Smoot, Reed, 1862-1941

Michael Kent Winder explores the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. Winder focuses on the controversy that arose after the election of Reed Smoot to the United States Senate. Winder writes that Roosevelt decided to support Smoot after receiving assurances that Smoot did not practice polygamy, and he notes that Roosevelt expected Smoot to deliver Utah for him in the 1904 election. Winder highlights Roosevelt’s 1903 visit to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Roosevelt became the first president to speak from the pulpit of the Mormon Tabernacle. Winder traces Roosevelt’s relationship with the Mormons after he left the presidency, noting Roosevelt’s support of Mormons in the face of bigotry and Smoot’s presence at Roosevelt’s funeral.

Five photographs, two illustrations from newspapers, and a political cartoon supplement the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Secretary of the Interior Wilbur speaks at the dedication of Lassen Volcanic National Park, recounting the history of the effort to designate the area as a national park, and the improvements which were necessary to do so. Wilbur acknowledges the help the Department of the Interior and National Park Service have received from the people of northern California, as well as the efforts of a number of legislators and government employees. He reflects on the National Park Service as a whole, and emphasizes that the park belongs not only to California, but to the entire United States. (In his speech Wilbur mistakenly identifies William H. Taft, rather than Theodore Roosevelt, as the president who initially created Lassen and Cinder Cone National Monuments in 1906)

Collection

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Creation Date

1931-07-25

Following a number of legislative items, including voting on an amendment to a bill and a motion to investigate participation in international expositions, Senator Robert M. La Follette delivers a speech beginning with proposed tariff reciprocity with Canada, but quickly turning to his view that President William H. Taft has abandoned his campaign promises to continue the progressive policies of his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt. La Follette excoriates Taft on his stances on taxes and conservation, among other issues.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-15

Theodore Roosevelt’s letter to I. K. Russell completely refutes the “ludicrous” charge that Roosevelt bargained with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the organization would receive certain considerations in exchange for delivering votes. Roosevelt advises the “Mormon[s]” that any attempt to reintroduce polygamy would mean the Church’s destruction, advice that aligns with Church leaders’ views.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-18

I. K. Russell writes to Theodore Roosevelt to ask if he would be willing to write a letter commenting on the charges that, while president, he was part of a “corrupt alliance” with the Mormon church in Utah. Russell hopes to publicize Roosevelt’s response to show once and for all that there was no such alliance, as well as to help improve the public perception of the Mormon church, which has been slandered by a number of sources.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-14

The writer of the article decries The Outlook for repeatedly calling for Senator William Lorimer to be ousted from the Senate following allegations that he purchased his seat. Theodore Roosevelt is accused of striking a deal to secure Utah’s electoral votes in exchange for allowing Senator Reed Smoot to be re-seated. The writer argues that the allegations against Lorimer are not as bad as those against Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-04

Robert M. Stevenson, President of Westminster College, Utah, quotes an article from Pearson’s Magazine on Theodore Roosevelt’s alleged “bargain with the Mormon Church” to deliver electoral votes in exchange for policies favoring the Church’s practices and representatives. Stevenson comments on whether the Democratic party will show a “greater regard for national welfare than for party advancement” and if the country will finally recognize the importance of a Federal marriage law.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-22

President Roosevelt reads a newspaper with the headline: “Testimony in Smoot Case.” The newspaper text reads, “President Smith admits being the father of 42 children! 38 children in the Merrill family! “I have over 100 nephews and nieces,” said Young Merrill.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-10

Theodore Roosevelt tells George von Lengerke Meyer he is not sure there is anything to be done to make things better in politics. Roosevelt believes Republican leaders “stole the nomination” in Chicago, Illinois, and that such action “creates a train of evil consequences so extensive that it is almost impossible by any single act afterwards to undo the evil.” It was extraordinary to see men such as Bishop William Lawrence and President A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard University “explicitly or implicitly, endorse the lowest forms of political immorality.” Roosevelt compares the Progressive platform to that of Abraham Lincoln and the early Republicans, and accuses the men who object to these principles of being the “spiritual heirs of the Cotton Whigs.” He believes that what happened in Chicago makes it likely that Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Party will win the fall presidential election. When Roosevelt returns, he would like for Meyer and Frank B. Kellogg to visit him.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1913-10-07

