Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt writes to H. C. Sticher of The Free Press, Osage City, Kansas, in response to reports of his over-indulgence of alcohol during the Republican National Convention in Chicago. Roosevelt contends that he is 33 years sober. He includes letters drafted by Dr. Abbott and family physician Dr. Lambert as proof of his sobriety.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-15
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Mrs. Thomas Wallace for the coin and will carry it for luck. Roosevelt admires men like Timoleon, John Hampden, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-04
Theodore Roosevelt comments on John St. Loe Strachey’s editorials on Roosevelt’s attempts as governor of New York, as president, and as a political figure to “strengthen the bonds of good will, regard, and sympathy” between the United States and England. He also talks on his former statements about the office of the presidency – how, if he had explicitly stated that he did not believe in a president’s holding a consecutive third term, then all his enemies would have believed he was announcing his bid for a second term before the first had finished. Likewise, Roosevelt believes that he could not honorably back out of his current presidential campaign due to a desire for moderate progress akin to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Pitt, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and the Whigs of the reform bill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-26
Theodore Roosevelt appreciates the St. Louis Million Population Club’s invitation to visit the city to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. He enjoyed his previous visits to the city and wishes he could come again. However, he cannot accept any more engagements at present and has already declined over five thousand similar invitations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-11
Theodore Roosevelt remembers James D. Phelan and is glad to hear from him. He comments on the “molly-coddling” about peace. Roosevelt thinks true Americans are those like George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant. He does not want to be a candidate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-28
Theodore Roosevelt hopes the movement to restore the Boonsboro monument to George Washington is successful.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-25
Theodore Roosevelt found Charles Dwight Willard’s letter interesting, and thinks it is a wonder that Willard has lived this long with his health challenges. Roosevelt reflects on their being “within range of the riflepits” and reasons that all is well should they be hit as they have “fought the good fight and accomplished something.” He found the anecdote about Harrison Gray Otis at The Outlook lunch amusing, and it is true that he found it proper to leave Lyman Abbott’s correction to his article even though he believes that The Times building was dynamited. He is pleased with the success of Edwin T. Earl’s paper and comments on the corruption of other newspapermen. Roosevelt comments on the progressive contingency having to “use the curb quite as much as the spur” in dealing with the popular movement against big corporations and men of wealth. Willard’s compliments of his article pleased him, especially as he admits to sometimes feeling dispirited about them. As an ex-president, Roosevelt must balance standing up for what he thinks is right without appearing to censor the current president. However, he is “extremely indignant” that President William H. Taft vetoed the statehood bill for Arizona and New Mexico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-18
On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his assistant secretary says he never gave Victor D. Brenner approval to make a bas-relief of him and opposes it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-01
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Judge Hallam for his letter and assures him that he is “entirely right” in what he said.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-02
Theodore Roosevelt will see F. V. Greene when he returns. He admires Greene’s enclosures but has two suggestions, which he discusses at length. First, Greene only needs to state that King of Prussia Frederick II’s approbation of George Washington seems to be a myth, as he never showed interest in Washington or the American Struggle. Roosevelt comments on Helmuth Moltke’s opinion of the Civil War and how France could have implemented similar cavalry tactics. His second suggestion is that it is incorrect to say that America’s action in the peace settlement of the Russo-Japanese War did not produce the current hostile relationships with Russia and Japan. He discusses the other factors involved.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-07
Theodore Roosevelt does not believe William S. Stryker’s quote regarding King of Prussia Frederick II and George Washington is accurate and cautions F. V. Greene against using it unless he is certain of its provenance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-28
Theodore Roosevelt writes to A. A. Speer to inform him about a phrase written by the State of Kentucky on the memorial to the soldiers that fought in the battle of Chattanooga. Roosevelt mentions being impressed by Lincoln’s “gift of expression.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-02-04
Theodore Roosevelt describes William Jennings Bryan’s statement that “Mr. Roosevelt classes Christ with the mollycoddles” as a “blasphemous falsehood.” He denies making a statement even resembling such a quote. Roosevelt compares his support for military readiness to the policies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Bryan’s condemnation of Roosevelt’s views also condemns the actions of Washington and Lincoln. Roosevelt compares Bryan’s statement that the country should not prepare for war to the position that a man should not “prevent his wife’s face from being slapped or his daughter from being outraged.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-11-24
Theodore Roosevelt understands Captain Finke’s savage reaction to an anti-war envelope that came in the mail. Though Roosevelt is powerless in the matter, he explains that the envelopes are issued by Appeal to Reason, a publication by Eugene V. Debs that condemns war and fails to distinguish between war sentiments of American patriots and notorious aggressors. The publication has even been known to support infamous dynamiters and murderers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-11-12
Theodore Roosevelt responds to a letter from Hartford Beaumont, an attorney in Manila, expressing his disenchantment with the Wilson administration and its approach to international affairs with the Philippines and Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-10-20
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Mary L. Cummins for the book and looks forward with pleasure to reading it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-09-03
Theodore Roosevelt has just finished reading Arthur Twining Hadley’s Undercurrents in American Politics, and he discusses Hadley’s conclusions, particularly as they relate to the records of American presidents through the Civil War.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-07-08
Theodore Roosevelt approves of Julian Street’s article and agrees that the nation’s shortcomings need to be brought to the attention of the public. Roosevelt believes that George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant had the correct policy regarding American duty in foreign affairs. Thomas Jefferson, James Buchanan, and President Wilson have the wrong position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-06-23
Theodore Roosevelt never spoke about Cromwell as one of his “four heroes” along with Washington and Lincoln. Roosevelt has always avoided referring to any men as “[his] heroes.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-23
Theodore Roosevelt speculates in a letter to W. S. Budlong on whether Alexander Hamilton or George Washington had more influence on how federal papers were set up.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-12-16