The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Page 103
110. Bee.261–2.
28: THE MAN OF DESTINY
1. See HCL to TR, Dec. 7, 1899, Lod.I.424. EKR to B, n.d., from Albany: “I think exactly as you do about the v.p. for Theodore—Cabot has a strange bias about it.” HCL to TR, July 12, 1899, LOD.
2. Ada.275. See Jos. passim on HCL’s kingmaking role in TR’s life: “Much might be said of his strange behavior in this [vice-presidential] affair.” Ib. 108.
3. Mor.1112.
4. Ib., 1104.
5. Ib., 1166; TR.Auto.318.
6. A copy of the Message was sent to TCP by TR on Dec. 19, 1899.
7. Che. 167–9. Even Elihu Root jibbed at the line about morality, and pointed out that most of the grand fortunes in America belonged to people whose industry and imagination had conferred “great benefits” on the community. “There is altogether too general an impression,” he chided TR, “that it is immoral to acquire wealth.” Dec. 13, 1899, qu. Che.170.
8. Extracts from the Message are quoted in TR.Auto.324–5. Che.206; Pri.211.
9. Che.94–5; Gos.207. See ib., 59–61 for Payn’s background.
10. Pri.212.
11. Che.92; TR.Auto.300. Significantly, TR chose to launch his investigation of Payn on May 27, 1899, the day of his big triumph on the Ford Bill. “If there has been any iniquity,” he wrote Secretary Youngs, “I wish we could discover it.” Che.93–4.
12. TR.Auto.300.
13. Che.95–6.
14. Evening Post, Dec. 13, 1899.
15. Mor.1122–3.
16. Che.172, 166–70.
17. Ib., 172; TR.Auto.325; Che.251; Mor. 1320; Par. 127; Pinkett, Harold T., Gifford Pinchot, Private and Public Forester (U. Illinois Press, 1970) 34, 53; Che.250. See Appendix A, “Conservation,” to Ch. 8 of TR.Auto., 323–325.
18. Public Papers of Theodore Roosevelt, Governor (Albany, 1900) 35–7; N.Y.T. clip, n.d., TRB; Che.251–3; Cut. 86–8. For Pinchot’s early and later relations with TR, see Pinchot, Gif-ford, Breaking New Ground (Harcourt Brace, 1947); Pinkett, Pinchot; Hays, Samuel P., Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890–1920 (NY, 1959). See Che.242–53 for a fuller discussion of TR’s environmental reforms at Albany. “All that I later strove for in the Nation in connection with conservation,” wrote TR in his Autobiography, “was foreshadowed by what I strove to obtain for New York State when I was Governor.” (299).
19. Che.98; Mor.1131, 1130.
20. Che.99–100.
21. Mor.1131.
22. Che.74, 101–3; Eve. Post, Jan. 19, 1900; TR. qu. Che.106.
23. Pors.; FRE. int; Mor.1504. TR’s complex relations with Odell (which lasted well into his presidency) are tracked by McC., passim.
24. Mor.1135–6; TR.Auto.302–3; Che. 107–108.
25. Mor.1136.
26. Che.108; TR.Auto.303.
27. Ib. See also Che. 109. Ib. doubts that this meeting took place on the evening specified by TR, without offering any convincing proof that it did not.
28. Ib.; Mor.1141.
29. Sun, Feb. 1, 1900; see also Mor. 1157 fn.
30. Ib., 1157.
31. Ib., 1139–40.
32. Gar.213; Lee.530.
33. HCL was Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Philippines. LOD.I. 404; Lee.338. For a clear-eyed analysis of the vexed subject of U.S. response to the Philippines insurrection, see Gov. 187–89.
34. Mor.1343. See Bur.63 ff. for a short but excellent discussion of TR’s relations with the Philippines. Alfonso, Oscar S., Theodore Roosevelt and the Philippines (NY, 1974) is the only book-length treatment of the subject.
35. Mor. 1160–1. TR sent a similarly strong but courteous refusal to the Republican National Committeeman Henry Clay Payne. Ib., 1162.
36. Mor.1157.
37. Ib., 1161; New York Tribune, June 21, 1900.
38. World, Feb. 11, 1900; see Trib., Feb. 13, 1900.
39. Platt qu. Quigg, cit. Mor.1337. TR’s “rivals” included such minor figures as Cornelius Bliss, Timothy Woodruff, and John D. Long.
