Washington (D.C.)

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Isthmian Canal Commission Secretary Bishop updates President Roosevelt on his family. Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission Colonel George W. Goethals requested Bishop’s presence on the Isthmus to have a channel of communication to Roosevelt, and Roosevelt’s recent letter pleased him. Bishop says the only major issue is the arrogant behavior of Jackson Smith, the Head of the Department of Labor, Quarters, and Subsistence on the Panama Canal Commission. Additionally, the engineer Joseph Ripley created incorrect blueprints and has been proven to be no expert on locks, but Major William L. Sibert is excellent. Bishop thinks the Republican Club of New York’s motives for disparaging Roosevelt’s canal policy are political. In response to Roosevelt’s suggestion to include local events in the new paper, Bishop explains that it may be hard to keep current, but he will try his best.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-03

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Assistant Secretary of State Adee sends communications from President Porfirio Díaz of Mexico and President Fernando Figueroa of El Salvador regarding the selection of a location for the conference, with his reflections and the opinions of the Central American ministers Joaquín Bernardo Calvo Mora of Costa Rica and Luis Felipe Corea of Nicaragua. Secretary of State Elihu Root thinks Mexico would be the right choice. If Washington, D.C. is selected as the location, the conference could not be scheduled until Root returns from Mexico, following diplomatic etiquette.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-02

Telegram from Fernando Figueroa to Theodore Roosevelt

Fernando Figueroa, President of El Salvador, suggests that the conference be held in Washington, D.C. and scheduled as soon as possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-01

Letter from Robert Frederick Wolfe to Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Editor of the Ohio State Journal Robert Frederick Wolfe informs President Roosevelt’s secretary that Wolfe met with Charles Phelps Taft, Representative Theodore E. Burton, and Secretary of the Republican National Committee Elmer Dover. Wolfe engaged in these meetings to learn about Taft’s interests and a possible compromise with Senator Joseph B. Foraker, but says that Dover tried to improperly influence Wolfe’s newspaper. Wolfe claims to have uncovered a plot involving William Randolph Hearst to control both the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the presidential election. Wolfe claims that Franklin Rockefeller told him in an off-the-record interview that moneyed interests from New York were planning to create a financial panic to disrupt Roosevelt’s policies. Wolfe says he is coming to Washington, D.C., to discuss this, but asks that Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield not be told.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-08

Letter from John James Jenkins to Theodore Roosevelt

Representative Jenkins is concerned that the railroad industry wants to remove President Roosevelt from office. He does not believe they understand the legal process involving congress. Jenkins is monitoring the situation and believes that organizing interstate commerce under federal regulation will help the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-05

Letter from Lyman Abbott to Theodore Roosevelt

Lyman Abbott introduces Robert Erskine Ely to President Roosevelt. Ely serves as secretary of the executive committee of the National Peace Congress. Abbott believes that it is important that the national sentiments in favor of peace must be guided responsibly, and he believes that Roosevelt could help guide the National Peace Congress with his counsel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-25

Letter from John Burroughs to Theodore Roosevelt

John Burroughs is glad that the danger regarding Archie Roosevelt’s health has passed. Burroughs is also getting over an illness and regrets that he was not able to see President Roosevelt in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-11

Telegram from John F. Stevens to William H. Taft

Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal, John F. Stevens, asks Secretary of War Taft if he should give permission for a group of steam shovel operators looking for increased wages to visit Washington.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-06

Letter from James Bryce to William Loeb

Ambassador Bryce informs William Loeb that he can, in fact, meet President Roosevelt for lunch on the day he requested. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-28

Letter from John W. Vrooman to William Loeb

John W. Vrooman recounts his recent trip to upstate New York to William Loeb. Vrooman has heard that many want President Roosevelt to run for the Senate after his term ends, and asks Loeb if Admiral Goodrich’s retirement could be postponed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-18

