Your TR Source
As requested, William Loeb sends Louis Volz, a signed copy of a letter from President Roosevelt to Henry Rubens concerning the late Carl Schurz, and permits Volz to use it in the way he mentioned.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-13
President Roosevelt regrets not being able to be present at the meeting in honor of the late Carl Schurz, and instead hopes to be able to express his appreciation for Schurz through Harry Rubens. Roosevelt praises Schurz as having upheld the policies of Abraham Lincoln and as having been a champion of civil service reform and sound money policy. He also holds Schurz’s biographies of Lincoln and Henry Clay in high regard, as well as his other writings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-28
William Loeb confirms receipt of a telegram from Emil von Schleinitz, editor of The Germania, and sends the text of a telegram recently made public from President Roosevelt to Carl L. Schurz expressing his sympathy at the recent death of Schurz’s father, Carl Schurz.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-14
President Roosevelt is not sure that France and Germany would consent to Oscar S. Straus’s idea. He warns Straus that Carl Schurz’s advice is “absolutely worthless,” because he is “a left-over German of 1848,” with no ideas about how the country currently operates. Roosevelt wants to stay on friendly terms with Germany, but believes that the United States cannot betray any weakness.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-27
President Roosevelt will speak personally with Representative William Henry Flack. He asks Elizabeth Snowden Nichols Watrous to find a few local people who will write not only to Flack, but also to Representatives Lucius Nathan Littauer and William H. Draper. Roosevelt suggests getting someone to prepare the bill for Flack, and he will then help Flack “press the bill.” He also suggests getting Carl Schurz and Charles A. Peabody interested, who both have homes on Lake George.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-22
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-14
President Roosevelt tells James Ford Rhodes he has just finished reading his fifth volume, which has tied in well with Roosevelt’s other readings of Thomas Babington Macaulay’s History and Abraham Lincoln’s letters and speeches. Although the president agrees with Rhodes that the right is not all on one side and the wrong is not all on the other in quarrels, Roosevelt thinks the American Civil War is the exception, as he believes “the right was exclusively with the Union people.” Roosevelt talks about his plans to build up the Navy to avoid war, believing the Panama Canal will help. Finally, he discusses problems he has been having with the tariff and Southern states. He disagrees with Rhodes that the South is not trying to reinstate slavery, as there is peonage in three states right now. Roosevelt closes by mentioning how his opponents helped him during the election campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-29
President Roosevelt invites William Dudley Foulke and Mary T. R. Foulke to lunch when they visit Washington, D.C. The president agrees with Foulke’s opinions about the New York Times and the New York Post and their treatment of Roosevelt. The president wants to be able to consult with Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about the proposed statue and will send the khaki if she approves.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-17
President Roosevelt writes an “egotistic letter” to Anna Cabot Mills Lodge about the election. He was overwhelmed by the election results, especially because they demonstrated the impotence of the Evening Post and other New York journalists Roosevelt dislikes. He intends to spend his next four years in appreciation to the American people. The president was, however, disappointed by the defeat of Governor John Lewis Bates in Massachusetts and Senator Francis Marion Cockrell in Missouri, whom he considers the best Senator in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt himself was prepared for defeat during the past two weeks, which were quite trying for him and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-10
President Roosevelt finds amusement in the clipping from The World about the Evening Post, and he thinks it base and hypocritical for the Post to continue to support the candidacy of Alton B. Parker in light of such speeches as that of Henry Gassaway Davis. Roosevelt provides two quotations addressing the “colored issue” for inclusion in his speech and letter of acceptance. Roosevelt aims to make his points clear while at the same time making them in such a way as to cause minimal irritation in the south.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-12
Theodore Roosevelt is pleased that J. B. Bishop is taking an “effective interest” in the campaign. Roosevelt is concerned that people who attack “Odellism” may vote the Democratic ticket. Congressman Heflin of Alabama also told the Washington Post “that if some Czolgosz had thrown a bomb under the table at which I sat with Booker Washington, no great harm would have been done the country!” Roosevelt clarifies his relationship with Carl Schurz, who has been opposed to him for years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-05
President Roosevelt insists that the southerners who have attacked him cannot deny that he has “elevated the public standard” through his appointments, and that he has appointed fewer colored men than his predecessor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-26
Booker T. Washington is doing his best to educate blacks in the South and President Roosevelt believes his efforts are ideal for everyone. There are fanatics who are doing all they can to re-introduce slavery for blacks, which shows “extreme crookedness” of mind and morals.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-17
President Roosevelt replies with interest to Major Byrne, explaining, in confidence, his position on race relations in the South. Roosevelt cites the Indianola post office affair, when African American postmistress Minnie M. Geddings Cox was driven out of town by a white mob, as an example of the “policy of retrogression” in the South. Roosevelt says, “On the one hand I wish by my action to avoid stirring up any bitterness; on the other hand, I must not act in a cowardly manner and make the apostles of lawlessness and of brutal disregard of the rights of the black man feel encouraged in their indignity. As always in life, I have to face conditions, not as I would like to have them, but as they actually are, and every course I take is beset with difficulties.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-14
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Booker T. Washington for his letter and appreciates his support. Roosevelt does not understand how people can be against the policy they outlined to address the “Southern situation and the race question.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-10
President Roosevelt believes if Carl Schurz will vote for Alton B. Parker after Parker’s speech on the Philippines, then he will be satisfied with Parker’s civil service law. Roosevelt wishes that Schurz would tell the “plain truth” about Roosevelt’s work in civil service law, which has surpassed that of any previous President. He has put a “pretty stiff” statement about civil service reform in his letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-22
President Roosevelt finds it funny that people support Alton B. Parker in the presidential campaign because he represents a higher morality. Roosevelt cites a number of instances of voter fraud and corruption within the Democratic Party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-12
President Roosevelt believes that Alton B. Parker’s speech is poor and only shows his adroitness in avoiding difficult positions. The wealthy scoundrels are his greatest backers. There is not an ounce of honesty in his position on independence for the Philippines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-11
President Roosevelt does trust the “mental honesty” of Rollo Ogden and Oswald Garrison Villard and is not surprised they are supporting Alton B. Parker and the Democratic Party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-11
President Roosevelt will not promise Josephine Shaw Lowell more than he already has and believes the Democrats are “utterly insincere” in promising independence to the Filipinos. Roosevelt compares the Christian Filipinos to the Islamic Moros and worries that freedom for one group would disrupt peace. Roosevelt also discusses the absurdity of the Democrats calling themselves a reform party under Thomas Taggart, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He is also upset about Carl Schurz’s support of Alton B. Parker in the election because it is the party of John Sharp Williams, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, who presides over a district whose majority is comprised of people of color but which is governed by white men.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-01