40. Mor.489–50; Butler, Nicholas M., Across the Busy Years (Scribner’s, 1940) 226.
41. Lee.531–5.
42. Butler, Years, 226.
43. Mor.1276.
44. Trib., Feb. 13, 1900; New York Herald, Apr. 27.
45. Mor.1278; Dana to TR, Apr. 17, 1900, TRP.
46. Mor.1291; Trib., May 12, 1900.
47. Foraker, Joseph, Notes of a Busy Life (Stewart & Kidd, 1917) 91–2. Foraker also claimed that McK said to him: “I hope you will not allow the convention to be stampeded for Roosevelt for Vice-President.” Qu. Lee.532. In view of the fact that TR and Foraker were bitter enemies later in life, this and the anecdote quoted in the text should be taken with caution.
48. Long, Journal, May 10, 1900: “Personally, if I could be made Vice-President tomorrow, I should like it because of the honor.” LON. There are many other such wistful references in Long’s Journal and letters.
49. Tha.II.342.
50. Mor. 1264. TR had received similar warnings from Benjamin Odell and others. Ib.; Odell int. FRE.
51. Butler, Years, 227; sketch, un. newspaper, in TRB; Pla.384 ff.
52. Butler, Years, 227.
53. Burton later attained the twin distinction of serving in the U.S. Senate and in a Federal prison. Ib., 228. Anecdote from Lafayette B. Gleason int. FRE. See also Butler, Years, 228. Robert B. Armstrong of the Chicago Record, who was eavesdropping outside on a fire escape, remembered the scene somewhat differently. TR, he wrote, was sitting on a wooden chair. Rising in a rage, as the others in the room sought to persuade him, he allegedly lifted the chair high and smashed it to the floor. Then he sighed, and capitulated. Memo in TRB.
54. Butler, Years, 228; Lee.536.
55. Trib., June 21, 1900. Olcott, Charles S., The Life of William McKinley (Houghton Mifflin, 1916) II.271 ff.; see also Lee.536; Morg.494.
56. Lee.536; Olcott, McKinley, II.274.
57. Sto.248; Butler, Years, 229.
58. Lee.537.
59. See Pri.220; Trib., June 21, 1900. Lee.537.
60. Olcott, McK, II.274–6; Morg.494–5; Trib., June 21, 1900; Lee.537.
61. Butler, Years, 229.
62. Ib., 230–1; Lee.537.
63. Reprinted in Mor.1337.
64. Pri.221; Her., June 20, 1900.
65. N.Y.T., June 20, 1900; Olcott, McKinley, II.275–6.
66. N.Y.T., June 20, 1900.
67. Harper’s Weekly, June 30, 1900; Morg.495; Lee.538; McK qu. Morg. 496.
68. Marshall, Dexter, “The Real Story of How Roosevelt was Named for the Vice-Presidency,” New York Press, Dec. 8, 1907, is the source of much of the ensuing account. See also Mor. 1338 fn; Pla. 241 on Quay. Others echoed TCP’s opinion. See Abbot, Lawrence F., Impressions of TR (Doubleday, 1919) 46; Sto.168.
69. Pri.222.
70. Quay had some Indian blood. See the moving account of his death in TR.Auto.158–161. Other descriptive material from Marshall, “The Real Story.”
71. Ib.
72. Ib.
73. Ib. See ib. for Quay’s further motives in using this victory to get himself back into the Senate.
74. Her., June 21, 1900; Watson, James E., As I Knew Them: Memoirs (Indianapolis, 1936), 58.
75. Albert Shaw, qu. Rii., memo in TRB; Rob.196.
76. World, June 21, 1900; Her., June 22; Harper’s Weekly, June 30.
77. World, June 22, 1900; Mor.1340.
78. World, June 22, 1900.
79. “Rose Coghlan’s Vivid Pen-Picture,” in ib. Miss Coghlan was herself an accomplished actress.
80. Entire speech reprinted in TR.Wks. XIV.342–5.
81. World, June 22, 1900.
82. Her., June 22, 1900.
83. Mor.1342; ib., 1343.
84. TR’s entire campaign itinerary is given in Mor.1508–10. Philadelphia Record, Nov. 4, 1900; Her., Oct. 21. Bryan’s comparative figures were: 546 speeches, 493 towns, 18 states, 2,500,000 people addressed. For
an extended discussion of the political issues raised by TR in the campaign, see Har.136–43.
