The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
Page 109
Each of the past seven summers, I have participated in the intern program at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, working with a truly wonderful group of students, including Alex Burns, Welton Blount, Samuel Jacobs, Arjun Ramamurti, Sam Barr, James McAuley, and Amanda McGowan. For reading all or parts of the manuscript, I wish to thank Lindsay Hosmer Goodwin, John Hill, Beth Laski, and Frank Phillips. I am grateful to Gary Zola for squiring me through Taft’s Cincinnati, and to Paul Grondahl for guiding me through Roosevelt’s Albany.
I am especially indebted to Michelle Krowl and Camille Larson for their phenomenal work in searching through the archives at the Library of Congress, where the treasure trove of primary materials that form the bedrock of this book is housed—letters, diaries, newspaper articles, periodical pieces, memoirs, office files, and pamphlets.
My longtime agent Binky Urban gave her wholehearted support to this project from simply the germ of an idea to its completion. There is no one better.
And I owe more than I can express to Beth Laski, my manager, my publicist, my great friend. It is impossible to imagine my life without her.
There is no way this project would have been completed on time without Nora Titone. She worked with me on Team of Rivals and then went on to write a wonderful book on Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. She returned these last ten months to help in a thousand ways, tying together all the loose ends with an attention to detail that is simply astonishing. With good cheer and endless enthusiasm, she is an absolute joy to work with. She is a true champion.
How lucky I have been that Simon & Schuster has been my publisher for more than a quarter of a century. Even as I list the following names, I feel as if I am listing members of my family: Jonathan Karp, Carolyn Reidy, Richard Rhorer, Jackie Seow, Joy O’Meara, George Turianski, Gina DiMascia, Julia Prosser, Stephen Bedford, W. Anne Jones. For managing the voyage during these last hectic months, I am particularly grateful to Ann Adelman, my incomparable copy editor; to Jonathan Cox, Alice Mayhew’s indefatigable assistant; and to Lisa Healy and Irene Kheradi, who finally brought the book home.
And of course, there is no one like Alice Mayhew, my editor, counselor, and guide, to whom I proudly dedicate this book. She saw the story I wanted to tell from the start, offering critical advice and ideas at every stage. She has been my indispensable partner throughout my writing career. She is a publishing legend. She is my treasured friend.
This book is also dedicated to my research assistant, Linda Vandegrift. We have worked together for nearly thirty years. Every book has benefited greatly from her extraordinary talent, organizational skills, and unfailing good judgment; but from the start, this story engaged her heart and mind more than any other. She became a true collaborator, without whom the book would simply not have been possible.
And finally, words cannot fully convey my gratitude to my husband, Richard Goodwin, and our best friend, Michael Rothschild, who read every draft of every chapter, providing loving and constructive ideas, comments, and criticisms at every step along the way of this seven-year journey.
© ERIC LEVIN
Doris Kearns Goodwin is the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s major motion picture, Lincoln. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II and is also the author of the bestsellers Wait Till Next Year, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts, with her husband, Richard N. Goodwin.
www.doriskearnsgoodwin.com
@DorisKGoodwin
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NOTES
Abbreviations used in the notes:
Names
AB
Archibald Willingham Butt
ARC
Anna Roosevelt Cowles
ARL
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
CRR
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
DCT
Delia Chapin Torrey
EKR
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt
HCL
Henry Cabot Lodge
HHM
Harriet Hurd McClure
HHT
Helen Herron Taft
IMT
Ida Minerva Tarbell
JSP
John Sanborn Phillips
LS
Lincoln Steffens
LTT
Louise Torrey Taft
MAH
Marcus Alonzo Hanna
RBH
Rutherford Birchard Hayes
RHD
Richard Harding Davis
RLF
Robert M. La Follette
RSB
Ray Stannard Baker
TR
Theodore Roosevelt
TR, JR.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
UBS
Upton Beall Sinclair
WAW
William Allen White
WHT
William Howard Taft
WW
Woodrow Wilson
Journals and Collected Works
LTR: Theodore Roosevelt, Elting E. Morison, John M. Blum, and John J. Buckley, eds. The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt. 8 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951–54.
NYT: New York Times
WTR: Theodore Roosevelt and Hermann Hagedorn, eds. The Works of Theodore Roosevelt. 24 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923–26.
