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

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

  “He is having”: Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 16, 1912.

  “settled the contest . . . to beat us”: Emporia [KS] Gazette, May 21, 1912.

  In nine of the thirteen states: “Appendix B: Republic Primary Results, 1912,” in Lewis L. Gould, Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008), p. 190.

  “I have had so many”: WHT to Horace Taft, May 29, 1912, WHTP.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: “Bosom Friends, Bitter Enemies”

  “A month ago”: The Times (London), May 23, 1912.

  “the most exciting . . . never before”: Washington Times, June 6, 1912.

  “Each side makes”: New York Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  “not dare to oppose”: TR to T. R. McAnally, May 24, 1912, in LTR, Vol. 7, p. 548.

  The president, however, had far . . . to win at Chicago: WHT to William Worthington, May 29, 1912, WHTP.

  “No man in this city”: New York Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  “the lawyers and witnesses”: New York Sun, April 21, 1912.

  “some contests . . . frighten or bulldoze”: WHT to William Worthington, May 29, 1912, WHTP.

  “the contestants had failed”: Washington Times, June 7, 1912.

  all too “familiar”: Ibid.

  “been sent to the penitentiary”: Washington Times, June 10, 1912.

  “neither justice nor logic”: John A. Gable, The Bull Moose Years: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1978), p. 15.

  two-to-one and sometimes ten-to-one margins: TR, “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” Outlook, July 13, 1912, p. 574.

  “irregularities” . . . the committee “reversed itself”: Mowry, Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement, p. 239.

  Though Roosevelt’s team demonstrated . . . election results: Washington Times, June 10, 1912.

  Texas delegates . . . “fair play”: Sidney M. Milkis, Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009), p. 109.

  eliminating “boss rule”: Gable, The Bull Moose Years, p. 15.

  gave the two San Francisco seats to Taft: Salt Lake Tribune, June 13, 1912.

  “desperate measures . . . offers of money”: Ibid.

  “I dare them . . . may not be seen”: Washington Times, June 13, 1912.

  Roosevelt likely deserved . . . between thirty and fifty: Mowry, Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement, pp. 238–39.

  “to crystallize”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  Aware that time was running out . . . in person: Milkis, Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy, p. 110.

  “he seemed in . . . stolen from them”: NYT, June 15, 1912.

  “All the information I get”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 15, 1912.

  leaving Washington correspondents . . . at Chevy Chase: New York Tribune, June 8, 9, 13 & 15, 1912.

  “an undeniable admission”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 15, 1912.

  “absolutely necessary”: Ibid.

  “the last hope of a lost cause”: New York Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  “Mr. Roosevelt’s departure”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 15, 1912.

  “plum crazy . . . to show up for work”: Washington Times, June 15, 1912.

  cried out “thief”: Manners, TR and Will, p. 235.

  songs for “Teddy . . . jeers and hoots”: NYT, June 15, 1912.

  a special “campaign drink”: Manners, TR and Will, p. 235.

  waving “Teddy” flags . . . at the railway yards: New York Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  “The sight of the Colonel . . . to its bosom”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, pp. 505–6.

  “football tactics”: NYT, June 16, 1912.

  “His appearance was . . . steal anything”: Ibid.

  “Give it to ’em . . . Knock ’em out”: New York Sun, June 16, 1912.

  “The receiver of stolen”: Manners, TR and Will, p. 237.

  “The people will win”: Washington Times, June 16, 1912.

  “to stand up . . . like a bull moose”: New York Sun, June 16, 1912.

  “to gore his antagonist”: Cedar Rapids [IA] Republican, June 1, 1912.

  “He is essentially”: Elihu Root to E. S. Martin, Mar. 9, 1912, in Jessup, Elihu Root, Vol. 2, p. 180.

  The bull moose icon: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, pp. 506–7.

  “put in one of”: New York Tribune, June 16, 1912.

  “magnetism . . . most desired to see”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 17, 1912.

  “the largest theater” . . . seated only 4,200: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 17, 1912.

  “ingenious” schemes . . . “avalanche of applause”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 18, 1912.

  “the most moving speech”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 508.

  “one of the most dramatic”: Washington Times, June 18, 1912.

  “convinced that Mr. Taft . . . we battle for the Lord”: TR, “The Case against the Reactionaries,” in WTR, Vol. 17, pp. 205–6, 212–13, 228, 231.

  “There is no question . . . that make nominations”: WAW, Literary MSS, 1912, White Papers.

