U.S. states--Politics and government

Letter from William Barnes to William Loeb

William Barnes provides William Loeb with an update on the political situation in New York. Former Senator Edgar Truman Brackett is antagonistic toward Barnes because Barnes was instrumental in defeating his renomination and instead nominating Senator William W. Wemple, who was a member of Barnes’ state committee district. Brackett’s district’s attitude in the National Convention will be a problem. Brackett has made arrangements with parties from various other districts for control. Barnes is concerned about the implications of this situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-17

Creator(s)

Barnes, William, 1866-1930

Letter from Nathan W. Hale to Theodore Roosevelt

Representative Hale of Tennessee writes to President Roosevelt with information in the interest of building a respectable Republican party in Tennessee. Hale says that Tennessee has been corrupt for 15 years, but under Roosevelt the state organization has been cleaned up. He hopes this will continue under the administration of Secretary of War William H. Taft, Roosevelt’s likely successor. Hale worries about slanderous claims about his nomination and corruption in the Southern faction of the party. He feels he has given up much for the good of the party, and hopes Roosevelt will not believe the charges against him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-17

Creator(s)

Hale, Nathan W. (Nathan Wesley), 1860-1941

Letter from Oscar S. Straus to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus tells President Roosevelt that he is ill, and will be on bedrest for another day, missing a cabinet meeting. Straus has the contract lithographers labor case under control and will discuss it with Roosevelt next week. Straus is happy to hear that Roosevelt was not responsible for the financial crisis in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-26

Creator(s)

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

Letter from Herbert Parsons to Alford Warriner Cooley

Representative Parsons explains some political considerations he has made in New York County to Assistant Attorney General Cooley. Parsons has decided to cooperate in municipal elections with William Randolph Hearst, and asks that Cooley explain his reasoning to President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-12

Creator(s)

Parsons, Herbert, 1869-1925

Letter from Alford Warriner Cooley to Theodore Roosevelt

Assistant Attorney General Cooley informs President Roosevelt of the developments surrounding Representative Parsons’ arrangement with William Randolph Hearst in New York County. Cooley thinks it would be prudent of Roosevelt to make some kind of statement after he returns to Washington. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes has been non-committal to this point, although he may have had prior knowledge, according to Parsons.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-16

Creator(s)

Cooley, Alford Warriner, 1873-1913

Letter from James Sullivan Clarkson to William Loeb

James Sullivan Clarkson explains the political situation in Iowa to William Loeb. Clarkson is concerned that a group of powerful men and various corporations is conspiring to control delegations in Iowa and the surrounding states to the detriment of President Roosevelt and Vice President Taft. In particular General Dodge, a close friend of Governor Cumins, is thought to be behind the operation. Clarkson believes that most people will support Roosevelt’s cause, including capitalists who have criticized him in the past. A handwritten note posits that perhaps Dodge is actually on Roosevelt’s side and is influencing matters in his favor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-24

Creator(s)

Clarkson, James Sullivan, 1842-1918

Letter from Edward Grey to Theodore Roosevelt

British Foreign Secretary Grey informs President Roosevelt that Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand will be replaced, and while he understands Roosevelt’s desire to have Arthur Lee in his place, that is politically impossible. Temporarily, Esmé Howard will be sent to Washington as Councillor to the Embassy. Grey appreciated Roosevelt’s explanation of his telegram to German Emperor William after the Portsmouth Peace. Grey explains that his foreign policy is not anti-German, but to be independent he feels it necessary to strengthen the entente with France and come to an agreement with Russia. Grey believes that his generation has had enough of war, and the British people feel a special bond with the United States. Grey hopes the dispute between Canada and the United States over Newfoundland will soon be settled. He also adds that many in Great Britain are upset over reports of slavery and plunder in the Belgian Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-04

Creator(s)

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, Viscount, 1862-1933

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft informs President Roosevelt of the political situation in Idaho where he was sent to campaign for the reelection of Governor Gooding. Gooding is confident that he will win the gubernatorial race, but he faces significant opposition in response to the arrest of Charles Moyer and William Dudley Haywood and the efforts of the Western Federation of Miners to defeat him. Senator Dubois has been trying to make Mormonism another central issue in the campaign and to portray Taft in a negative light by associating him with the religious group. Taft concludes by stating his admiration for Secretary of State Root’s speech on William Randolph Hearst.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-04

Creator(s)

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

Hughes’s platform from his speeches

Charles Evan Hughes outlines his platform for the 1906 New York gubernatorial campaign.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-22

Creator(s)

Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948

Letter from Herbert Parsons to Theodore Roosevelt

Herbert Parsons met with Postmaster Cortelyou to go over suggestions forwarded to the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York, Charles Evans Hughes, most of which had to do with antisemitism in newspapers of Democratic candidate William Randolph Hearst. Parsons was also part of the Judiciary Convention which nominated Otto Rosalasky while taking the rest of the Judiciary Nominator’s ticket. Parsons urges Roosevelt to endorse James L. Wells as a candidate to represent the Bronx.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-11

