Working class

George W. Geer encourages Theodore Roosevelt to accept the nomination and become the next president. Geer explains his ancestors were the earliest settlers in America, fighting in every war, including the Civil War where he and his two brothers were injured. Geer plans to get every veteran to vote for Roosevelt. In his postscript Geer mentions his son, J. Eugene Geer, who traveled with Roosevelt during his first presidential campaign in 1904.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-18

Creator(s)

Geer, George W. (George Wolfe), 1835-1914

Secretary of Commerce Straus believes that President Roosevelt’s oration on the Rough Riders was one of his best. He writes that it is “full of wisdom for the ‘Banker and the Bricklayer,’ the warrior and wage earner.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-13

Creator(s)

Straus, Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926

President Roosevelt holds a “big stick” and directs a coach driven by a Republican elephant and a “working man” forward. Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks and four “trust” men sit in the carriage.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-09

Creator(s)

Sullivant, T. S. (Thomas Starling), 1854-1926

People cling to a large rock in a stormy sea. Some are royalty and some are terrorists. In a flash of lightning in the background appears the word “Revolt.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-11-29

Three statues labeled “Cook, Walking Delegate, [and] Head Waiter” stand on the left and three statues labeled “Coachman, Car Porter, [and] Janitor” stand on the right. People are bowing down, kneeling, and performing other acts of veneration before them. In the center, Puck has unfurled a banner showing citizens pulling down the equestrian statue of King George III. Caption: Puck — Where is the spirit of ’76? This is what your forefathers did to King George.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-03-09

Theodore Roosevelt will bring the article to the Outlook‘s attention. He agrees with Secretary of War Stimson that the opposition to laboring men stems from scientific exponents’ disregard for human features.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt is sorry that the country is experiencing times where it is hard to get employment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt congratulates Ernest H. Hedberg on his employment. Roosevelt also sends good wishes to Hedberg’s son, whom he named after Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-12-16

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt agrees with what Judge Hunt says about “the laboring man” and will follow his suggestion soon. He was pleased that Montana voted for president-elect William H. Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt encloses a copy of George W. Alger’s “Moral Overstrain.” He hopes Judge Day will pay special attention to the last two chapters. Roosevelt has been struggling with how much to fight for the labor and working classes in light of recent court decisions. He does not know how to balance respect for the law and rights of legislatures with what he believes are basic rights that workers should be afforded, and is concerned with making sure that he does not diminish respect for the courts. He encloses a telegram he sent to Judge Willard Bartlett of New York last fall regarding Bartlett’s request for support.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt valued M. J. Costello’s editorial and thought it counterbalanced all the writing by those affiliated with the trusts in the other papers. He has tried to serve the plain people by championing their demands and has only grown more understanding of their plight.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt appreciates Professor Davenport’s article in The Outlook. Roosevelt believes that he has dealt fairly with labor unions, although sometimes he has acted to keep them in check.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt thanks Baron Kaneko for his concern about Archibald B. Roosevelt’s illness. He explains why the United States wishes to restrict members of the Japanese working class from migrating to the United States. Roosevelt believes that this will ease tensions between both countries. The new commission on immigration might also consider restricting immigration from Europe.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt appreciated William P. Daniels’s letter, especially because Roosevelt believes he stands up for honest workers and union men.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt notifies President Walsh of the San Francisco Board of Education that he is “pleased by the news,” the lawsuit will be discontinued, and the immigration order issued.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt explains that potential California legislation on the exclusion of Japanese laborers would hamper his efforts to achieve Japanese exclusion on a national level through cooperation with Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Gurney Cannon, Chairman of the Notification Committee, to formally accept his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and to approve the platform adopted by the Republican National Convention. In the letter, Roosevelt provides a comprehensive defense of his foreign and domestic policies and outlines what he believes are the major differences between the Republican and Democratic parties in the upcoming election. Roosevelt discusses, among other topics, his position on international relations, antitrust legislation, tariffs, the gold standard, pensions for Civil War veterans, the military, civil service, commerce, agriculture, taxation, and self-government in the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt asks William Grant Edens for the name of government officials who have behaved badly. Roosevelt knows that his election depends “upon the vote of the laboring men and the so called middle classes.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Ervin Wardman for the work the New York Press is doing. Roosevelt would like everyone to know that he has labor men to lunch and dinner, just as he does capitalists.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Mrs. H. L. Jones, responding to Theodore Roosevelt’s article on children, describes her difficult home life and financial struggles. She asks for help getting her husband a job at the Curtis Publishing Company, emphasizing she seeks opportunity, not charity.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-07

Creator(s)

Jones, H. L., Mrs.