Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is very pleased with a recent court decision, although he does wonder how the decision will affect his Wall Street critics who accuse him of trying to usurp power for the national government.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-27
President Roosevelt discusses recent attacks made against him by Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer. He considers Brewer one of the “corporation judges” who are naturally given to work against Roosevelt, and so appreciated William Allen White’s kind letter more than he was concerned by Brewer’s comments. Roosevelt is more concerned that individuals like Edward Henry Harriman and John D. Rockefeller would see to use and perhaps exacerbate the current economic crisis to undermine his presidency and turn public opinion against him. Roosevelt closes by asking that White keep this letter private.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-26
President Roosevelt acknowledges that decontextualized parts of his message regarding the financial crisis may have been circulating on Wall Street, but he stands by what he has said and believes his policies should be permanent. Roosevelt also tells William Emlen Roosevelt that J. P. Morgan and George F. Baker were in favor of his financial measures.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-23
President Roosevelt is impressed that Winthrop Chanler is able to keep up with so much reading, and was surprised to learn of his interest in Irish sagas. Roosevelt would have liked to have helped Charles Carroll, a member of the Porcellian club, but Frederick, W. Whitridge has already chosen his secretaries. He wishes that Chanler could have been present at Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s wedding, and comments that by the end of it there was a meeting of all the Porcellian brothers who attended, with at least forty attendees. He is glad that Chanler’s family has been having a good time abroad, and comments that he would likely enjoy hunting in Meath, Ireland, but would need some time to get into condition. He hopes to see Chanler when he returns to the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-04
President Roosevelt was pleased with the editorial that Ernest Bross wrote.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-16
William O. Manson rails against Wall Street issuing “worthless watered stocks” that are then used to borrow money. He believes that preventing these stocks would end financial panics and the need for a protective tariff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-11
William H. Taft writes to President Roosevelt about the issue of monetary contributions to his presidential campaign. While Taft knows it will likely decrease the amount of money available for his campaign, he feels strongly that he should follow New York’s publicity law for donations nationwide, which he hopes will ultimately contribute to reducing the power of money in politics. Taft also writes about other issues that have been arising in his campaign, including the selection of certain people to his campaign staff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
Thomas E. Watson thanks President Roosevelt for the invitation to the White House, the gift of the photograph, and his friendship. Given the incomplete term of William McKinley, he urges Roosevelt to consider if it would really be breaking tradition to seek another term as president. Given the current threat to the financial policies Roosevelt has fought for, and the impending financial troubles he envisions unfolding with the lesser banks, he urges Roosevelt to hold his position and promises to support him fiercely should he run again.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-18
Arthur Hamilton Lee writes to President Roosevelt about the president’s impending retirement and hopes that it will not impact Anglo-American relations significantly when another man takes office. Lee is distressed about how the papers in New York are covering Roosevelt, as if his character is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He hopes the president continues to shine light in dark places of the securities industry so that scandals will be brought to light. Lee ends his letter requesting that Roosevelt sit for a painter, Fülöp László, for two to three hours and believes that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will agree.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-13
William Emlen Roosevelt follows a letter he had written President Roosevelt exclusively about the current financial situation with a personal note about his family, although he does ask about placing telecommunications in Panama exclusively under American control and hopes that the president is keeping his planned comments regarding the financial crisis simple.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-22
William Emlen Roosevelt wonders if President Roosevelt will return to Oyster Bay to vote. If so, Emlen would like to travel with him. Emlen has registered to vote, but is unsure for whom he should vote. He also fears that the worst of the financial panic gripping Wall Street is not yet over.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-23
William Emlen Roosevelt congratulates President Roosevelt on his recent bear hunt, and jokes that all the bears have “fled into Wall Street for safety.” More seriously, Emlen finds that the situation is quite grave and offers some thoughts on how he feels Roosevelt might proceed. Emlen also provides an update on life at Oyster Bay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-22
Winthrop Chanler writes President Roosevelt about his season spent in Paris and Meath, Ireland. He also discusses the activities of his family and friends in Europe, including members of the Porcellian Club.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-22
Gordon MacDonald thanks President Roosevelt for the kind note and has spoken to William Emlen Roosevelt about the Oyster Bay suggestion. In a postscript, MacDonald suggests that Roosevelt would be amused by the current mood on Wall Street.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-16
Newspaper clipping of cartoon showing Andrew Carnegie carrying a gun with a barrel shaped like a dollar sign talking to Theodore Roosevelt who is carrying “The Big Stick.” Carnegie offers Roosevelt the use of his gun to shoot a bear “Wall Street” on “Nomination Trail.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1912
A “Wall Street magnate” holds a “N.Y. Sun” hoop that President Roosevelt jumps through onto a “Republican presidential nomination 1904” horse.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-16
President Roosevelt congratulates Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte for his speech at Chicago, which showed his fair enforcement of the law. His attackers use the press and their wealth to recruit powerful people, like college presidents and corrupt judges, to their side at the cost of the “plain people.” These attackers know that developments like the Hepburn Rate Law, the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and protections for workers have been effective against moneyed interests and criminals, but they are often lawyers or editors who answer to the corporations. The individual men to whom he refers are, however, merely puppets, and the true issue should be taken with the offenders who stand behind them and control enormous wealth. He and Bonaparte are not responsible for the economic panic, but are striving for the right “in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-23
In the cartoon on the left, “Democracy” is a “political hobo” as he walks on the “free silver road.” In the cartoon on the right, “Democracy” greets “Wall Street,” who says, “My brother,” on “Belmont-Hill Road.” Democracy responds, “Yes, I’ve a strawberry mark on my left arm.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09
A man carrying “the bigger stick—’large financial interests'” points it toward President Roosevelt who sits on the “mourners bench” on “Wall Street” with “the big stick” beside him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-13
Two men walk down Wall Street wearing hunting attire and holding guns and bags labeled “Democratic campaign fund” and “Republican campaign fund” respectively. Bulls and bears run away while a sheep with a top hat and an “immune” bow winks.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-10