Papers and Collections
AB Letters: Archibald Willingham Butt Letters, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University
ARC Papers: Anna Roosevelt Cowles Papers (MS Am 1834.1), Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University
ARL Papers: Alice Roosevelt Longworth Papers, 1888–1942, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
CPT Papers: Charles P. Taft Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
CRR Papers: Corinne Roosevelt Robinson Papers (MS Am 1785–1785.7), Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University
Derby Papers: Ethel Roosevelt Derby Papers (*87M-100, etc.), Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University
Dunne Papers: Finley Peter Dunne Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
Garfield Papers: James Rudolph Garfield Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
Ida Tarbell Papers: Ida Tarbell Pape
rs, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, MA
IMTC: The Ida M. Tarbell Collection, Pelletier Library, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
KR Papers: Kermit and Belle Roosevelt Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
LS Papers: Lincoln Steffens Papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York
McClure MSS: Samuel Sidney McClure Manuscripts, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
O’Laughlin Papers: John Callan O’Laughlin Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
Phillips MSS: John Sanborn Phillips Manuscripts, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Pinchot Papers: Gifford Pinchot Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
Pringle Papers: Henry F. Pringle Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
RBH Papers: Rutherford Birchard Hayes Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
RSB Papers: Ray Stannard Baker Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
RSB Papers II: Ray Stannard (“David Grayson”) Baker Papers, The Jones Library, Amherst, MA
Taft-Karger Corr.: William H. Taft and Gustav J. Karger Correspondence, Cincinnati History Library and Archives, Cincinnati Museum Center
TRC: Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University
TRJP: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
TRP: Theodore Roosevelt Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
White Papers: William Allen White Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
WHTP: William H. Taft Papers, Manuscript Division, LC
PREFACE
“He had just finished”: Lyman Abbott, “A Review of President Roosevelt’s Administration: IV—Its Influence on Patriotism and Public Service,” Outlook, Feb. 27, 1909, p. 430.
“a spark of genius”: William Allen White to Charles Churchill, Aug. 9, 1906, William Allen White Papers, Manuscript Division, LC.
“The story is the thing”: “Interview with S. S. McClure,” The North American (Philadelphia), Aug. 15, 1905.
“muckraker . . . a badge of honor”: Patricia O’Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 30.
“It is hardly an exaggeration”: Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955), pp. 186–87.
“Oh, things will be all right”: Van Wert [OH] Daily Bulletin, April 5, 1905.
“derelict”: WHT, “Personal Aspects of the Presidency,” Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 28, 1914.
“not constituted”: William Howard Taft to William Allen White, Mar. 20, 1909, White Papers.
“vitality of democracy . . . complex questions”: S. S. McClure, “The Railroads on Trial: Editorial Announcement of a New Series by Ray Stannard Baker,” McClure’s (October 1905), p. 673.
“the mission of raising”: William James, Memories and Studies (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1911), p. 323.
“There is no one left . . . none but all of us”: S. S. McClure, “Concerning Three Articles . . . and a Coincidence That May Set Us Thinking,” McClure’s (January 1903), p. 336.
CHAPTER ONE: The Hunter Returns
ROOSEVELT IS COMING HOME: Boston Daily Globe, June 16, 1910.
“the wise custom” . . . take his pledge back: Herman H. Kohlsaat, From McKinley to Harding: Personal Recollections of Our Presidents (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923), pp. 137–38; Oshkosh [WI] Daily Northwestern, Nov. 9, 1904; NYT, Nov. 8, 1904.
“the greatest office . . . every hour”: Oscar S. Straus, Under Four Administrations: From Cleveland to Taft (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922), p. 251.
“dull thud . . . break his fall”: Archibald W. Butt to “My Darling Mother,” June 19, [1908], in Lawrence F. Abbott, ed., The Letters of Archie Butt, Personal Aide to President Roosevelt (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1924), p. 42.
“impenetrable spot”: Elmer J. Burkett, “Theodore Roosevelt,” The Independent, June 9, 1910, p. 1270.
“Even at this moment”: TR to John Appleton Stewart, Mar. 19, 1910, in Elting E. Morison, ed., The Days of Armageddon, 1909–1914, Vol. 7 of The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt [hereafter LTR] (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951–54), p. 59.
“My political career . . . engulfing him”: Lawrence F. Abbott, Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1923), p. 53.
a six-week tour . . . Kings and queens: Baltimore Sun, June 18, 1910.
“People gathered . . . viva Roosevelt!”: Lawrence F. Abbott, “Mr. Roosevelt in Europe,” Outlook, June 4, 1910, pp. 249–50.
“No foreign ruler . . . class of society”: NYT, June 10, 1910.
