Straus, Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926

Frederick Norton Goddard received William Loeb’s telegram advising Goddard that President Roosevelt would like Goddard to go see Frank Wayland Higgins. Higgins is in favor of the appointment of Marcus M. Marks as Postmaster of New York, but does not want to openly recommend him for fear of displeasing Benjamin B. Odell. There is some hesitation among Republicans to nominate Marks due to his being Jewish. Goddard asks for the intervention of Roosevelt into this matter by entering into the conversation via telegram, and discusses the possible involvement of Jacob H. Schiff and Thomas Collier Platt as well. He believes the appointment of Marks would be politically beneficial to the Republican Party.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-27

Creator(s)

Goddard, Frederick Norton, 1861-1905

John B. Ashbaugh examines Theodore Roosevelt’s complicated views on race and charts his history with various ethnic and racial groups, including Native Americans, African-Americans, and Jews. Ashbaugh highlights the influence of Roosevelt’s southern born and raised mother and her brothers, both of whom served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Ashbaugh stresses that Roosevelt’s views evolved over time, and he demonstrates how Roosevelt believed in and promoted the Progressive views of his time such as the assimilation of Native Americans, but that he also respected many aspects of Native culture and had enduring friendships with individual Native Americans. Ashbaugh presents Roosevelt’s views on Jews and immigration, and he details many aspects of Roosevelt’s feelings toward and relationship with African-Americans, including his condemnation of lynching, his White House dinner with Booker T. Washington, and the Brownsville incident.

Five photographs and two illustrations appear in the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2020

In a chapter titled “A Most Just and Proper Revolution,” taken from the second volume of his biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris details the machinations in Washington, D.C. and Panama that resulted in the revolution against Colombian rule on the Isthmus and the establishment of the independent nation of Panama. Morris describes the careful actions and words of administration figures like Roosevelt and Secretary of State John Hay, and he charts the movement of ships of the United States Navy sent in support of the insurrection. Morris adds to his Panama narrative interludes about the November 1903 elections in the United States, Roosevelt’s visit to Sagamore Hill, and his compilation of a reading list.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2001

Creator(s)

Morris, Edmund

Louis B. Livingston chronicles the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores during their time together as cattle ranchers in the Dakota Badlands. Livingston focuses on the controversy as to whether the two seriously contemplated a duel to settle their differences, and he charts their divergent paths once they left the West after the ruin of their ranches. Livingston details de Mores’s obsession with antisemitism which he argues helped precipitate the notorious Dreyfus Affair in France, and he documents Roosevelt’s outspoken opposition to antisemitism during his political career.

Six photographs supplement the article, including two of de Mores and three of Roosevelt during their ranching years. A text box with the mission statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appears at the end of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2015

Henry J. Hendrix describes the negotiations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, between Russia and Japan in an effort to end the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Hendrix also details the role played by President Theodore Roosevelt, especially his use of third parties to act as intermediaries between him and the warring powers. Hendrix notes that Roosevelt persuaded the Japanese to surrender their demand for an indemnity from the Russians, convincing them that asking for a payment would appear to the world as continuing the war simply for money. Hendrix asserts that studying the negotiations reveals that Roosevelt was in charge of his diplomacy; that he was “deeply involved” in the process; and that he made effective use of back-channel or third party diplomacy. 

Two photographs and two political cartoons of Roosevelt illustrate the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

The Department of Commerce and Labor was created during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, with George B. Cortelyou being appointed the department’s first Secretary. Victor Howard Metcalf succeeded him on 1904 to become the second Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and was then succeeded himself in 1906 by Oscar S. Straus. In 1913, as William Howard Taft left the Presidency, Congress split the department into two–the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1989

Creator(s)

Unknown

John Robert Greene tells the story of Frederick Morgan Davenport of New York state, whose political affiliations would move from the Republican party to the Progressive party, back to the Republicans, and would end with him as a supporter of the New Deal working for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Greene covers Davenport’s early career as a minister and teacher with an interest in the history of American revivals. He details his entry into New York politics and discusses his interest in adoption of the direct primary which led him to seek the support of Theodore Roosevelt. Greene examines the warfare in the Republican party between 1912 and 1916, and he notes Davenport’s work for Syracuse University in the 1920s. Davenport’s support of President Herbert Hoover and his work on behalf of tariff reform are covered as is Davenport’s gradual embrace of the New Deal while heading two agencies dealing with government personnel matters. Greene notes that Davenport was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1951.

