The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

  “I wish as much . . . downtrodden, outcast?”: RSB to TR, June 8, 1908, TRP.

  “the wilds of Africa . . . plain morality”: RSB, “The New Roosevelt: A Sketch from Life from an Unpublished Letter,” The American Magazine (September 1908), p. 472.

  “in a more human mood”: Ibid.

  “When you see me”: AB to his mother, May 15, 1908, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, p. 7.

  “been President . . . should hold it”: TR to George Trevelyan, June 19, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, pp. 1087, 1086, 1089.

  “to throb with . . . Pres. Roosevelt”: Washington Post, June 14, 1908.

  “an unfailing topic”: Emporia [KS] Gazette, June 16, 1908.

  “a mob”: San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 1908.

  “in their heart of hearts”: Des Moines Daily News, June 16, 1908.

  “a stampede . . . last card”: Washington Post, June 14, 1908.

  “to create a diversion”: The North American, June 21, 1908.

  “full of sunshine”: Outlook, June 27, 1908, p. 420.

  The band played: Emporia [KS] Gazette, June 16, 1908.

  “the glories of . . . blood tingling”: New York Tribune, June 18, 1908.

  “that expectant interest”: Des Moines Daily News, June 17, 1908.

  His quarters at . . . comfortable chairs: NYT, March 29, 1908.

  Electricians equipped . . . the Coliseum: New York Tribune, June 18, 1908.

  “plunged into the . . . do anything unnatural”: Emporia [KS] Gazette, June 18, 1908.

  Nellie arrived at noon . . . outer reception room: Washington Post, June 19, 1908.

  “the magic name”: Outlook, June 27, 1908, p. 417.

  “a wild, frenzied”: Des Moines Daily News, June 17, 1908.

  “burning fuse to dry powder”: New York Tribune, June 19, 1908.

  “vested abuses . . . United States today”: Republican National Convention and Milton W. Blumenberg, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Republican National Convention: Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 16, 17, 18 and 19, 1908: Resulting in the Nomination of William Howard Taft, of Ohio, for President (Columbus, OH: F. J. Heer, 1908), p. 87.

  “exploded with a roar . . . Four Years More”: Outlook, June 27, 1908, p. 417.

  “volleys of cheers . . . would blow off”: New York Tribune, June 18, 1908.

  “a trifle . . . for another outburst”: Washington Post, June 18, 1908.

  “on the verge”: New York Tribune, June 18, 1908.

  Fortunately, Taft . . . pandemonium erupted: WHT Diaries, June 17, 1908, WHTP.

  Nellie was unnerved: Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Presidential Nominations and Elections: A History of American Conventions, National Campaigns, Inaugurations and Campaign Caricature (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1916), p. 74.

  “not at all alarmed”: WHT Diaries, June 17, 1908, WHTP.

  “by the force of his”: Outlook, June 27, 1908, p. 417.

  “That man is no friend”: RNC and Blumenberg, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Republican National Convention, p. 88.

  “as the voice of the President”: Washington Post, June 18, 1908.

  “to blow off steam”: New York Tribune, June 18, 1908.

  Archie Butt had never: AB to his mother, June 19, 1908, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, p. 39.

  “The cheers for Roosevelt”: Des Moines Daily News, June 17, 1908.

  one of her husband’s “best advisers”: Washington Post, June 19, 1908.

  “electric with”: San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1908.

  Nellie strove to remain calm: Bishop, Presidential Nominations and Elections, p. 73.

  “Taft, Taft, Taft . . . beaming smile”: Galveston [TX] Daily News, June 19, 1908.

  Though less protracted: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1908.

  “white as marble”: Bishop, Presidential Nominations and Elections, pp. 74–75.

  “Scarcely a word”: San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1908.

  “Pay no attention”: Galveston [TX] Daily News, June 19, 1908.

  Seven states managed: Current Literature (July 1908), p. 1.

  “The scene was absolutely”: Galveston [TX] Daily News, June 19, 1908.

  “flashed . . . aglow with excitement”: Washington Post, June 19, 1908.

  “Bubbling over with . . . joy of a boy”: San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1908.

  A “football rush”: Washington Post, June 19, 1908.

  “You know how . . . I am very happy”: Ibid.

  Roosevelt was engaged: San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1908.

  “The country is indeed”: Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1908.

  “A great honor . . . to you to-night”: New York Evening World, June 19, 1908.

  The convention completed . . . “Sunny Jim”: ARL, Crowded Hours, p. 151.

  They had hoped . . . to the delegates: TR to HCL, June 15, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1077; WHT to TR, June 15, 1908, WHTP.

  diluted an anti-injunction plank: Des Moines Daily News, June 17, 1908.

  expressed “disappointment”: Des Moines Daily News, June 19, 1908; Pringle, Life and Times, Vol. 1, pp. 354–55.