85. Thwing, Eugene, The Life and Meaning of TR (Current Literature, 1916) 257.
86. Sun, Sep. 27, 1900; Trib., same date.
87. TR.Auto.127.
88. See Scharf, Barbara C., Mr. Dooley’s Chicago (Doubleday, 1977) for early relationship of TR and Finley Peter Dunne.
89. Harper’s Weekly, Oct. 13, 1900.
90. See Chicago Times-Herald, Oct. 21, 1900. Less factual, and considerably more annoying to TR, were persistent press rumors that he was often drunk on tour. Similar rumors, stimulated by his high color and constant air of excitement, were to dog him for the next decade. Harper’s Weekly, Dec. 7, 1901; Ickes, Harold L., Autobiography of a Curmudgeon (New York, 1943), 55. See also Morr.82.
91. Hag.RBL.466.
92. Lee.559; Pri.226; Mor.507.
93. Milholland int., FRE; Thayer, William R., Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography (Houghton Mifflin, 1919), 157. See also Dun.I.355. For an almost identical expression of foreboding, in the words of one of Roosevelt’s oldest friends, see Par. 136.
94. Qu. Pri.214.
95. See Har.129–30 for a modern confirmation of TR’s boast. Eve. Post qu. Che.300.
96. In preparing this summary the author acknowledges the scholarly assistance of John Allen Gable, historian of the progressive movement and author of The Bull Moose Years: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party (National University Publications, 1978).
97. “While I know I need not say to my officers in what a deep regard I hold them, they will not mind my saying that just a little bit closer come the men.” TR’s farewell address to the Rough Riders, Sep. 13, 1898, TR.Wks.XI.157 fn.
98. John Allen Gable in letter to the author.
99. TR qu. Morg.508.
100. Mor.3.6–7. Milholland int. FRE.
EPILOGUE: SEPTEMBER, 1901
1. See Mor.4.1343 ff. for a calendar of TR’s Vice-Presidency.
2. Washburn, Charles G., TR: The Logic of His Career (Houghton Mifflin, 1916) 39.
3. Par.137. (See Hag.RF.108 ff. for TR’s domestic activities through the fall of 1901.)
4. Par.137; TR.Auto.338. TR to Steffens, Aug. 8, 1901 (Columbia U., Steffens Papers).
5. Mor.3.1345; Morg.518.
6. The following account is taken from the reminiscence of Frank Lester Greene, one of TR’s friends in the Fish and Game League, as recorded in Woo. 81 ff.
7. Olcott, McK, II.316.
8. Ib.
9. Pri.231; Hagedorn memo, TRB mss. Secretary of State John Hay received similar assurances that McK was recovering, and proceeded to write a circular letter communicating the good news to all U.S. Embassies. “I thought it might stop the rain of enquiries from all over the world. After I had written it the black cloud of foreboding, which is always over my head, settled down and enveloped me and I dared not send it.” Hay to Henry Adams, Sep. 19, 1901, ADA.
10. The following description of TR’s expedition up Mount Marcy is based on these sources: Tahawus Club Guest Book, memoranda by George G. Whee-lock, club president, and Beverly R. Robinson, member, Sep. 12, 1901; World, Sep. 15, 1901; Noah La Casse, int. Harry V. Radford, Forest Leaves, Winter 1904; TR.Auto.364; TR to J. J. Leary, Leary Notes, TRB; Hagedorn Notes, TRB; letter from Julia Hill, local resident, in ib.; reminiscences of EKR in Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association Bulletin (Fall 1933); Harmes, Edward A., “2.15 A.M.,” article in The Adirondac, Nov.-Dec. 1963; Taylor, Dorothy, “Noah La Casse, Presidential Hiking Mate,” Adirondack Life, 1972.3(2) 9–11. Scenic material from ib., 1972.3(1) 37, and 1973.4(3) 40.
