diagnosis, in my judgment. There was not a
tinge of jealousy in Theodore Roosevelt's disposi-
tion. He was, however, attracted by loyalty and
dependability and repelled by what he thought to
be austere or selfish aloofness.

As an illustration I may perhaps without im-
propriety refer to his relations with Senator Root
who was Secretary of War and Secretary of State
in the Cabinet of President Roosevelt, and whom
Mr. Roosevelt often named as one of the ablest,
wisest, and most patriotic statesmen that the
country has ever produced. In 191 2, when Roose-
velt left the Republican party after being defeated



48 IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

for the presidential nomination by methods which
he thought were unjust and un-American, and by
an unparalleled stroke of political skill formed the
Progressive party and became its presidential
nominee, his political and personal relations with
Mr. Root were severed. But while in that hot and
bitter campaign he denounced others among his
political opponents in terms that sometimes had
the flavour of primitive man, I never heard him
once, either in private or in public, utter a personal
criticism of Mr. Root. Indeed he defended Mr.
Root against the criticisms of his (Roosevelt's),
own friends who felt resentment that Mr. Root's
rulings as chairman of the Republican National
Convention had deprived Roosevelt of the nomi-
nation which the people at large really wished him
to have. More than once I have heard him say
when Mr. Root's "steam-roller" methods of seat-
ing and unseating delegates at the Convention
were denounced as inexplicable disloyalty to his
former Chief: "No, you are wrong. It was not
disloyal. Elihu Root has the legal temperament
developed to a high degree. His first duty he
conscientiously believes is to his client. When he
was a practising lawyer before going into the Gov-
ernment the corporations were his clients, and he
was for the corporations. When he became a



POLITICS 49

member of my Cabinet the United States was his
client, and he was for the United States and against
the corporations. As chairman of that convention
the Republican party and its managers were Root's
clients, and he was for them and against me."

The fact is that Roosevelt respected, I think it
may be even said that he admired, this quality of
loyalty in Mr. Root, although he believed it to be
misdirected in the campaign of 191 2 and felt that
he was unjustly a sufferer from the misdirection.

Theodore Roosevelt's career both as a politician
and a statesman — I say politician and statesman
because I think there is a real distinction between
the two which I shall try to make clear in a later
chapter — was consistent, coherent, and coordinated.
This statement may be challenged. For his public
life was broken up, so to speak, into so many bril-
liant and dramatic episodes that these episodes, to
the observer, sometimes seemed to be wholly unre-
lated and not infrequently antagonistic.

For example, in 1884 Roosevelt was a delegate
to the National Republican Convention which
nominated James G. Blaine for the Presidency.
He opposed that nomination and fought vigorously
in behalf of the candidacy of Senator George F.
Edmunds of Vermont. But Mr. Blaine was nomi-
nated. In spite of his ability and brilliance there



So IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

were some financial incidents in his political career
which were repellent to a large wing of the Repub-
lican party who were then, as Mr. Roosevelt was,
working for the reenforcement of the principle of
common honesty in practical politics. This group
of Republicans bolted the nomination, forming
what was then known as the "mugwump" group,
and supported Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic
candidate. Although Roosevelt was only twenty-
five years old he had made himself a figure in the
convention as well as in the party. It was thought
by the leading "mugwumps" that he would sym-
pathize with them and join them in their support
of Cleveland. They were mistaken, however. He
supported Blaine, and gave his reasons for so doing
in the following public statement:

I intend to vote the Republican Presidential ticket. A
man cannot act both without and within the party; he can
do either, but he cannot possibly do both. Each course has
its advantages, and each has its disadvantages, and one can-
not take the advantages or the disadvantages separately.
I went in with my eyes open to do what I could within the
party; I did my best and got beaten, and I propose to stand
by the result.

Was his action in the Blaine campaign consistent
with his action in 191 2 when he bolted the nomi-
nation of Mr. Taft, formed the Progressive party,
and ran as a candidate for President himself? The



POLITICS 51

consistency, it seems to me, is a very real one. It
is found in the statement made to Jacob Riis
which I have quoted earlier in this chapter:
"There is a point where a man must take the iso-
lated peak and break with all his associates for
clear principle: but until that time comes he must
work, if he would be of use, with men as they are.
As long as the good in them overbalances the evil
let him work with them for the best that can be
obtained."