Letter from Florence Bayard Lockwood La Farge to Theodore Roosevelt

Florence Bayard Lockwood La Farge would like President Roosevelt to have lunch with Mary B. J. Schieffelin while she visits the Pinchot family in Washington. She misses the Roosevelts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-15

Letter from Theodore Stanton to Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Stanton updates President Roosevelt on the status of the new edition of The Winning of the West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Petition to the president and congress

Governor Guild sends President Roosevelt copies of a petition demanding tariff reform be adopted by the federal government, signed by members of the United States Congress and Massachusetts General Court.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Letter from Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet Estournelles de Constant to Theodore Roosevelt, with translation

French Senator Estournelles de Constant describes to President Roosevelt the itinerary for his upcoming trip to the United States. He will be delivering a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Carnegie Institute, and will also be visiting friends in New York, New York, and Washington, D.C., including Nicholas Murray Butler, J. J. Jusserand, Elihu Root, and Joaquim Nabuco. He insists that he also needs to see Roosevelt to discuss the projects he has been building up since their last meeting in 1902, and that his main aim in taking the trip is to visit with Roosevelt. He hopes Roosevelt can grant him a prompt reply so that he can finish planning his trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-09

Letter from Ripley Hitchcock to Theodore Roosevelt

Ripley Hitchcock, editor at Harper & Brothers, notifies President Roosevelt that his articles on hunting that had been published in Harper’s Round Table magazine have been combined into a book called Good Hunting. Hitchcock says the publishers have followed all of Roosevelt’s requests, and expresses his hope that Roosevelt will be pleased. Hitchcock also notes that they are publishing Sampson Rock of Wall Street by Edwin Lefevre, which he believes Roosevelt will be interested to hear. Hitchcock says he will be in Washington, D.C., in upcoming weeks and hopes they can meet then and discuss more literary matters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-08

Telegram from Leonard Wood to William H. Taft

General Wood asks Secretary of War Taft if he might retain his position in the Philippines until after Taft’s visit to the islands, “if practicable.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-02

Letter from W. C. Brown to William Loeb

Railroad executive William C. Brown encloses to William Loeb letters relating to the public’s attitude towards railroad companies, and the need for railroad companies, after a period of public condemnation, to have peace and encouragement. Brown cares deeply about President Roosevelt’s good opinion of him, and wanted to be sure that Roosevelt had the full context of the communications between Brown and the press on this topic. As such, he encloses the complete letter he wrote on the subject, an editorial from the Wall Street Journal, and an exchange between himself and the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Sereno Stransbury Pratt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-03

Letter from John F. Stevens to Theodore Roosevelt

Chief Engineer Stevens was surprised to learn of Chairman Shonts’s resignation and President Roosevelt’s acceptance. He had understood that Roosevelt was not going to take action without consulting Stevens. Stevens does not desire to be the only one in charge of the Panama Canal construction; he had wanted the post in the Philippines instead and only accepted the position in Panama reluctantly. Stevens wanted to be in charge of construction and not a political actor. He complains that his salary is too low and the “honor” of the position is not enough. Stevens worries that the upcoming election might change the plan for construction, and he expresses particular concern for the future of the Republican party. He argues on behalf of the Isthmian Commission. He is not anxious to continue in the service, and wishes to return to railroad work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-30

Letter from Alfred Henry Lewis to Theodore Roosevelt

Alfred Henry Lewis lets President Roosevelt know that he arranged for journalist David Graham Phillips to be at the same dining event as Roosevelt, and Phillips is eagerly looking forward to meeting Roosevelt. In confidence, Lewis also shares some amusing remarks Phillips has made about various prominent personalities in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-24

Letter from Albert Shaw to Theodore Roosevelt

Albert Shaw, editor of the magazine Review of Reviews, informs President Roosevelt that William T. Stead, editor of the English Review of Reviews, is visiting the United States as a guest of Andrew Carnegie in order to attend Carnegie’s peace conference. Shaw thinks that Roosevelt may wish to speak with Stead, and says that even though Stead is an advocate for peace, he does not lack in practical sense.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-06