their “usual type of Christmas,” though with fewer toys as the children get older. Soon they will go to the Pine Knot cabin with friends. Roosevelt has much to worry him in his work, but the incidents “will all go downstream.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John St. Loe Strachey

President Roosevelt tells Spectator editor John St. Loe Strachey that he is embarrassed of the way that former Ambassador Bellamy Storer has behaved in the press as of late, but that he ultimately stands by all sentiments he gave in the letters that have been made public. The president muses on the details surrounding the recent controversy regarding the exclusion of Japanese children from San Francisco schools, as well as his proposed plan for the United States and Japan to keep their laborers out of one another’s countries.  

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Michael Walsh

President Roosevelt tells Catholic newspaper publisher Michael Walsh that his main point of contention in the recent incident regarding B. Storer and Maria Longworth Storer was the damage done to Archbishop John Ireland. Roosevelt notes that he does not regret anything he stated in the private letters that were recently published. The letter is marked “Private” and Roosevelt scrawls “Not for publication” at the top.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to David Decamp Thompson

President Roosevelt sends David Decamp Thompson an autographed copy of his recent message, noting that it was partly plagiarized from a letter between the two men. Roosevelt notes his high opinion of Chicago-based social reformer Mary McDowell, and that he is hoping help her with the bill currently before Congress. The president says he was initially “hot with indignation” that the Storers published his private letters, but later recognized that he “put the proper position of our Government in reference to various religious denominations about as clearly as I well could” and is no longer embarrassed about the matter. Roosevelt asks Thompson and Dr. W. P. Thirkield to come to lunch soon so they can discuss “the Negro question.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Christine Griffin Kean Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells Christine Griffin Kean Roosevelt (wife of his cousin Emlen) that he hopes she approves of the way he used the Nobel Prize cash award. Roosevelt notes that after he got past his anger over the Maria Longworth Storer incident, that he found the situation amusing. He reports that he is taking up James Alexander Scrymser’s application with “the Departments,” and that he has had a difficult time getting businessmen and bankers to agree upon currency legislation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John L. Belford

President Roosevelt tells Reverend Belford that he agrees with the sentiment in his recent letter, and asks to let the matter drop. Roosevelt stands by the statements made in his letters, and does not vouch for recently-dismissed ambassador Bellamy Storer and his wife Maria Longworth Storer’s remembrances of what the president has said.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to St. Clair McKelway

President Roosevelt tells St. Clair McKelway that he unfortunately sent in a judicial nomination on the previous day. Roosevelt appreciated McKelway’s thoughts on the recent situation with Ambassador B. Storer, and also enjoyed his recent editorial.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Frances M. Wolcott to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt

Frances M. Wolcott asks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt if she could have a copy of the Storer pamphlet, as she thinks she could “say a word that counts on the right side.” Her son, District Attorney Lyman Metcalfe Bass, is trying his first case and complimented President Theodore Roosevelt to her.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-11

Creator(s)

Wolcott, Frances M. (Frances Metcalfe), 1851-1933

Back from a strenuous vacation

President Roosevelt holds the “big stick” and “peace” papers as he looks towards the United States Capitol building. A number of papers fall out of his briefcase: “cotton scandal airing,” “magazine article written,” “investigation of Castro,” “beef trust jostle,” “a submarine trip,” “cabinet changes,” “speeches made,” and “sermon preached.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-01

Creator(s)

Donahey, J. H. (James Harrison), 1875-1949

Isn’t the load getting pretty heavy?

President Roosevelt tries to push Secretary of War William H. Taft onto an already overloaded Republican elephant, which carries a lot of baggage: “Philippine scandal,” “Panama Canal supplies,” “tariff reduction,” “Loomis Rex. Whitewash,” “Morton Railroad Rebate scandal,” “Anti-trust fiasco,” and “wood Manila.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09

Creator(s)

Flohri, Emil

Sensation mongers

An article in the Lakewood Times and Journal discusses the political aspects of the removal of Laura A. Hull Morris from the White House. The writer argues that politicians are drawing attention to the incident unnecessarily and Morris was rightfully removed because she caused a disturbance after being asked to leave.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-26

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Nellis

Theodore Roosevelt expresses to George W. Wallis that he is confident his nephew has done nothing dishonorable, dismissing any negative reports as falsehoods likely spread by political opponents in Herkimer County.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Rumsey Sheldon

President Roosevelt reminds George Rumsey Sheldon that ignoring such serious charges would degrade the reputation of George S. Terry, the nominee for Assistant Treasurer of the United States at New York. Roosevelt assures Sheldon that Terry will give him an explanation about the financial deal in writing and is confident that this is the correct way to deal with the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Dudley Foulke

President Roosevelt believes the statements made by Delevan Smith in the Indianapolis News are patently false, and that refuting them will bring them undue attention. Because William Dudley Foulke insists that a reply be made, however, Roosevelt writes to refute the charges of a scandal involved in the purchasing of the Panama Canal zone from France. Roosevelt particularly refutes the charge that the affair has not been transparent, as documents related to it have been freely available. Roosevelt has refuted other false charges leveled against his administration, but the newspapers continue to print them, so he doubts whether his denial will be effective.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt has received Attorney General Bonaparte’s letter and invites him to visit in Oyster Bay, New York, when convenient. While Roosevelt had hoped to “avoid the muss” regarding the case of Ulysses S. Bratton, Assistant United States Attorney for Arkansas, he agrees with Bonaparte on the matter. Roosevelt will discuss the Connecticut judgeship with Bonaparte at a later time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert M. La Follette

President Roosevelt discusses with Senator La Follette the case of Martin J. Bentley, Indian agent for the Kickapoo nation. It appears that Bentley has not been acting in good faith on behalf of the Kickapoos but instead has persuaded some of them to move to Mexico and become his wards. The Department of the Interior wishes that if Bentley believes himself to be innocent of this charge, he submit to judicial investigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919