Two of Davenport’s campaign posters, a photograph of the 1912 Progressive Party convention in Chicago, and a political cartoon from the 1912 campaign illustrate the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

The Lincoln Farm Association invites Theodore Roosevelt to attend the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial Hall. Includes a card about special trains, an invitation from Governor Augustus Everett Willson, and a list of officers and trustees of the Lincoln Farm Association.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-09

Creator(s)

Lincoln Farm Association

Canada’s new premier, Robert L. Borden, visited New York City for the first time since the election. He denounced the rumor of Canadian hostility towards the United States and emphasized that recent events will not interfere with the current cordial relations between the two countries. Borden was the guest of honor at a luncheon with members of the Anglo-American Peace Centennial Committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-29

Creator(s)

Unknown

An account of the banquet for the Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, including a list of attendees, and reprints of messages from President William H. Taft and Governor Dix and speeches by Jacob H. Schiff, Theodore Roosevelt, Mayor William Jay Gaynor, Oscar S. Straus. The newspaper also covers the Council’s other proceedings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01

Creator(s)

Unknown

President Roosevelt wears a life vest and pulls out rope from the “Administration’s Support” bucket to extend a “Hot Air” life preserver into the ocean of “Taft’s Campaign.” Assisting to let out the line are New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Secretary of Commerce Oscar S. Straus, and Secretary of State Elihu Root. “Democratic Opposition” lightning strikes above.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-28

President Roosevelt looks out of his office at members of his cabinet standing on stumps: Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar S. Straus, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, Secretary of State Elihu Root, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf, Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, and Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Roosevelt says, “Durn the luck.” Caption: Every member of his cabinet on the stump and he can’t get into the game.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

President Roosevelt opens his cabinet, which features busts of his cabinet members, and tells them, “Come now, all of you must take the stump.” In the foreground is the “Taft campaign stump” and the following cabinet members are depicted as busts: Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar S. Straus, Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou, Bureau of Corporations James Rudolph Garfield, Secretary of State Elihu Root, Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer, Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf, and Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-26

Secretary of State Root informs President Roosevelt that he has been in contact with the Russian Government regarding “relations between the proposed Red Cross convention and Hague conference.” Root feels it is best to let Czar Nicholas II take the initiative in order to avoid any potential personal conflicts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-16

Creator(s)

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

Oscar S. Strauss, member of the International Arbitration Court at The Hague, believes the Senate’s changing of “agreement” to “treaty” defeats the purpose of the treaties and hopes President will withdraw treaties from further consideration if the amendment is not defeated.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02

Creator(s)

Unknown

List of unknown origin titled “American Members of the League for International Conciliation,” enclosed with a letter created by Nobel Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler. Andrew Carnegie and Andrew D. White are listed as “Honorary Presidents,” 12 people are listed under “Council of Direction,” and 46 people are listed as “Members.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Creator(s)

Unknown

The Conciliation Committee of San Francisco has called for an industrial peace conference with the encouragement of President Roosevelt. The gathering will propose to organize a branch of the National Civic Federation, led by Benjamin Ide Wheeler. Many labor leaders and some cabinet members are expected to attend.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-20

Creator(s)

Unknown

Scrapbook containing an array of newspaper clippings of articles and photographs relating to the 1912 presidential campaign of Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

Creation Date

1912

Creator(s)

Unknown

Composite photograph showing President Theodore Roosevelt seated at his desk with Cabinet members superimposed near him. The members are identified as (left to right): Taft, Wilson, Straus, Root, Hitchcock, Cortelyou, Bonaparte, Metcalf and Shaw.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1906

Creator(s)

Clinedinst, Barnett McFee, 1862-1953

Jacob H. Schiff believes that the Kishinev petition, written after the recent massacre of Jewish citizens in Russia, was a mistake and that the proposed conference between Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is unjust. There is no “Jewish problem” for the United States and Russia must find a solution from within. Schiff wants the American ambassador to Russia to represent “true American spirit.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-06

Creator(s)

Presidential Office Staff