  “We can’t get all”: Emporia [KS] Gazette, June 22, 1908.

  “The next four months”: WHT to Charles E. Magoon, July 10, 1908, WHTP.

  “with a certain degree . . . out of whole cloth”: WHT to John Rodgers, July 19, 1908, WHTP.

  the Presidential Suite . . . secretary and clerk: Washington Times, July 12, 1908.

  In the days . . . seven years earlier: Fort Wayne [IN] Journal-Gazette, June 19, 1910.

  Typically awakened . . . settled in his office: Albuquerque [NM] Citizen, July 21, 1908.

  more than 1,500 congratulatory . . . letters every day: Racine [WI] Journal, July 7, 1908; Bemidji Daily Pioneer (St. Paul, MN), July 14, 1908.

  By ten . . . “favorite promenade”: Washington Times, July 12, 1908.

  After the defeat . . . over 50 percent: Greenville [PA] Evening Record, July 11, 1908.

  The Democratic platform: WHT to TR, July 13, 1908, TRP.

  “We will be able”: TR to WHT, July 13, 1908, WHTP.

  how to “slash savagely”: TR to WHT, July 17, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1132.

  “Both of the first . . . now the leader”: TR to WHT, July 21, 1908, in ibid., pp. 1139–40.

  “most accomplished . . . frank announcement”: NYT, July 23, 1908.

  “I have the highest”: Marion [OH] Weekly Star, July 25, 1908.

  “the spectacle”: New Castle [PA] News, July 24, 1908.

  “a schoolboy . . . his late chief”: NYT, July 23, 1908.

  “humiliating pilgrimage”: New York Sun, July 24, 1908.

  “but the puppet”: Pensacola [FL] Journal, July 24, 1908.

  “not calculated”: New Castle [PA] News, July 24, 1908.

  The stately colonial mansion . . . distinguished visitors: Alexandria [DC] Gazette, July 26, 1908.

  A flagpole: Piqua [OH] Leader-Dispatch, July 28, 1908.

  The spacious grounds: Alexandria [DC] Gazette, July 26, 1908.

  “What we thought”: Charles P. Taft to William Edwards, July 25, 1908, WHTP.

  NO PLACE LIKE HOME . . . “arm in arm”: New York Tribune, July 26, 1908.

  the city’s “holiday attire”: Coshocton [OH] Daily Age, July 28, 1908.

  “the booming of cannon”: Piqua [OH] Leader-Dispatch, July 28, 1908.

  From the reviewing stand: Alexandria [DC] Gazette, July 26, 1908.

  “as its candidate”: Piqua [OH] Leader-Dispatch, July 28, 1908.

  “smiled cordially”: Alexandria [DC] Gazette, July 26, 1908.

  “movement for practical reform . . . is not now adequate”: WHT, “Speech Accepting the Republican Nomination, July 28, 1908,” in Republican Campaign Text-Book, 1908 (Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing Co., 1908), p. 3.

  “Popular elections”: Cincinnati Price Current, July 30, 1908.

  “Hasn’t it been glorious!
”: Anthony, Nellie Taft, p. 215.

  After a luncheon party . . . “all ablaze with illumination”: Alexandria [DC] Gazette, July 26, 1908.

  From the steamer’s deck: Piqua [OH] Leader-Dispatch, July 28, 1908.

  “tremendous outpouring . . . was unalloyed”: WHT to TR, July 31, 1908, TRP.

  “I congratulate you”: TR to WHT, July 30, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1144.

  “an exceedingly able . . . western radicalism”: Wall Street Journal, July 29, 1908.

  he hoped to shed the 50 pounds: Waterloo [IA] Semi Weekly Courier, July 7, 1908.

  “I play golf”: Bemidji [MN] Daily Pioneer, July 14, 1908.

  after a brief stint . . . in his waist: WHT to TR, July 12, 1908, TRP.

  “No man weighing 300”: NYT, Aug. 18, 1908.

  a 3,500-pound workhorse . . . “a special stall”: NYT, Aug. 26, 1908.

  “everything else”: New York Tribune, Aug. 14, 1908.

  “It would seem incredible”: TR to WHT, Sept. 14, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1234.

  a “rich man’s game”: New York Tribune, Aug. 14, 1908.

  “the American people”: TR to WHT, Sept. 5, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, pp. 1209–10.

  “very hard” . . . could be misleading: WHT to TR, Sept. 21, 1908, TRP.

  “like a hen over her chickens”: Charles Willis Thompson, Presidents I’ve Known and Two Near Presidents (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929), p. 225.

  “willing to undergo”: WHT to TR, July 9, 1908, TRP.

  “I must tell you”: George Sheldon to WHT, Sept. 28, 1908, WHTP.

  “nothing but the . . . misunderstood”: WHT to William N. Cromwell, Aug. 6, 1908, WHTP.

