Taft, Helen Herron, 1861-1943

President Roosevelt says that there is no need for Secretary of War Taft to go to Santo Domingo, but he would like to meet with him to discuss “the whole canal business.” He also would like Taft and his wife to come to dinner to meet the historian James Ford Rhodes. Roosevelt encloses a letter from Representative John Sharp Williams and asks him to look into “the soldier matter.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-11

President Roosevelt is glad that Secretary of War Taft offered to go to Santo Domingo, but believes that it is not necessary as matters there have died down. He is very interested to hear what Taft thinks of conditions in Panama, especially following reports in the press about friction among members of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Roosevelt hopes Taft and his wife Helen Herron Taft will join Secretary of State Elihu Root at a dinner with historian James Ford Rhodes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-10

President Roosevelt would like to see Columbia University President Butler, Professor John William Burgess, and James Speyer at the White House for dinner before Burgess sails to Berlin. People like the Roots and the Tafts will also be invited. Roosevelt enjoyed his trip through the South.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-04

President Roosevelt approves of Secretary of War Taft speaking at the University of Notre Dame. Roosevelt agrees with Taft about the Storers, and he thinks Wilson and Park should be put in the cavalry. Roosevelt is enjoying his summer at Oyster Bay with his family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-05

Joseph Bucklin Bishop asks Theodore Roosevelt his opinion on Charles Dewey Hilles’s statement. He heard from an official’s wife that Helen Herron Taft hosts gambling bridge parties at the White House, which he finds hard to believe. Bishop congratulates Roosevelt on becoming a grandparent and thanks him for being “the best friend” their son, Farnham Bishop, “ever had.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-28

Recalling the actions of her husband, Luther Halsey Gulick, in asking Theodore Roosevelt to become the Honorary Vice-President of the Boy Scouts, Charlotte V. Gulick asks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to accept the position of Honorary Vice-President of the “Girl Pioneers of America.” President William H. Taft and his wife, Helen Herron Taft, have been asked to become Honorary Presidents of the respective organizations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-29

Evangeline Booth is holding a sale in March to benefit rescue work for women and homes for orphaned children. She would like permission to list Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s name as one of the patrons of the sale. Helen Herron Taft has allowed her name to be used.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-10

Evangeline Booth is holding a sale in March to benefit rescue work for women and homes for orphaned children. She would like permission to list Theodore Roosevelt’s name as one of the patrons of the sale. Helen Herron Taft has allowed her name to be used.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-10

John Callan O’Laughlin writes Theodore Roosevelt about a number of matters currently at issue in the Senate. Among them are the investigation of Senator William Lorimer, the likelihood of the Canadian reciprocity legislation passing, and a vote on the direct election of Senators. O’Laughlin also notes that the organization of the Progressive League will be against President William H. Taft’s interests, and he notes that the administration does not seem to be doing anything to prepare for the upcoming presidential campaign.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-04

James J. Conway sends Theodore Roosevelt a letter he originally posted in 1908. He reminds Roosevelt that he wrote lyrics about President William Taft and has since received letters from Taft’s family and even Representative Nicholas Longworth and Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Recently he applied to be a steward on the Panama Canal, but despite qualifications, the question of age was raised. Taft has taken the matter up with Secretary of War J. M. Dickinson. Conway lists several prominent citizens as references and asks Roosevelt to talk to William A. Prendergast about him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-13

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-11-30

Creator(s)

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Recipient

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Emma L. Tompkins encloses for Theodore Roosevelt a sermon by Reverend John K. Baillie who works in Sussex County, New Jersey. It was sent to her by Flora Eveline Rude. Tompkins once gave goats to try and save Rude’s baby. She thanks Roosevelt, Edith, and the Tafts for their work against sin in the world.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-12-25

Thomas O. Clark visited the White House last year for a concert by a Welsh choir, and would like to secure an invitation this year for a different Welsh choir to perform there. He asks if Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt could write First Lady Helen Herron Taft about how much she enjoyed the concert last year. In a handwritten note, Roosevelt instructs her secretary to say that she has made a rule not to write such letters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-06-07

Alan Hudson asks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to write a letter about the place and work of a mother, to be read at a Mother’s Day celebration.

In a handwritten note, she instructs her secretary to decline because Theodore Roosevelt is no longer in public life. The letter should be similar to the one written to Success.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Vivetta Stevenson asks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to donate a small gift she can sell at her booth at a fundraising bazaar for the Volunteer St. Gregory Hospital. First Lady Helen Herron Taft donated a handkerchief. A handwritten note from Roosevelt says, “No.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-04-26

President-elect Taft encloses a letter from Sir Harry Johnston about the dreadful conditions at the Hotel Imperial in Colón, and his own reply. He found Johnston’s decision to complain at length about his personal discomfort to another country’s head of state perplexing. Taft’s wife, Helen Herron Taft, did not share his “intense amusement” at Johnston’s “extremely English” tone. Taft also encloses the self-explanatory letter he wrote to President Jose Domingo de Obaldia of Panama after a call from Obaldia’s competitor, Ricardo Arias. Taft is disgusted by Representative Henry Thomas Rainey’s “diatribes” in the House of Representatives.

President-elect Taft advises President Obaldia of Panama that going forward with his country’s proposed government timber contract would be a critical mistake. If the deal proved to be good for the government and bad for the company that received the contract, there are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure the work is completed. If the timber is extremely profitable, the Panamanian government could find itself controlled by a private company. The United States would also be displeased to see another entity gain so much power in Panama. Taft shares this advice confidentially, and in an unofficial capacity. In a postscript, he assures Obaldia that he was not influenced by the “malignantly slanderous reports” on this topic in the American press, and he thanks Obaldia for the previous night’s “beautiful and magnificent entertainment.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-05

Harry Johnston enjoyed meeting President-elect Taft and his wife, Helen Herron Taft, during their Panama Canal inspection. Johnson is optimistic about Taft’s plan for a dam at Gatun, but advises that the city of Colón poses another significant threat to the Canal. He offers suggestions for improving Colón’s dated and unsafe infrastructure.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-02

President-Elect Taft advises President Roosevelt to veto the bill in response to Congress’s refusal to put the Census Bureau under the Civil Service Act. Taft believes that vetoing it will help to put an end to the “pernicious spoils system.” Taft reports that Representative Joseph R. Foraker claims Taft and Roosevelt have taken money from an emergency fund unlawfully and has requested that they make their expenditures public. Taft details the expenditures he has made over the past four years from the fund, most of which covered his travel expenses. Taft reasons it may not be in the best interest of the public to reveal all of the expenditures, but recognizes that failure to do so would “create such a row.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-13

President-Elect Taft tells President Roosevelt about the Ohio senatorship, saying that “all’s well that ends well.” Although Taft’s brother, Charles Phelps Taft, will not be the senator, Taft’s main concern was the exclusion of Joseph Benson Foraker, who he believes would greatly interfere with his administration if he were to be in the Senate. Taft is not completely satisfied with the selection of Theodore E. Burton as senator, but accepts the result. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge has visited Taft recently, and has discussed Massachusetts politics. Taft once again reassures Roosevelt that while his wife, Helen Herron Taft, did receive a message from a group of Serbian women, she declined to offer her support and was judicious about her reply.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-04