Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt liked the editorial and hopes to see James R. Garfield soon. He does not care if any part of his administration is investigated because there was no wrongdoing, but “they are such dishonest jacks that they do not realize this.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-09
Theodore Roosevelt asks Frank B. Kellogg to notify him when he comes to visit New York, and invites him to lunch some day. Roosevelt mentions that a government committee has been threatening to call him to give testimony relating to the Steel Trust matter, but Roosevelt does not believe he ever discussed the matter with Kellogg and is indifferent to whether they call or not.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt promises that anything Richard Wilson Knott writes will have his deep consideration, but states that he does not believe that the Sherman antitrust law is the way to address the present trouble. He does not want to repeal the law, but does not think it allows addressing the root of the problem of industrial trusts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-06
Theodore Roosevelt encloses a letter and asks William Loeb if anything can be done regarding the writer and her “poor devil of a husband.” Roosevelt has been told that Congress wants to investigate his actions on “the Tennessee Coal and Iron matter, the Sugar Trust matter, and the Panama affair.” He asks Loeb if he knows where he may obtain the letter he wrote to Charles J. Bonaparte about Tennessee Coal and Iron.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-02
Theodore Roosevelt tells John Callan O’Laughlin that he has nothing to fear about Congress investigating the “Steel Corporation matter,” the Sugar Trust, or the Panama Canal because every action was made public knowledge from the beginning. Roosevelt expected some public uproar about the Steel Corporation once the danger was past.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-02
Theodore Roosevelt tells his son-in-law, Representative Nicholas Longworth, that he is not sure how to answer the question Representative Augustus Peabody Gardner put to him regarding testifying in front of the Steel Corporation Investigating Committee. While President William H. Taft has urged Roosevelt to decline to be interviewed, Roosevelt thinks that though he will not volunteer to go, if asked he would comply. If he volunteered to testify before any committee, he would be asked why he did not volunteer to speak before others as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-19
Lyman Abbott received S. P. Lathrop’s letter about the Georgia Ice Trust and will bring it to Theodore Roosevelt’s attention. However, Roosevelt likely will not address it during his trip to Atlanta, Georgia. Abbott assures Lathrop that Roosevelt will sympathize with the attempts to “overthrow the power of monopoly of every description.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-10-03
Theodore Roosevelt answers the three questions Alfred Borden posed regarding his political record. Roosevelt did not deal with the question of the tariff because he was attempting to take care of the trusts, does not feel that the cases of William Lorimer and George Barnsdale Cox are in any way comparable, and has not generalized the entirety of Wall Street as dishonest in any speech he has made. After making these points, Roosevelt writes more candidly in a postscript, criticizing Borden’s points as being ridiculous, and saying that if he took the time to find out the facts he would realize this.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-10-29
Theodore Roosevelt relitigates the circumstances surrounding the language and inclusion of the trust plank in the Progressive Party platform. Roosevelt states that he is planning to propose Francis J. Heney as Meyer Lissner’s proxy on the executive committee of the Progressive Party and expresses frustration about the tension between the moderate and radical wings of the party leading to dysfunction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-12-13
Theodore Roosevelt writes Amos Pinchot to discuss his continued support for George W. Perkins to remain a figure in the Progressive Party and warns against rooting out moderates from the party for the sake of maintaining the purity of ideals. Roosevelt also pushes back against the idea that breaking down trusts would improve the cost of living, and lays out what happened regarding the trust plank of the Progressive Party’s 1912 platform.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-12-05
President Roosevelt agrees with Attorney General Bonaparte on several matters including a conflict of interest involving Lycurgus H. Lingenfelter in Idaho, the pardon of Captain William H. Von Schaick, and matters relating to Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck and John D. Archbold. Roosevelt thinks his letter about assistant attorneys general must have passed Bonaparte’s in the mail. Roosevelt expresses his concern for Alford Warriner Cooley, who has had to resign due to tuberculosis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
President Roosevelt tells Attorney General Bonaparte that he thinks the prosecution against Standard Oil should go on “as hard as possible,” no matter what happens in the campaign. Roosevelt has told William H. Taft that he should announce that he will not take any campaign contributions from Standard Oil. Roosevelt returns a letter from Assistant District Attorney Charles Albert Boynton and agrees with Bonaparte about Alabama Governor B. B. Comer. Roosevelt is not pleased with the situation surrounding Lycurgus H. Lingenfelder. Roosevelt makes recommendations for appointments to the Department of Justice in the wake of resignations by Milton Dwight Purdy and Alford Warriner Cooley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-31
President Roosevelt says that a letter from Egbert J. DeBell is essentially a piece of blackmail, and he has forwarded it to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp. Roosevelt has spoken with Elihu Root, who thinks that no campaign letter from Roosevelt should be published until after William H. Taft gives his speech of acceptance and publishes his letter of acceptance. That should still give plenty of time for Roosevelt to do something, but the final say belongs to Taft, as to what he would like Roosevelt to do and when. Roosevelt responds to several points Taft raised about the Democratic Party platform.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-13
President Roosevelt believes that the Democratic party will adopt a plank satisfactory to the Newspaper Publishers Association because they will adopt any platform whether it can be put through or not. Roosevelt maintains that Bernard H. Ridder is a devotee of William Jennings Bryan and, in opposing Republican policies, wishes to discredit the Republican party. Roosevelt believes that the only effective action against trusts must come through legislation which increases the federal government’s control over interstate commerce. Roosevelt concludes by stating he is expressing his personal opinion and it is not for quotation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-14
President Roosevelt believes that the enclosed communication from Senator Henry Cabot Lodge speaks for itself. He asks Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry to have a report on the subject made and asks him to read his last message in connection with the report.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
President Roosevelt believes that passing the corporations bill along the Stetson-Morawetz line “would be worse than passing nothing.” While granting improper favors to both the corporations and the labor men might be beneficial for the moment, long term it would be politically ruinous and be a huge setback in the movement for corporation control. He asks Seth Low to get Frank B. Kellogg of Minnesota to fight hard for the bill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-09
President Roosevelt does not think that he agrees with the compromise suggested by John Carter Rose, United States Attorney for the district of Maryland. Roosevelt wants executive officers to be given full powers regarding the Sherman Antitrust Act. He does not think the current law is wise, but it would be less wise to leave the matter to the courts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-30
President Roosevelt apologizes to Senator Bourne that he could not meet with him on Sunday, as he does not like to see people on business that day if he can avoid it. Roosevelt says that any proposals made by Standard Oil will be considered, they must be conditioned on following the law, and must be detailed to Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte and Special Assistant Attorney General Frank B. Kellogg. Roosevelt knows that Bourne understands this, but he wishes for Bourne to make sure that Standard Oil understands this.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-23
President Roosevelt thanks Judge Irby Dunklin for the letter, and responds to a suggestion that Dunklin had made regarding how to deal with trusts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-17
President Roosevelt tells his son, Kermit Roosevelt, about playing tennis, and while he enjoyed it he will keep to walking for the time being for exercise due to the cold weather. Roosevelt had delivered a speech on trusts and labor to Congress. With the election coming closer, the public are beginning to pay more attention to what the candidates are saying rather than himself, and Roosevelt relished one of his last opportunities to speak before Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-02