  “I have always said”: TR to WHT, Aug. 7, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1157.

  Taft finally agreed . . . chagrined about his chances: WHT to TR, Aug. 10, 1908, WHTP.

  “Don’t get one particle”: TR to WHT, Aug. 24, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, pp. 1196, 1195.

  “a dangerous man . . . No longer an outcast”: Fort Wayne [IN] Journal-Gazette, Aug. 8, 1908.

  “would be placed”: Evening Independent (Massillon, OH), Oct. 1, 1908.

  “If the candidate”: WHT to TR, Sept. 11, 1908, TRP.

  “Do not answer”: TR to WHT, Sept. 1, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1204.

  “Hit them hard”: TR to WHT, Sept. 11, 1908, in ibid., p. 1231.

  Taft promised to confront Bryan directly: WHT to TR, Sept. 14, 1908, TRP.

  “I cannot be more”: WHT to E. N. Huggins, Aug. 11, 1908, WHTP.

  “I am not very pleased . . . into the campaign”: TR to Nicholas Longworth, Sept. 21, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, pp. 1244–45.

  the president’s “natural successor”: Galveston [TX] Daily News, Sept. 14, 1908.

  “The true friend . . . shoulder to shoulder”: TR to Conrad Kohrs, Sept. 9, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1213.

  “You say that”: TR to William Jennings Bryan, Sept. 27, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1259.

  Deeds, he argued: TR to William Jennings Bryan, Sept. 23, 1908, in ibid., pp. 1253–54.

  “walked into a trap”: WHT to TR, Oct. 9, 1908, TRP.

  “claim to be the heir”: WHT to TR, Oct. 3, 1908, TRP.

  “the revival”: WHT to TR, Oct. 9, 1908, TRP.

  The “Taft Special” . . . forty-one days: Van Wert [OH] Daily Bulletin, Oct. 6, 1908.

  consisted of four cars: Racine [WI] Daily Journal, Sept. 23, 1908.

  “proved to be . . . a professional entertainer”: Current Literature (December 1908), p. 621.

  “he strengthened himself”: Lawrence [KS] Daily World, Oct. 5, 1908.

  “on the level . . . trust him anywhere”: Evening Independent (Massillon, OH), Oct. 1, 1908.

  “I have been in real touch”: NYT, Oct. 2, 1908.

  “You are making such . . . treading on air”: HHT to WHT, Sept. 24, 1908, WHTP.

  “I can’t imagine”: HHT to WHT, Sept. 25, 1908, WHTP.

  “had a most delightful time”: WHT to TR, Oct. 3, 1908, TRP.

  “changed materially”: TR to Kermit Roosevelt, Oct. 24, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1318.

  To everyone’s relief . . . “tremendously”: TR to HCL, Oct. 21, 1908, in ibid., p. 1314.

  “I told him he simply”: AB to his mother, Oct. 21, 1908, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, pp. 143–44.

  “was keeping himself . . . on his own feet”: Hammond, The Autobiography, Vol. 2, p. 537.

  “very touched . . . delighted”: WHT to TR, Sept. 14 & Nov. 1, 1908, TRP.

  “monster” crowds . . . “enjoy it immensely”: Cincinnati Inquirer, Nov. 3, 1908.

  They reached Cincinnati . . . in the afternoon: WHT Diaries, Nov. 3, 1908, WHTP.

  In preparation for . . . the United Press: Lima [OH] Daily News, Nov. 4, 1908.

  “exhibiting the finest specimen”: Ibid.

  “Just say that”: Ibid.

  “I was never so happy”: HHT to WHT, Nov. 3, 1908, WHTP.

  Though Taft’s popular margin . . . a million and a quarter votes: Pringle, Life and Times, Vol. 1, p. 377.

  “I pledge myself”: New York Sun, Nov. 4, 1909.

  “was simply radiant . . . content to die”: AB to Clara, Nov. 5, 1908, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, pp. 153, 156.

  “My selection and election”: WHT to TR, Nov. 7, 1908, TRP.

  “You have won”: TR to WHT, Nov. 10, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1340.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: “A Great Stricken Animal”

  “the best equipped man”: HCL to WHT, June 22, 1908, WHTP.

  “the greatest all around man”: NYT, Feb. 28, 1909.

  “he had served with great”: James Eli Watson, As I Knew Them: Memoirs of James Watson, Former United States Senator from Indiana (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1936), p. 134.

  “The most difficult instrument”: David A. Heenan and Warren G. Bennis, Co-Leaders: The Power of Great Partnerships (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999), p. 23.

  “but he could not fill”: RSB, “The Measure of Taft,” The American Magazine (July 1910), pp. 366–67.

  “Not everyone was meant”: Heenan and Bennis, Co-Leaders, p. 270.