  “extraordinary preparations” . . . 12,000 people: National Tribune (Washington, DC), June 23, 1912.

  “Passions have been . . . hotel lobbies”: Washington Post, June 18, 1912.

  “Whatever happens”: TR to Horace Taft, June 18, 1912, WHTP.

  “If I am nominated”: WHT to Felix Agnus, Feb. 29, 1912, WHTP.

  “I may go down”: WHT to William Worthington, May 29, 1912, WHTP.

  Before convening his cabinet . . . his campaign team: New York Tribune, June 19, 1912.

  McKinley and Charles Hilles . . . the temporary chair: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 514. Technically, as Sullivan points out, the presiding officer was known as the temporary chair until the final day of the convention, when he became the permanent chair; but to avoid confusion, I am following Sullivan’s lead by calling him the permanent chair, or the chair, throughout the story of the convention.

  “most learned . . . and sure”: WAW, The Autobiography, pp. 469–70.

  “the ablest man”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 516.

  “Mr. Root stands”: Ibid., p. 498.

  “were cruel thrusts”: Jessup, Elihu Root, Vol. 2, p. 202.

  “think over whether . . . to stand together”: TR to Joseph Dixon, May 25, 1912, in LTR, Vol. 7, p. 548.

  “I assume that . . . a united front”: TR to Francis McGovern, May 28, 1912, in ibid., p. 548n.

  hoping that “state pride” would lead: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 515.

  At noon . . . “honestly elected” Roosevelt delegates: New York Tribune, June 19 & 21, 1912.

  Three years later . . . “emphasis and energy”: Nicholas Butler to WHT, Nov. 12, 1915, Pringle Papers.

  “was not in order”: New York Tribune, June 19, 1912.

  Rosewater allowed . . . out of order: NYT, June 19, 1912.

  Root’s nomination . . . the Roosevelt side: Ibid.

  “not with La Follette’s consent”: Gardner, Departing Glory, p. 248.

  La Follette . . . would strike no deal whatsoever: New York Tribune, June 19, 1912.

  “We’ll heed not”: Ibid.

  “to see Senator Root”: New York Tribune, June 15, 1912.

  “Receiver of stolen goods!”: Gardner, Departing Glory, p. 248.

  “the sweating wrathful . . . did not flicker”: WAW, The Autobiography, p. 470.

  “loudly cheered him”: New York Tribune, June 19, 1912.

  their astonishing record: The Day Book (Chicago), June 19, 1912.

  Returning to the White House . . . Francis McGovern: Washington (DC) Herald, June 19, 1912.

  “It was his duty” . . . the crowd “fell silent”: NYT, June 19, 1912.

  “remained in seclusion . . . stand by him”: Ibid.

  “e
lectricity filled” . . . debate on the motion: Washington Times, June 19, 1912.

  “no knowledge . . . upon these contests”: NYT, June 20, 1912.

  “consent to refer . . . Hadley, the next”: Ibid.

  “radiant and infectious . . . falling in line”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, pp. 528, 530.

  “no man can . . . he holds his seat”: RNC and Milton W. Blumenberg, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Fifteenth Republican National Convention, Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1912 (New York: Tenny Press, 1912), p. 160.

  Outnumbered thirty-one . . . seating decisions: NYT, June 20, 1912.

  “We are requested . . . square deal here”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 19, 1912.

  “prospect of leaving . . . money and effort”: New York Tribune, June 20, 1912.

  “the moment when . . . ‘we will see you through’ ”: Pinchot, History of the Progressive Party, 1912–1916, p. 165.

  “My fortune”: Stoddard, As I Knew Them, p. 306.

  “lead a fight . . . conceal their emotions”: Washington Times, June 21, 1912.

  “jammed to its fullest capacity”: NYT, June 21, 1912.

  Minutes after . . . was not ready: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 20, 1912.

  A later four o’clock session . . . the following day: NYT, June 21, 1912.

  spectators “gathered in knots”: Washington Times, June 20, 1912.

  “to withdraw . . . honestly elected” delegates: New York Tribune, June 21, 1912.

  “politicking . . . like a cipher . . . shorn”: Lyon, Success Story, p. 341.

  his accumulated debt . . . “unhorsed”: Ibid., pp. 334–37.

  “A storm of hisses . . . steamroller some more!”: NYT, June 21, 1912.

  “a thousand toots”: WAW, The Autobiography, pp. 471–72.

