Sullivan, Mark, 1874-1952

Gary Clinton writes an introduction to a letter from Elihu Root to Mark Sullivan about Theodore Roosevelt’s decision making process. The introductory essay is followed by the three page typed letter in which Root highlights aspects of Roosevelt’s personality and leadership, such as his adherence to trusting his own judgment and his love of a fight. Clinton values the letter as an example of learning about Roosevelt based on the knowledge of those who knew him firsthand. A photograph of Root joins the title page of Sullivan’s book Our Times in illustrating the introductory essay.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Theodore Roosevelt told Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about Joseph Wilmer’s letter the previous day, when she was feeling better. She had a relapse today but is getting better, and has asked their friends Mark Sullivan and his wife Marie Sullivan to spend some time at the Pine Knot cottage for much-needed relaxation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Theodore Roosevelt has written to Mark Sullivan and hopes he will stay away from work to get a long rest. Roosevelt enjoyed Norman Hapgood’s visit to Oyster Bay.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-29

Theodore Roosevelt explains that he is booked for Tommy Hitchcock’s box, but he invites the Colliers, the Hapgoods, and Mark Sullivan for lunch sometime.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-16

Theodore Roosevelt writes that the matter with Alexander Smith Cochran is arranged. Roosevelt asks that Temple Scott keep the matter private except for Mark Sullivan. To save Bliss Carmen’s feelings he will have him work some with the Elizabethan club.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-17

Theodore Roosevelt tells Arthur Ruhl that he, Mark Sullivan, and Marie McMechen Buchanan Sullivan all enjoyed having dinner with Ruhl. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-24

President Roosevelt tells Roger S. Baldwin that when Mark Sullivan asked to publish his letter, he felt it would be “unmanly” to object. He believed that he had to stand by whatever he had said in the letter. He thanks Baldwin for his letter, and asks him to tell his father, Connecticut Chief Justice Simeon E. Baldwin, that everything is all right.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-31

President Roosevelt is sorry that Sarah Steward Collier will not be able to travel with Robert J. Collier when he visits on August 4. Roosevelt has been treated very nicely by both Collier and Mark Sullivan, and he feels very differently about Collier’s Weekly than he did four years ago. If an opportunity arises for Roosevelt to write something that Collier wants, Roosevelt will be glad to do so.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-14

President Roosevelt is sorry that he did not connect his presently planned hunting trip with Robert J. Collier’s previous offer. Scribner’s Magazine has handled Roosevelt’s past hunting trips, so he naturally thought of them first. Roosevelt is glad that Collier did not make his present offer when he first visited, as Roosevelt would have had a much harder time making a decision between the two magazines. Roosevelt hopes to be able to give Collier articles in the future, and hopes to meet with him and Mark Sullivan in person soon. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt assures Collier that if he were going on a world trip, as Collier initially proposed, he would definitely have turned to him first.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-09

President Roosevelt thanks Norman Hapgood for the letter, and asks him to visit next fall to discuss certain political matters, perhaps along with Robert J. Collier and Mark Sullivan. Roosevelt is glad that Hapgood liked Roosevelt’s letter to Rudolph Spreckels. Roosevelt originally wrote a private note, but it was too frank, so he wrote another letter for publication.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-06

President Roosevelt asks Frederick Palmer if he has heard from Mark Sullivan. He wants to meet with journalists Palmer and Sullivan to go over the way that promotions are currently made.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-25

President Roosevelt is astounded by the degree of falsehood contained in an article in Robert J. Collier’s weekly magazine about the Department of the Interior. Roosevelt would like to opportunity to explain the true situation to Collier or Mark Sullivan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-14

Marie McMechen Buchanan Sullivan thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the gift he sent for her and her husband Mark’s new baby.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05

Robert J. Collier invites Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to have lunch and attend the first National Polo Match game at Meadow Brook.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-11

Norman Hapgood provides Theodore Roosevelt with Mark Sullivan’s tentative conclusions on a reciprocity bill that is currently being debated in the House of Representatives. Democrats are reluctant to support it. Sullivan believes that they will vote in favor of the bill, knowing it will be killed in the Senate. He suggests that Hapgood, Roosevelt, and their friends should favor the bill, “but not with much excitement.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-06

Robert J. Collier was surprised by the gift of a draft of one of President Roosevelt’s speeches that he received from Mark Sullivan, and thanks Roosevelt for his part in it. Collier believes that the speech is high-minded and straightforward, and thinks that it should be printed somewhere after Roosevelt delivers it so that it is preserved.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-28

Robert J. Collier is disappointed by the news that President Roosevelt has made a decision regarding his African articles before Collier was able to meet with him in person. Collier recalls that he had been one of the first, nearly two years ago, to suggest a trip after Roosevelt leaves the presidency; and he understood that Roosevelt would talk with him before making a decision. He argues that Roosevelt’s articles would reach a greater number of people if Collier’s publishes them than they would if they appear in Scribner’s, and he increases his earlier offer of $50,000 to $100,000 for the rights to publish them serially, with the understanding that Scribner’s would subsequently publish them in book form.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-09

Benjamin B. Hampton explains to Lindsay Denison his recent remarks in further detail. Hampton believes it would be better for President Roosevelt to deal with the tobacco companies directly, rather than through the courts, since it would be faster and potentially more beneficial for both parties. Hampton stresses that he is not well-versed in law or in a position to speak on behalf of the tobacco industry, although he is an advertiser for the American Tobacco Company. Hampton invites Denison to consider the shortcomings of his proposal and to enlighten him as to why it might be ill-conceived.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-24

William Allen White of the Emporia Gazette shares his thoughts on William H. Taft’s candidacy for president in the upcoming election and the trial of Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah. White fears that politicians may ruin Taft’s chances in various states, as they would support Roosevelt for a third term, but will give their support to men like Senator Joseph Gurney Cannon or Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks when Roosevelt declines to run. White says the political organization in Colorado is against Taft. S. S. McClure, who was originally prejudiced against Borah, now supports him and asked White to write an article defending him, which White refused both because he is personal friends with Borah, and because he is busy with his own writing. White hired C. P. Connelly, a lawyer, to look into the matter for him, and Connelly told him that he believes Borah to be innocent. White shares his thoughts regarding the impossible situation Borah is in, where a mistrial will be as bad as a conviction for his career. White asks Roosevelt to meet with Borah. In a postscript, White points out that the trial of Charles H. Moyer, which Borah is prosecuting, will take place in the same month as Borah’s own trial, and how disadvantageous this will be for all involved.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-25

Kathleen Dalton explores “a little known side of” Theodore Roosevelt: his love of telling stories. Dalton identifies ghost stories, animal and hunting stories, tales from his days as a cowboy, and stories involving the Rough Riders as some of Roosevelt’s favorite topics. She also says that he liked to talk about his own adventures, such as hiking in Rock Creek Park, or discussing his political friends and foes, and she says that Roosevelt’s favorite audience for his stories was his children. Dalton identifies a number of people who were subjects of Roosevelt’s tales or who, like Rudyard Kipling, were captivated by listening to his stories.

Two photographs of Roosevelt, and an illustration of him telling a camp fire story to children, supplement the article which also has two text boxes with information about the Theodore Roosevelt Association.