Williams, John Sharp, 1854-1932

President Roosevelt will not promise Josephine Shaw Lowell more than he already has and believes the Democrats are “utterly insincere” in promising independence to the Filipinos. Roosevelt compares the Christian Filipinos to the Islamic Moros and worries that freedom for one group would disrupt peace. Roosevelt also discusses the absurdity of the Democrats calling themselves a reform party under Thomas Taggart, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He is also upset about Carl Schurz’s support of Alton B. Parker in the election because it is the party of John Sharp Williams, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, who presides over a district whose majority is comprised of people of color but which is governed by white men.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt comments on recent press coverage by Lyman Abbott in The Outlook. Roosevelt acknowledges the article captures his “mental attitude” exactly regarding racial discrimination, black suffrage and equality before the law. He names John Sharp Williams of Mississippi as a prime example of how “whites have suppressed this colored vote so absolutely by force, by fraud, by every species of iniquity.” Roosevelt explains that although the race question was not part of his acceptance speech, if the issue is forced upon him in the upcoming campaign “I shall certainly not hesitate to meet it.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is frustrated at the newspapers for condemning the Republicans for their view on sound money. The Democrats’ candidate is boasting that he has supported the cause of free silver in the last two elections. Roosevelt believes that his campaign has no apology to make.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt wishes for Nicholas Murray Butler to visit and concurs that William J. Calhoun is worthy of esteem. Roosevelt comments at length on an article in Collier’s Weekly, one he assumes was written by Norman Hapgood, and desires Butler to “know the exact facts.” On careful reading, Roosevelt believes the article was written with malicious intent due to its numerous falsehoods regarding the construction projects at the Capitol and the White House, the hiring of the architects completing these jobs, appointments of others to government posts, and other matters. In his explanation, Roosevelt makes analogies to many political situations, past and present.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Senator Lodge requests that Theodore Roosevelt read yesterday’s debate on the Russian arbitration resolution, particularly his own comments. He relates several amusing incidents that took place during the Senate debate. The entire problem could have been avoided months ago with better leadership from the Taft administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-20

Creator(s)

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924

Edmond Favor Noel has enclosed newspaper clippings highlighting Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Jackson, Mississippi. He believes the papers sum up the visit in full, and lets Roosevelt know that Senator Williams regrets not being in attendance. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-19

Creator(s)

Noel, Edmond Favor, 1856-1927

Ambassador Reid tells President Roosevelt about a recent meeting between William Jennings Bryan and King Edward VII, as well as the general attitude toward Bryan among Englishmen after a series of speeches he gave in London. Reid also mentions that he will be sending a report on a conversation he had with Sir Edward Grey about a notice sent to Russia of England’s desire to have “a reduction of armaments made a subject for the next Hague Conference.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-27

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte has written to Truman Handy Newberry to send a list of suggestions for the Board, which he hopes to have appointed by August 1. The outcry over the armor plate contract seems to have died down, since the announcement by the Midvale Company “that it is satisfied with the award” makes the criticisms appear overblown. Bonaparte encloses a newspaper cartoon clipping illustrating what the critics wished to believe about President Roosevelt’s “connection with the supposed iniquity.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-17

Creator(s)

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

Senator Townsend of Michigan relays his correspondence with Representative John Sharp Williams of Mississippi to President Roosevelt regarding a pending railroad bill. Williams asserts that railroad companies are spreading propaganda in the South, suggesting that a strengthened Interstate Commerce Commission will nullify Jim Crow segregation in coach accommodations. Townsend offers counterpoints to these concerns, and suggests saying nothing about race in order to protect the bill. Addressing Roosevelt directly, he describes his draft of the railroad bill and discloses having sent a copy to Attorney General William H. Moody. Townsend also encloses a letter from Williams, which wishes Roosevelt to see.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-03

Creator(s)

Townsend, Charles E. (Charles Elroy), 1856-1924

Report illustrating the population of Representative Williams’s congressional district broken down by race.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-09

Creator(s)

Unknown

Booker T. Washington sends President Roosevelt the population figures for Representative Williams’s congressional district in Mississippi.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-09

Creator(s)

Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915

Senator Lodge expects that the Democrats have nominated Alton B. Parker as their presidential candidate, and he believes Roosevelt and the Republicans can win the election easily. Lodge discusses several planks of the Republican platform and how they may affect the election.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-09

Creator(s)

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924

Louis B. Livingston describes the process by which the prize money awarded to Theodore Roosevelt for his 1906 Nobel Prize languished for years before it was finally put to use to address the needs of soldiers and their families during World War I. Livingston notes that Roosevelt refused the prize money for his personal use and that he oversaw the establishment of a Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace to promote better relations between workers and their employers. When the money went unspent, Roosevelt asked Congress to return the funds to him. Livingston asserts that this episode demonstrates Roosevelt’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances and his preoccupation with World War I in the last years of his life.

A photograph of Roosevelt with the representatives of Russia and Japan to the Portsmouth Treaty negotiations appears in the essay, along with a copy of Roosevelt’s Nobel Prize award check and a page from the Congressional Record. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Photograph shows 19 portraits of prominent orators (politicians and businessmen) superimposed over an audience comprised of men. Caption reads, “our prominent political orators in action. The efforts of these men will anchor the floating vote, make converts and win the election.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-08-29

Creator(s)

Clinedinst, Barnett McFee, 1862-1953

Following a number of legislative items, including voting on an amendment to a bill and a motion to investigate participation in international expositions, Senator Robert M. La Follette delivers a speech beginning with proposed tariff reciprocity with Canada, but quickly turning to his view that President William H. Taft has abandoned his campaign promises to continue the progressive policies of his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt. La Follette excoriates Taft on his stances on taxes and conservation, among other issues.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-15

Creator(s)

United States. Congress. Senate

Efforts from Democrats, particularly southern Democrats, to make personal attacks upon President Roosevelt, are unwise and have largely failed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07

Creator(s)

Unknown

Alton B. Parker leads a number of men out of the “populism” wilderness while William Jennings Bryan is stuck on one of the cliffs. The men include, South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, Arthur P. Gorman, William Francis Sheehan, Mississippi Representative John Sharp Williams, and Joseph W. Bailey. “High Priest Cleveland” points them forward.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07

Creator(s)

Rogers, W. A. (William Allen), 1854-1931

Mississippi Representative John Sharp Williams uses a “congressional inquiry” stick to poke a “G. O. P. big game hunting association (limited)” elephant. President Roosevelt and Attorney General Philander C. Knox sleep on top of the elephant. Roosevelt holds a “trust buster” shotgun.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-04-22

Creator(s)

Rogers, W. A. (William Allen), 1854-1931

A cannon labeled “Uncle Joe” sits beside a “Congress for the people” flag. On the ground are two cannon balls: “Cuban reciprocity” and “generous but saving appropriation for public service.” House Minority Leader John Sharp Williams is labeled “the minority,” holds a firearm, and stands beside a dog that says, “Nothin’ doin’.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-10

Creator(s)

Smith, Jack H., -1935

Alton B. Parker—if elected president—sits with his would-be cabinet: “Thomas Taggart, Postmaster General,” “John Sharpe Williams, Attorney General,” “‘Bathhouse John,’ Secretary of Interior,” “William H. Devery, Secretary of Agriculture,” “Patrick H. M’Carren, Secretary of War,” “David B. Hill, Secretary of State,” “August Belmont, Secretary of Treasury,” and “Benjamin R. Tillman, Secretary of Navy.” Caption: The possible cabinet of white-winged souls who would get a job on Democratic success.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-26

Creator(s)

Davenport, Homer, 1867-1912