  “caught the spirit . . . Choo Choo”: Evening Standard (Ogden City, UT), June 22, 1912.

  “All aboard . . . a great uproar”: NYT, June 21, 1912.

  “a chorus of shrieks”: Evening Standard, June 22, 1912.

  “The Convention has now . . . this successful fraud”: TR to the Republican National Convention, June 22, 1912, in LTR, Vol. 7, pp. 562–63.

  “to keep track of them all”: Manners, TR and Will, p. 262.

  It was nearly 7:30 p.m. . . . with 561 votes: NYT, June 22, 1912.

  “present but not” . . . Justice Hughes 2: New York Tribune, June 22, 1912.

  “no one would have suspected”: Washington Herald, June 23, 1912.

  the fourteen-year-old was “all grin”: Ibid.

  “electric” excitement . . . “joy of a boy”: San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1908.

  both the president and first lady . . . almost impossible: WHT to Mabel Boardman, June 23, 1912, WHTP.

  “No Republican convention”: New York Tribune, June 23, 1912.

  “I am not afraid”: WHT to Fred Carpenter, June 27, 1912, WHTP.

  “the absolute independence”: New York Tribune, June 23, 1912.

  “a real menace”: WHT to Fred Carpenter, June 27, 1912, WHTP.

  “at stake . . . the chief conservator”: New York Tribune, June 23, 1912.

  “preserved the party organization”: WHT to Fred Carpenter, June 27, 1912, WHTP.

  A “mass meeting”: Davis, Released for Publication, p. 314.

  Great applause greeted Edith . . . “Here comes Texas”: New York Tribune, June 23, 1912.

  “We came here . . . there was pandemonium”: Ibid.

  “find out . . . my heartiest support”: Washington Times, June 23, 1912.

  “The only question now”: Sullivan, Our Times, Vol. 4, p. 531.

  “I’m in the fight”: New York Tribune, June 28, 1912.

  “Pop’s been praying”: Quoted in NYT, July 4, 1912.

  “first skirmish . . . you of Chicago?”: New York Tribune, June 26, 1912.

  When the balloting began . . . finally secured the nomination: Gould, Four Hats in the Ring, pp. 92–93.

  “the country was standing”: WAW, The Autobiography, p. 478.

  “You must sometimes”: Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA), July 3, 1912.

  “no necessity for”: New York Tribune, July 4, 1912.

  “Warmest congratulations . . . join your cause”: Washington Herald, July 22, 1912.

  “a strong and rapidly growing”: New York Tribune, June 29, 1912.

  “exposing the Roosevelt fraud”: Washington Herald, July 17, 1912.

  “the most extravagant . . . the Harvester Trust”: New York Tribune, June 29, 1912.

  “taunted, laughed at”: Unger, Fighting Bob La Follette, p. 232.

  “If Wilson had . . . abandon them”: TR to Alfred Warriner Cooley, July 10, 1912, in LTR, Vol. 7, p. 575.

  “was flinching from . . . of disaster”: TR to Chase Salmon Osborn, June 28, 1912, in ibid., p. 566.

  “excellent man . . . for such action”: TR to Chase Salmon Osborn, July 5, 1912, in ibid., p. 569.

  “a call to . . . roots of privilege”: Washington Times, July 8, 1912.

  Senators Cummins, Hadley . . . to desert the Republican Party: LTR, Vol. 7, p. 573n.

  promising instead to reform it from within: Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography, pp. 565–66.

  “I feel that Cummins”: TR to John C. Kelly, July 10, 1912, in LTR, Vol. 7, p. 575.

  “I greatly regret”: TR to William Rockhill Nelson, July 30, 1912, in ibid., p. 583.

  “sagging . . . courage of his followers”: WHT to HHT, July 20, 1912, WHTP.

  “utterly unscrupulous . . . public attention”: WHT to HHT, July 15, 1912, WHTP.

  “the object and purposes . . . definition of his aims”: Washington Times, July 8, 1912.

  “hour after hour . . . and solidity”: New York Tribune, July 20, 1912.

  “the greatest effort”: NYT, Aug. 2, 1912.

  Roosevelt took a single day . . . “tennis on his return”: Washington Herald, July 25, 1912.

  “simplicity . . . unusual informality”: New York Tribune, July 31, 1912.

  the ceremony would be held . . . four hundred persons in attendance: WHT to Frances Taft Edwards, Aug. 2, 1912, WHTP.

