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Garrett J. Benson alerts Theodore Roosevelt to a conference happening in Albany, New York among members of the New York State Republican Committee. Benson will keep Roosevelt informed about what goes on because he does not believe anyone attending is a friend to Roosevelt and it is best to be on guard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-12
New York Republican State Committee Chairman Woodruff counters William Loeb’s suggestion that John A. Merritt visit President Roosevelt in mid-October, stating that it will be too late for Merritt and James Wolcott Wadsworth to influence political matters this fall in order to strengthen their position in the spring when the National Convention delegates are elected. Their success would ensure the elected delegates support Roosevelt. Woodruff believes Roosevelt and Loeb should meet Merritt and especially Wadsworth, as he is an independent man of means who can aid the cause.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-26
President Roosevelt informs William Barnes that he held up the removal in question as soon as he heard that Speaker of the New York State Assembly James Wolcott Wadsworth was interested, but Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer said that the man was unfit for the position. He asks if Barnes think he has “gone back into the kindergarten class.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-22
President Roosevelt held up the removal William Barnes, Jr. mentions as soon as he heard that New York Speaker James Wolcott Wadsworth was interested in it, but he has heard from Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer that the man is “entirely unfit” for his position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-22
President Roosevelt asks Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Keep to intercede with New York Representative Peter A. Porter and Frederick C. Stevens, New York Superintendent of Public Works. Roosevelt knows Keep is aware of New York Representative James Wolcott Wadsworth’s bad behavior in “legislative matters” and believes Wadsworth’s own son Jim could instill wisdom onto him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-20
President Roosevelt is interested in New York Governor Higgins’s letter and thinks that it brings up an important matter of policy. He will discuss the question with Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Roosevelt enjoyed having Higgins visit him in Washington, D.C., and saw Speaker of the New York Assembly James Wolcott Wadsworth recently as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-11
President Roosevelt tells Alexander Lambert that he cannot write to New York governor Frank Wayland Higgins or New York assemblyman James Wolcott Wadsworth about state legislation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-13
President Roosevelt informs Hamilton Fish II that up until Governor Frank Wayland Higgins took action, he also would have chosen Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright for Speaker of the Assembly over James Wolcott Wadsworth. Former governor Benjamin B. Odell made his canvass a “savage and personal attack” on Roosevelt and had chosen to back Wainwright, and as such, a victory for Wainwright would have been seen as a victory for Odell.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-04
President Roosevelt is glad that James Wolcott Wadsworth was elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly. However, he tells Douglas Robinson that he will have difficulties this year and does not expect to do as well as he did last year.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-04
President Roosevelt is very concerned at the telegram Hamilton Fish II sent to Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright and hopes Fish will not take any further action without consulting him first. Roosevelt would consider the defeat of James Wolcott Wadsworth for Speaker of the Assembly as an “irreparable” blow to the cause of honest government in New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-02
President Roosevelt thanks Assemblyman Miller for his note, and is glad that Miller has decided to support James Wolcott Wadsworth for Speaker of the New York Assembly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-27
President Roosevelt tells New York Governor Higgins that he will take steps to get those who have not already committed themselves to support James Wolcott Wadsworth for Speaker of the Assembly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-24
President Roosevelt discusses the condition of the Republican party in New York state with Representative Parsons. Although he does not want to be directly involved in selecting the specific man who will serve as Speaker of the Assembly, Roosevelt believes it is important that a “clean man” be elected, rather than one who is beholden to party bosses or the “machine.” It is imperative that James Wolcott Wadsworth is elected, rather than Edwin A. Merritt, who appears to be under the control of ex-governor Benjamin B. Odell.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
President Roosevelt tells Representative Littauer that he wants to see how the contest for Speaker of the New York State Assembly plays out before he responds to state senator Edgar Truman Brackett. Roosevelt is surprised that James Wolcott Wadsworth seems to have been selected to “lead the fight,” but he believes that the best thing to do now is to make him Speaker.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
Now that New York Governor Frank Wayland Higgins has declared support for Assemblyman James Wolcott Wadsworth for Speaker of the Assembly, President Roosevelt thinks that everyone in favor of “clean, decent politics in the New York Legislature will get behind him.” He asks if George W. Dunn agrees. In a postscript, he says that he did not know Wadsworth was being considered for the position until he saw it in the papers this morning.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-19
President Roosevelt sends Representative Parsons the text of a telegram he sent to Hamilton Fish II, which Parsons can share confidentially. In it, Roosevelt expresses concern with the telegram that Fish sent to Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, and hopes that Fish will take no further action without first consulting him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-02
Gifford Pinchot provides a forecast to Theodore Roosevelt on an upcoming vote in the United States Senate on the issue of selective service. Henry Cabot Lodge believes that James Wolcott Wadsworth will “vote right” and that only Robert M. La Follette and Asle J. Gronna among the Republicans will fail to do so. The Harding Amendment is expected to pass. Pinchot is trying to arrange a voice for Roosevelt with Jean Jules Jusserand and Joseph Joffre, French officials consulting with Congress on the incorporation of American forces into the war. Lastly, Pinchot is glad that Roosevelt spoke out against the brewers and distillers, as grain is needed for the war effort.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-04-26
Charles H. Betts proposes how to choose a candidate at the convention if he and Theodore Roosevelt cannot agree beforehand. The only ticket that all Republicans can agree on and is likely to be elected is the one he presented six months prior with Roosevelt for governor and James W. Wadsworth for Lieutenant Governor. Betts cautions that political conditions differ in New York City and the state of New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-08-09
Timothy L. Woodruff updates President Roosevelt on the state of the election in Livingston County, New York. Woodruff believes that people there are likely to vote against Governor Charles Evans Hughes because he twice attempted to remove Superintendent of Insurance Otto Kelsey from office. A lack of votes for Hughes could hurt the prospects of James Wolcott Wadsworth, a young rising star in the state party. In a postscript, Woodruff says he spoke with Kelsey on the telephone, and Kelsey is going to go to Livingston County to urge his friends and supporters to vote for Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-28
Ex-Mayor of Batavia, New York, Harvey J. Burkhart advises William Loeb to immediately formulate a plan to elect Roosevelt supporting delegates to the Republican National Convention. Burkhart warns that the same forces keeping Archie Dovell Sanders in office as the Collector of Internal Revenue are “interfering in post office matters” with Assemblyman James Wadsworth supporting them. Burkhart will help President Roosevelt in any way possible and offers to meet with Loeb to speak with him about the matter if he feels he cannot write about the issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-15