11. Taylor, “La Casse.”
12. EKR in WRMA Bulletin; Radford, La Casse int.
13. Ib.; Hagedorn Notes; Taylor, “La Casse.”
14. Rii.76.
15. Radford, La Casse int.
16. Ib.; TR.Auto.364. La Casse testified that TR “became very calm” as he watched the ranger approach. TR to Leary: “I instinctively knew he had bad news … I wanted to become President, but I did not want to become President that way.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
frt.1Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his Harvard entrance examinations, 1876.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard College Library.
prl.1 Theodore Roosevelt receives the American people on New Year’s Day.
Brown Brothers.
p1.1 Martha Bulloch Roosevelt at twenty-two.
Brown Brothers.
2.1 Theodore Roosevelt Senior, aged about forty-five.
Author’s Collection.
3.1 Theodore Roosevelt the Harvard freshman, 1877.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, New York.
4.1 Alice Hathaway Lee when Theodore Roosevelt first met her.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
4.2 Alice Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, and Rose Saltonstall on their
“tintype spree.”
Alice Sturm Collection, privately held.
4.3 Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his assault on the Matterhorn, 1881.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
5.1 Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his election to the New York State Assembly.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
6.1 The New York State Assembly Chamber in 1882.
New York Public Library.
6.2 Alice, Corinne, and Bamie Roosevelt, about 1882.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
7.1 Assemblymen Roosevelt, Howe, Spinney, Hunt, and O’Neil.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
8.1 Antoine-Amédée-Marie-Vincent-Amat Manca de Vallombrosa, Marquis de Morès.
North Dakota State Historical Society.
9.1 Hallway of the Roosevelt mansion at 6 West Fifty-seventh Street, New York, 1880s.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.
10.1 Governor Grover Cleveland. Painting by Eastman Johnson.
New York State Library.
10.2 The first public advertisement of the Maltese Cross brand, 1884.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
11.1 Theodore Roosevelt in his buckskin suit, 1884.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard College Library.
12.1 Sagamore Hill in 1885.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
12.2 Edith Kermit Carow at twenty-four.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.
13.1 Deputy Sheriff Roosevelt and his prisoners.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
14.1 Cecil Arthur Spring Rice at thirty-five.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace.
col.1 Dying cow, December 1886. Painting by Charles Russell.
Montana Stockgrowers Association.
15.1 The Meadowbrook Hunt meeting at Sagamore Hill in the 1880s.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
16.1 Congressman Henry Cabot Lodge, by John Singer Sargent, 1890.
National Portrait Gallery.
16.2 Elliott Roosevelt about the time of his marriage to Anna Hall.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library.
18.1 The Grand Court of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
Avery Architectural Library, Columbia University.
19.1 Police Headquarters, New York City, 1890s.
New York Public Library.
19.2 Theodore Roosevelt as president of the New York City Police Board.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
20.1 Thomas Collier Platt in the 1890s.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace.
20.2 New York City Police Commissioners Andrews, Parker, Roosevelt,
and Grant.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
21.1 Mark Hanna on 2 August 1896.
New York Public Library.
22.1 Assistant Secretary Roosevelt at the Naval War College, 2 June 1897.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
22.2 President William McKinley at t
he time of the Spanish-American War.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.
23.1 Wreck of the Maine, Havana Harbor, February 1898.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.
23.2 A troop of black volunteers en route to Tampa, 1898.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
24.1 Piazza of the Tampa Bay Hotel, early summer 1898.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection.
25.1 Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders atop San Juan Heights, Cuba.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
26.1 Colonel Roosevelt preparing to muster out at Camp Wikoff,
Long Island.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection.
27.1 The New York State Capitol, Albany, late nineteenth century.
New York Public Library.
28.1 Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his election to the Vice-Presidency.
Theodore Roosevelt Association.
epl.1 The second Inauguration of William McKinley, 4 March 1901.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EDMUND MORRIS was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1940. He was schooled there, and studied music, history, and literature at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. After leaving Africa in 1964, he became an advertising copywriter in London. He immigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a full-time writer in 1972. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt began as a screenplay. It was published in 1979 and won the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award. In 1981, Morris was appointed the official biographer of President Ronald Reagan. The resultant work, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan, caused a controversy when it appeared in 1999 because of its use of a partly imaginary narrator. Theodore Rex is the second volume in a planned trilogy on the life of Theodore Roosevelt.
Edmund Morris lives in New York City with his wife and fellow biographer, Sylvia Jukes Morris.
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