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President Roosevelt explains his reasoning for recent judgeship appointments as the result of choosing good public servants. In response to Senator Proctor’s assertion that Vermont has not received its proper share of appointments, Roosevelt retorts that the state has nearly five times the share to which she is entitled.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-13
President Roosevelt explains to Senator Proctor that Vermont has a disproportionately high representation in the State Department. Roosevelt emphasizes that he, Secretary of State Elihu Root, and Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon consider many men in order to find the right person for a recently filled Consul General position in Boma.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-20
Theodore Roosevelt informs William McNeir that he is designated as the representative of the Department of State on the United States Geographic Board.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-24
President Roosevelt believes Arthur Hamilton Lee handled the “Swettenham matter” efficiently, calling the matter itself a “cosmic incident” and citing others like Swettenham in American Government, most notably General James Harrison Wilson. He was amused by the opinions of John William Burgess, who was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt professorship in at the University of Berlin. While Roosevelt admires some of Burgess’s scholarly accomplishments, he considers Burgess “hopefully wrong-headed” and criticizes his first lecture denouncing the Monroe Doctrine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-08
President Roosevelt orders the United States Justice Department to make any government documents requested available to Mark Goode of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to aid his investigation of the corrupt practices of Martin J. Bentley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-16
President Roosevelt would like Ambassador Reid to get in touch with the London Post regarding their reporter A. Maurice Low, who Roosevelt considers “a liar and a slanderer.” Low has cause considerable trouble for the United States government. Roosevelt also shares his enjoyment of a recent exhibition of American artists.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-17
President Roosevelt appoints Assistant Secretary of State Bacon as representative of the State Department to the Central Committee of the American National Red Cross.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-30
President Roosevelt asks John Avery McIlhenny if he got the letter asking him to become Civil Service Commissioner of the State Department. Roosevelt hopes McIlhenny will take the position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-08
President Roosevelt is disappointed in the professional conduct of Minister to Cuba Edwin V. Morgan and tells Secretary of State Root that he “has been absolutely useless in the crises that has just occurred.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-03
President Roosevelt deeply treasures his acquaintance and his correspondence with Yamei Kin. Roosevelt gives Kin permission to show anyone this letter and to speak of his fondness for her. He requests that Kin show this letter to Ambassador William Woodville Rockhill. In turn, he will submit her letter to Dr. Lyman Abbott and the State Department for he feels the contents of her letter are quite valuable.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-24
President Roosevelt informs American Minister to Spain Collier that everything has been satisfactorily arranged by the State Department. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon speaks highly of Collier’s accomplishments, and Roosevelt shares this sentiment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-17
President Roosevelt enjoyed reading James Brown Scott’s manuscript essay on Alexander Hamilton, and is proud that the State Department “has connected with it a man capable of writing such an article.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-18
President Roosevelt would like for Frank L. Laird and Adam C. Haeselbarth to discuss the conditions in Santo Domingo with some members of the War or State Department. Roosevelt praises Haeselbarth’s performance as Director of Charities in Puerto Rico, but does not know how familiar he is with the situation with the Dominican Republic compared with government agents George R. Colton or Thomas Cleland Dawson. He is interested in learning exactly what Haeselbarth wishes to discuss, but then would like to invite the pair to Washington, D.C., to discuss the matter. Regarding the recent treaty, Roosevelt maintains that “there was literally one one honest or intelligent objection,” and the Senate’s conduct was shameful.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-03
President Roosevelt repeats his congratulations to Acting Secretary of State Bacon for the way he has handled the Central American business. He asks Bacon to also pass along his congratulations to Federico Velásquez y Hernández, Secretary of State for Treasury and Commerce of the Dominican Republic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-21
President Roosevelt appreciates David B. Ogden’s wish to advocate on behalf of Francis Augustus MacNutt. He has not taken any official position or action relative to MacNutt, and does not think it would be proper to send anyone to speak with Archibald Loudon Snowden at this time. He has already received a copy of all official information on the matter from Secretary of State Root.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-24
President Roosevelt does not wish to take action on the case of Francis Augustus MacNutt in the absence of Secretary of State Elihu Root, and believes the only thing he can say is that the State Department has transmitted the records dealing with MacNutt to him, which contain all official information on the matter. Roosevelt cannot do what David B. Ogden requests and make an inquiry into Archibald Loudon Snowden, as it is thirteen years after the event. Apart from any actions warranted by the official record, Roosevelt will not act on the matter. He is sure that on reflection Eugene A. Philbin will see that it would be unwise for Roosevelt to involve himself in the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-24
President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte that he has had to refuse both invitations, and remarks that he “shuddered slightly at the usual ‘Excellency’ in the Mayor’s letter.” Secretary of State Elihu Root has given Roosevelt details about the running of the Department of State for the next several months, but Roosevelt has not heard from any other Cabinet members apart from Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-05
President Roosevelt sends his former Rough Rider Comrade Eugene W. Waterbury a letter for Mr. Baily. He comments that he has heard good things about Thomas, and that he is not barred from promotion because of his civil war record. Roosevelt promises that Thomas will be judged on an equal basis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-12
President Roosevelt has been reviewing the case of Marcus Braun. He tells Secretary of State Root that while he did not think it was wise to send Braun to Hungary, the State Department did not support him as well as it should have. He expresses his concerns about immigration from Austria-Hungary, and overall considers the government there “one of the most unfriendly […] to us that there is in Europe.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-28
President Roosevelt offers a suggestion to Secretary of State Root that when people are dismissed from diplomatic or consular service, a record be kept of the circumstances surrounding their dismissal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-04