A wave labeled “Republican Voters’ Revolt” crashes into the dining room of a ship where “Cannon, Payne, Taft, Knox, Sherman, Root, Aldrich, Woodruff, Dalzell, Crane, Wickersham, Lodge, Parsons, Hitchcock, Depew, Hale, Elkins, Ballinger, Smoot, Penrose, [and] Cox” are dining, and upsets a dish of “Party Plums,” as well as a bottle of “Stalwart Grog.” Caption: “We were crowded in the cabin, / Not a soul would dare to sleep; / It was midnight o’er the waters, / And a storm was on the deep.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-04-20

President Taft, as a hen, sits on eggs labeled “Reform Measures” on a nest that is infested by rats labeled “Cannon, Aldrich, Gallinger, [and] Smoot.” Caption: If the trustful hen doesn’t wake up, there’ll be nothing left but the shells.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-03-30

President Taft struggles to conduct an orchestra composed of two groups of musicians. On the left, playing the “Eastern Conservatism” on stringed instruments, are “Root, Crane, Smoot, Depew, Aldrich, [and] Gallinger.” On the right, playing the “Western Conservatism” on horns and percussion instruments, are “Knute Nelson, Dolliver, Cummins, Clapp, Bristow, [and] La Follette.” Caption: Pity the poor leader of the Washington Symphony Orchestra.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

An old man labeled “Mormon Hierarchy”, wearing a coat of stitched together fragments of cloth labeled “Polygamy, Mormon Rebellion, Resistance to Federal Authority, Blood Atonement, Murder of Apostates, [and] Mountain Meadow Massacre,” stands outside the door to the “U.S. Senate” and places a puppet labeled “R. Smoot” inside the Senate chamber.

Comments and Context

This cartoon was drawn at the commencement of the first trial in the United States Senate of Reed Smoot of Utah, elected the previous year but challenged over his status as a prominent “Apostle” in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a Mormon he was scrutinized over policies and controversies surrounding the denomination. Polygamy supposedly had been outlawed — a major concern of Americans — but Smoot himself had a mother who was the sixth of his father’s simultaneous (“plural”) marriages. Smoot was seated by the Senate, but trials continued for four years.

The “sins” or offenses and controversies surrounding Mormonism are emblazoned on the coat of the elder holding Smoot as a puppet.

Theodore Roosevelt discusses the Mormon Church with Isaac Russell. Roosevelt responds to charges that he had negotiated secret deals with the Mormon leadership while President.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-17

Theodore Roosevelt responds to a letter to The New York Times in which Robert M. Stevenson, president of Westminster College, quotes a passage from Pearson’s Magazine alleging that as President, Roosevelt made a bargain with the Mormon Church in exchange for electoral votes. The votes were allegedly given in exchange for an end to Republican agitation for an amendment allowing Congress to legislate regarding polygamy, the retention of Senator Reed Smoot, and patronage positions in accordance to the wish of the Mormon hierarchy. Roosevelt vehemently denies these allegations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-04

A list of individuals sent invitations on January 20, 1909, to the White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-20

President Roosevelt cannot discuss the matter in Le Roy Armstrong’s letter in writing, but Senator Reed Smoot can explain his attitude.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-05

President Roosevelt congratulates Senator Sutherland and Senator Reed Smoot on their work on the battleship bill. He also encloses a letter from C. Hart Merriam and asks if he can help getting the bill he suggests through.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-28

President Roosevelt praises Senator Flint for taking a stand in the battleship fight. He asks Flint to give his regards to Senators Smoot and Sutherland as well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-28

President Roosevelt congratulates Senator Hopkins on his speech during the expulsion case of Senator Reed Smoot. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-18