  “spoke like a man”: Pinchot, Breaking New Ground, p. 381.

  “shake their heads”: Syracuse [NY] Herald, Nov. 6, 1908.

  “a trembling fear . . . out with unanimity”: WHT to Rufus Rhodes, Jan. 2, 1909, WHTP.

  “splendid 18 hole”: Boston Evening Transcript, Dec. 17, 1903.

  While Nellie thought the location: Mowry, The Era of Theodore Roosevelt, 1900–1912, p. 233.

  “getting away for a complete rest”: Piqua [OH] Leader-Dispatch, Nov. 5, 1908.

  He defiantly proposed: Fort Wayne [IN] Journal-Gazette, Nov. 8, 1908.

  “good and ready”: Washington Post, Jan. 21, 1909.

  “to make golf”: Syracuse [NY] Herald, Nov. 9, 1908.

  “possum and taters” banquet: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 4, 1909; Lima [OH] Daily News, Jan. 1, 1909.

  a specially constructed cage . . . six hundred guests: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 4, 1909.

  marking “a social epoch”: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 16, 1909.

  A cartoon of Taft: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 27, 1909.

  “a gigantic rat” . . . children to cry: Ibid.

  “the honor without”: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 24, 1909.

  Robert and Helen . . . Bryn Mawr: WHT to Mabel Boardman, Dec. 24, 1908, WHTP.

  the families of Charles . . . John Hays Hammond: NYT, Jan. 11, 1909.

  “He is so genial”: “Mr. Taft’s Visit to the South,” The Independent, Jan. 28, 1909.

  “Tell the boys”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 321.

  his “humiliating pilgrimage”: New York Sun, July 24, 1908.

  “aroused the people”: Pringle, Life and Times, Vol. 1, p. 382.

  “different personnel”: WHT to George B. Cortelyou, Jan. 22, 1909, WHTP.

  “I merely followed”: AB, Taft and Roosevelt, Vol. 1, p. 345.

  “ought to be
Pres.-elect”: NYT, Feb. 27, 1909.

  “I would rather stay here”: Jessup, Elihu Root, Vol. 2, p. 138.

  “touched and gratified” . . . in the Senate: HCL to WHT, Dec. 9, 1908, WHTP.

  “Knox called on me”: TR to WHT, Dec. 15, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1423.

  planning to invite Knox . . . his remaining choices: WHT to TR, Dec. 22, 1908, TRP.

  Frank Hitchcock . . . postmaster general: Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 24, 1909.

  “Ha ha!”: TR to WHT, Dec. 31, 1908, in LTR, Vol. 6, p. 1454.

  “inducement . . . to continue Wright”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 320.

  not “decisive . . . action by him”: WHT to Philander C. Knox, Dec. 22, 1908, WHTP.

  he exacerbated . . . before the inauguration: AB to Clara, Feb. 14, 1908, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, p. 338.

  “I didn’t have to be hit”: Gustav J. Karger, “Memorandum #5,” Mar. 12, 1910, Taft-Karger MSS, CMC.

  A “peculiar intimacy”: TR to Gifford Pinchot, Jan. 24, 1909, TRP.

  Garfield had every reason . . . to Taft’s candidacy: James R. Garfield, Diary, Mar. 3, 1908, Garfield Papers.

  he and his wife . . . vacationing together: James R. Garfield, Diary, Sept. 3, 1908, Garfield Papers.

  Their son, John: James R. Garfield, Diary, Mar. 28, 1908, Garfield Papers.

  The press assumed: Syracuse [NY] Herald, Dec. 22, 1908.

  “big enough” . . . the Forestry Bureau: Gustav J. Karger, “Memorandum #5,” Mar. 12, 1910, Taft-Karger MSS, CMC.

  While he recognized . . . represent their interests: Pringle, Life and Times, Vol. 1, p. 478.

  “He has done admirably”: James R. Garfield, Diary, Mar. 2, 1908, Garfield Papers.

  “limited personal means” . . . finally persuaded: Hammond, The Autobiography, Vol. 2, p. 543.

  that Garfield was “out of the running”: Syracuse [NY] Herald, Dec. 22, 1908.

  “I am utterly at sea”: James R. Garfield, Diary, Jan. 11, 1909, Garfield Papers.

  “a genial, agreeable man”: Jefferson City [MO] Tribune, Jan. 20, 1909.

  “Rumors & more rumors”: James R. Garfield, Diary, Jan. 18, 1909, Garfield Papers.

  “an astounding condition”: James R. Garfield, Diary, Jan. 12, 1909, Garfield Papers.

  Gossip filled the vacuum: AB to Clara, Jan. 5, 1909, in Abbott, ed., Letters of Archie Butt, pp. 271–72.

  “completely changed . . . to keep no one”: James R. Garfield, Diary, Jan. 4, 1909, Garfield Papers.