“I don’t suppose . . . all about the man”: AB to Clara, April 19, 1910, in Archibald Willingham Butt, Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt, Military Aide, Vol. 1 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1930), p. 332.
“royal progress . . . American ever received”: “A Welcome to Mr. Roosevelt from the President of the United States,” Outlook, June 18, 1910, p. 342.
“a holiday appearance”: Evening Tribune (Marysville, OH), June 19, 1910.
“as diversely typical . . . native born and aliens”: Editorial, Evening Star (Washington, DC), June 18, 1910.
More than two hundred vessels: NYT, June 17, 1910.
“Flags floated . . . draped with bunting”: Evening Tribune, June 19, 1910.
The night before . . . special duty: NYT, June 17, 1910; Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 1910.
“The United States . . . excitement of anticipation”: Atlanta Constitution, June 15, 1910.
“If it were not . . . I am done for”: Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt, April 7, 1909, KR Papers.
“would do anything in the world”: Edith Kermit Carow to TR, June 8 [1886], in Sylvia Jukes Morris, Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady [hereafter EKR] (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1980), p. 86.
They had been intimate childhood . . . broke down in tears: TR, Diaries of Boyhood and Youth (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1928), p. 13.
a regular guest at “Tranquillity”: David McCullough, Mornings on Horseback (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981), pp. 142–43.
“the prettiest girls they had met”: Morris, EKR, p. 53.
mysterious “falling out” . . . at the estate’s summerhouse: Carleton Putnam, Theodore Roosevelt: The Formative Years, 1858–1886 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1958), pp. 170, 556.
The conflict . . . “his very intimate relations”: TR to ARC, Sept. 20, 1886, TRC.
“both of us had”: TR to ARC, Sept. 20, 1886, TRC.
his “whole heart and soul”: TR, Personal Diary, Jan. 25, 1880, TRP.
“I do not think . . . mistress of the White House”: TR to Maria Longworth Storer, Dec. 8, 1902, in Elting E. Morison, ed., The Square Deal, 1901–1903, Vol. 3 of LTR, p. 392.
their fellow passengers, some 3,000: NYT, June 19, 1910.
massive battleship South Carolina: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1910.
“By George!”: Washington Post, June 19, 1910.
“Flags were broken out . . . an eight-pounder”: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1910.
“to add dignity”: AB to Clara, June 19, 1910, in AB, Taft and Roosevelt, Vol. 1, pp. 394, 400.
“just as prominent”: Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), June 19, 1910.
he stopped his hectic motions: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“love of the hurly-burly . . . and Mr. Roosevelt”: Arthur R. Colquhoun, “Theodore Roosevelt,” Living Age, May 28, 1910, p. 519.
“pugilists, college presidents . . . noise and excitement”: Edward G. Lowry, “The White House Now,” Harper’s Weekly, May 15, 1907, p. 7.
the Roosevelts’ youngest sons . . . Nicholas Longworth: Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1910.
Eleanor Roosevelt; and her husband, Franklin: Joseph L. Gardner, Departing Glory: Theodore Roosevelt as ex-President (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973
), p. 170.
Roosevelt busily shook hands: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1910.
“Come here, Theodore . . . anything else”: AB to Clara, June 19, 1910, in AB, Taft and Roosevelt, Vol. 1, p. 399.
“the round face”: Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1910.
“to kiss pop first”: Atlanta Constitution, June 19, 1910.
“the Colonel spread his arms . . . pandemonium broke loose”: Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1910.
“there came from the river”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“everywhere flags”: Atlanta Constitution, June 19, 1910.
executed a “flying leap” . . . with every crew member: Fort Wayne [IN] Sentinel, June 18, 1910.
“an explosive word . . . meaning of the words”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“This takes me back . . . tell you how I feel”: Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1910.
“Fine! Fine!”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“George, this is bully!”: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1910.
Roosevelt hesitated . . . “shake hands with them”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“Boys, I am glad”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“We’re mighty glad”: Washington Post, June 19, 1910.
Reporters . . . remarked how “hale and hearty”: Evening Tribune (Marysville, OH), June 19, 1910.
“It is true”: Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), June 19, 1910.
“the same bubbling”: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1910.
detected “something different . . . more encompassing”: AB to Clara, June 19, 1910, in AB, Taft and Roosevelt, Vol. 1, p. 396.
“You come back here . . . a look at Teddy”: Washington Post, June 19, 1910.
“There he is!” . . . “Home, Sweet Home”: NYT, June 19, 1910.
“the man of the hour”: Washington Post, June 19, 1910.