Your TR Source
President Roosevelt asks Representative Hull, Chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, if anything can be done to help John S. Gibbon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-07
President Roosevelt promises Martha Macomb Selmes that he will write to Representative John A. T. Hull to try to pass the bill relating to John S. Gibbons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-07
President Roosevelt is glad to hear that the deer of Rhode Island have done so well, and promises to look into allegations of soldiers poaching them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-31
President Roosevelt sends Thomas Jefferson Henderson, member of the board of managers for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, a message of sympathy following the death of Henderson’s fellow board-member Martin T. McMahon. Roosevelt praises McMahon’s service, and comments that he will be difficult to replace.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-23
President Roosevelt does not think that the United States army will go to China. In any case, he advises Wade C. McClarin not to try to enter the army as a boy, but to work hard and grow in body and mind so that when there is a need, he will be able to join the army and do his duty as a soldier.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-19
President Roosevelt praises General Hamilton’s “Staff Officer’s Scrapbook” about the Russo-Japanese War. He agrees with Hamilton’s assessment about the moral and physical fighting qualities of average individual soldiers. In Roosevelt’s own war experience, he finds that soldiers from rural backgrounds were often superior fighters to those from cities. He reflects on the tension between modern materialists, who only think of money, and idealists, who often “construct an ideal which is not only fantastic but excessively undesirable,” which causes the atrophy of “military or warlike virtues.” Roosevelt praises the Japanese army’s conduct.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-24
President Roosevelt thanks Lieutenant William C. Jones of Company I of the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry. He commends Jones for “showing just the spirit that the guardsman should show.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-08
President Roosevelt tells William R. Willcox that Rough Rider Thaddeus Higgins was good at paperwork and camp work, but did not show leadership qualities in battle. He adds that following the Spanish-American War, Higgins has made ludicrous claims regarding his bravery in action. In spite of this, Roosevelt says that Higgins was a good soldier, though he would be better in a clerical position than in one that depended upon his individual initiative or physical abilities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-11
President Roosevelt explains to James Roscoe Day that he had made the decision to give Lieutenant George S. Richards the opportunity to resign after consultation with Secretary of War William H. Taft. As Richards has not taken advantage of that mercy, he is to be treated as any other lieutenant. Roosevelt will not consider restoring him to the army or pardoning him, although if an appeal is filed he will discuss the matter with Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-31
President Roosevelt requests that one of Robert E. Lee’s grandsons, two of whom are serving in the army, be detailed to serve as a White House aide. He asks Major Charles L. McCawley to investigate the matter and evaluate which of them might be more suitable for the position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-21
President Roosevelt suggests assisting the soldiers penalized for their actions after the Galveston disaster. Roosevelt has learned that the bill on the matter has passed the Senate, and was reported favorably from the Committee on Military Affairs. He promises, however, to stand by Speaker of the House Cannon’s decision on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-08
President Roosevelt forwards to Secretary of War Taft a letter about “an educated and patriotic fellow” who served in the army in the Philippines and later deserted while on duty in the United States. Roosevelt would like to give the man a chance to atone for his error, and believes that the standard procedures for punishing deserters should be reviewed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-04
President Roosevelt does not generally believe in comparing “great men” but he views George Washington as the “first American.” Washington was a soldier and statesman while Abraham Lincoln was not a soldier.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-13
President Roosevelt will see what he can do for the enlisted men of the Puerto Rico regiment, but Secretary of War Elihu Root is against the officers entering the regular army.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-06
President Roosevelt denies ever having a conversation with General Wilson at Sagamore Hill regarding General Wood’s presence at the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-12
President Roosevelt commends Rolla Fullinwider as a gallant soldier and believes that Collector Garrett of El Paso will give Fullinwider a position when there is a vacancy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-17
President Roosevelt feels that Colonel Reid should not be appointed and retired. Reid left “the line” for a “quiet” staff position in Washington, D.C., and Roosevelt believes that the promotion in question should go to someone who has spent the last thirteen years suffering the “worst exposure and hardship.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-15
Gifford Pinchot was away and then involved in an important legal matter. Regarding the farmers, Congress and executives should not be the only ones in control. Rather, farmers’ organizations should be supported and their input welcomed by the government. Pinchot also leaves notes with page numbers next to topics relating to labor and business; with more time he could have done more. Pinchot thinks a first draft is “not a fair subject of criticism” but does not feel the letter measures up to Roosevelt’s usual level of writing. Pinchot concludes by remarking that he enjoyed Roosevelt’s article on the League of Nations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-12-15
This obituary illustrates the life of Rear Admiral Charles Stillman Sperry, U.S. Navy. His military history, personality, and effectiveness as a leader are all captured in this document. Most notably he is known for being a key mediator in many high tension situations in East Asia, and successfully prevent said conflicts from escalating.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09
Annie White writes to Frank Harper to further explain her reasons for writing to Theodore Roosevelt regarding her application to the Pension Bureau and the Soldier’s Homestead act.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-24