Creator(s)

Parsons, Herbert, 1869-1925

Letter from Leslie M. Shaw to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Treasury Shaw appreciates President Roosevelt’s kind words about his work in the campaign. Shaw reports that it is surprisingly difficult to encourage people to come to the meetings and the halls are rarely filled to capacity. Shaw also reports that he is worried Democrats will be able to get out the vote more successfully in Kentucky than the Republicans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-12

Creator(s)

Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932

Letter from Herbert Parsons to Nicholas Murray Butler

Herbert Parsons expresses disbelief at the Judiciary Nominator’s proposal to nominate nine members of the opposing party and only four Republicans to the ticket. Parsons considers it unwise for their political organization and states that his leadership of the County Committee would be under threat if such a path were followed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-13

Creator(s)

Parsons, Herbert, 1869-1925

Letter from Douglas Robinson to Theodore Roosevelt

Douglas Robinson regrets asking if there was a position available for William. R. Blair. Robinson generally avoids politics. He regrets he cannot accept Roosevelt’s offer to stop by Sagamore as their schedules conflict. Monroe and Stewart have returned from their trip to Merrifield’s ranch. They enjoyed playing cowboys and had a successful hunting trip. They are off to Harvard tomorrow.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-24

Creator(s)

Robinson, Douglas, 1855-1918

Letter from John A. Sleicher to William Loeb

John A. Sleicher hopes the president will rescind oppressive regulation of small newspapers. Conde Hamlin of the St. Paul Pioneer Press agrees. Hamlin thinks William Jennings Bryan has “queered himself” but will be nominated nonetheless. Governor Frank S. Black and his wife Lois are returning from vacation. Sleicher hopes Black will be a delegate at the New York state convention and also recommends Herbert Parsons for the state committee. Sleicher tells Loeb to take pictures on an upcoming trip out West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-21

Creator(s)

Sleicher, John A. (John Albert), 1848-1921

Letter from J. Sloat Fassett to William Loeb

J. Sloat Fassett writes to William Loeb about New York state politics. Fassett thinks that Governor Frank Wayland Higgins and Lieutenant Governor Benjamin B. Odell are about to lose their positions and finds Charles Evans Hughes a good choice for Governor. Fassett thinks Edgar Truman Brackett is not much without his partner and is a “vindictive, bitter man.” Hughes polls well and is gaining attention from the media, including William Randolph Hearst. Fassett wishes that Roosevelt could offer advice impartially, as he finds state Republican Party leader Timothy L. Woodruff ineffectual.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-14

Creator(s)

Fassett, J. Sloat (Jacob Sloat), 1853-1924

Letter from Phillips Lee Goldsborough to Charles J. Bonaparte

Phillips Lee Goldsborough asks Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte if he believes President Roosevelt will permit him to be chairman of William H. Jackson’s congressional campaign even though he is a collector for the Internal Revenue Service. Goldsborough believes he will be granted permission based on a conversation he had with Commissioner John Watson Yerkes in which Yerkes confirmed that Roosevelt had allowed a collector to act as chairman of a state committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-15

Creator(s)

Goldsborough, Phillips Lee, 1865-1946

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte discusses the political situation in Baltimore regarding the vacancy for Deputy Surveyor of Customs and recommends that President Roosevelt leave the position unfilled until after the election and then appoint James Campbell. Bonaparte then discusses the political situation between Clarence C. Pusey, Abraham Lincoln Dryden, and John B. Hanna, recommending that Roosevelt suggest that Pusey wait until November 1st to take office, which would be considerate to William H. Jackson without offending Pusey’s supporters. Bonaparte also discusses whether two ships should make a trip to New Orleans or not.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-10

Creator(s)

Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921

Letter from Frederick C. Stevens to Theodore Roosevelt

New York state senator Frederick C. Stevens asks for President Roosevelt’s support in his campaign for the Republican nomination for Governor. He argues that he is a better candidate than Charles Evans Hughes or the incumbent Governor Frank Wayland Higgins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-11

Creator(s)

Stevens, Frederick C. (Frederick Charles), 1856-1916

Letter from Charles William Anderson to William Loeb

Charles William Anderson informs William Loeb that Roscoe Conkling Simmons, Booker T. Washington’s nephew by marriage, has started a newspaper in New York that aligns with the political leanings of Benjamin B. Odell and Lemuel Ely Quigg. Other friends of Washington have also expressed political opinions contrary to Roosevelt, and Anderson intends to tell Washington that he ought to stand by the President.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-12

Creator(s)

Anderson, Charles William, 1866-1938

Letter from Leslie M. Shaw to J. S. Sherman

Leslie M. Shaw informs J. S. Sherman that there is no longer doubt about their victory in the congressional campaign after Speaker Cannon’s speech, President Roosevelt’s letter, and Col. Bryan’s acceptance. Shaw recommends sending Republican speakers through neglected Democratic districts in the South where the margin of victory was small to begin cultivating support that might lead to Republican victories in 1916.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-05

Creator(s)

Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932