  “an average of sixteen”: Washington Herald, July 29, 1912.

  “Roosevelt proposes . . . going to play”: WHT to DCT, Aug. 1, 1912, WHTP.

  The notification ceremony . . . “loud shouts and handclapping”: NYT, Aug. 2, 1912.

  “long-established . . . political conventions began”: WHT and Elihu Root, Speech of William Howard Taft Accepting the Republican Nomination for President of the United States, Together with the Speech of Notification by Senator Elihu Root, Delivered at Washington, D.C., August 1, 1912 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1912), p. 3.

  “harping” . . . stolen the nomination: WHT to HHT, July 15, 1912, WHTP.

  Taft accepted the nomination . . . “with the stronger and more powerful”: WHT and Elihu Root, Speech of William Howard Taft, p. 5.

  Asked to comment . . . Progressive Party Convention: New York Tribune, Aug. 2, 1912.

  “On second thought . . . the live issues”: New York Tribune, Aug. 3, 1912.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Armageddon

  “no man could go”: Washington [DC] Times, Aug. 4, 1912.

  “looked less like”: NYT, Aug. 6, 1912.

  “not a saloon-keeper”: William Menkel, “The Progressives at Chicago,” American Review of Reviews (September 1912).

  “Instead of forcing”: NYT, Aug. 5, 1912.

  “great adventure . . . chance or speculation”: Boston Daily Globe, Aug. 4, 1912.

  “no dead places . . . in the right”: Richard Harding Davis, “The Men at Armageddon,” Collier’s, Aug. 24, 1912.

  “more, in fact”: NYT, Aug. 2, 1912.

  “high-minded white men”: TR, “The Progressives and the Colored Man,” Outlook, Aug. 24, 1912, p. 911.

  “was riddled . . . a racist strategy”: Gable, The Bull Moose Years, pp. 65–66.

  “lily-w
hite” delegations: New York Tribune, Aug. 2, 1912.

  would “not budge”: NYT, Aug. 6, 1912.

  “the whole show”: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  Once again, Chicago went . . . thousands of people: Washington Times, Aug. 5, 1912.

  “My friends”: Ibid.

  “Confession of Faith”: New York Tribune, Aug. 5, 1912.

  “the greatest personal”: Washington [DC] Herald, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “hundreds of men . . . cast their lots together”: Ernest Hamlin Abbott, “The Progressive Convention,” Outlook, Aug. 17, 1912, pp. 858–59.

  “battle flag . . . the plain people”: Emporia [KS] Gazette, June 24, 1912.

  Every man wore . . . around her wrist: Washington Herald, Aug. 6, 1912.

  a red bandanna around: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “stood smiling”: Chicago Tribune, Aug. 7, 1912.

  Twenty thousand voices . . . soaring melody: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “sprang to their feet”: Davis, “The Men at Armageddon,” Collier’s, Aug. 24, 1912.

  “I have been fighting”: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  When it seemed . . . he had to carry it through: Manners, TR and Will, p. 268.

  “jovial smile and bright eye”: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “Mrs. Roosevelt shrank . . . in public life!”: Davis, “The Men at Armageddon,” Collier’s, Aug. 24, 1912.

  “At present . . . people to rule”: TR, “A Confession of Faith,” in Social Justice and Popular Rule, WTR, Vol. 17, pp. 257–58.

  Though the delegates . . . the right to the vote: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “In most cases”: NYT, Aug. 6, 1912.

  “fell on willing ears”: NYT, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “a living wage . . . we battle for the Lord”: TR, “A Confession of Faith,” in WTR, Vol. 17, pp. 268–69, 298–99.

  “a purely Rooseveltian document”: Washington Herald, Aug. 8, 1912.

  “the first time a woman”: Chicago Tribune, Aug. 7, 1912.

  “wave upon wave . . . this great movement”: Washington Times, Aug. 8, 1912.

  “The Bull Moose party”: RSB, Notebook L, Aug. 31, 1912, RSB Papers.

  “It is odd to me . . . to forget himself”: RSB, Notebook M, Aug. 8, 1912, RSB Papers.

  Roosevelt’s titanic persona . . . “obscures everything”: RSB, Notebook L, Aug. 31, 1912, RSB Papers.

  “As for me”: RSB, Notebook M, Aug. 8, 1912, RSB Papers.

  “I left Princeton . . . dared to make speeches”: RSB, American Chronicle, pp. 273–75.