In 1884 he believed that it was his duty to work
with the Republican organization. In 191 2 he be-
lieved the time had come to take to the "isolated
peak" and to summon his supporters to join him.
Both actions, seemingly so contradictory, were
based upon, and were the logical result of, a funda-
mental political and moral philosophy. I propose
in the next chapter to try to outline why Theodore
Roosevelt was led to create the Progressive party
and to oppose the candidacy of Mr. Taft — the most
dramatic and outstanding event in his career as a
political manager.



CHAPTER III
THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY

WHEN Roosevelt emerged from the African
wilderness in March, 1910, I met him at
Khartum in the desert on the edge of the jungle,
fifteen hundred miles up the river Nile from Cairo.
He had no sooner discarded the trappings of the
jungle — and rather ragged and dilapidated trappings
they were — and resumed the garb of the civilian en
grand tour — in his case this garb was always simple
and unaffected though appropriate — than he was
confronted with all sorts of invitations to take up
politics again. These invitations were conveyed
by letter, cablegram, and even by personal delega-
tion. He was asked to become a candidate for
mayor of the City of New York and for senator
from the State of New York, for example. All
these invitations he declined with decision and
without discussion. In more than one conver-
sation he declared that his greatest desire, his
sole ambition, was to return to his home at Saga-
more Hill, Oyster Bay, for which I know, as do all
his friends, that he had a deep and abiding affec-

52






THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 53

tion. There it was his plan, he said, to live the life
of a country gentleman, spending his time out of
doors in the countryside which he knew so well,
and his time indoors in study, reading, and in writ-
ing on historical, scientific, or political questions,
with such occasional public speaking as might be
appropriate. I am reminded of what Roosevelt
said at that time by an incident related by Brander
Matthews in a note which I received from him after
Roosevelt's death:

I think it was in February, 1893, that we spent a week
in Washington. We dined one night with the Roosevelts.
I made some pleasant allusion to his future in public life.
He looked at me, seriously and almost sadly. (Roosevelt
was then Civil Service Commissioner.) Then he said: "My
future? How can I have a future in public life? Don't you
know as Civil Service Commissioner I have made an enemy
of every professional politician in the United States? I can't
have any political prospects."

I retorted that he would be President sooner or later.
Whereupon he smiled and asked, "Then what will you want ?"
And then I smiled and answered: "I think I would rather go
to London."

In this same vein Roosevelt said to me in Khar-
tum: "My political career is ended. No man in
American public life has ever reached the crest of
the wave as I appear to have done without the
wave's breaking and engulfing him. Remember
Dewey."



54 IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

In reply I told him I did not think the two cases
were at all parallel; that the American people knew
him, Roosevelt, after thirty years of trial in the
whitest kind of light; that his acts, achievements,
and character were tested and understood; and that
the people had taken him into their confidence and
affection permanently, for better or for worse. On
the other hand, I argued that Dewey had suddenly
been seized upon as a kind of idol by the American
people, not because they knew him very well, but
because of one great dramatic episode; and that
when he did something which they disliked they
discarded him, although unjustly, without any
wrench or sense of personal loss. "No," insisted
Roosevelt, "I am going down like Dewey." More
than once during our journey through Europe
he referred to this assumed parallel in his career
and that of the hero of the Naval Battle at Manila.
"Remember Dewey" became almost a slogan or
shibboleth in our political conversations, although
Roosevelt used it not jocosely but very seriously.

Coming back on the steamer from Southampton
to New York in June of that year, the usual enter-
tainment given in the saloon, for the benefit, of
some seamen's fund or other, took the form of a
"chalk talk" by the late Homer Davenport, then one
of the foremost of American newspaper cartoon-



THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY



55



ists. The passenger list of the ship was a very
large one, many people choosing this particular
steamer because Roosevelt was on it, and the saloon




"Hes good enough for all of us



A Davenport cartoon of the presidential campaign of 1904 in which Mr. Bryan wa»
thought to be not wholly averse to Judge Parker's defeat

on the evening when Davenport spoke was crowded
to its extreme capacity. Davenport's "chalk talks"
consisted of a series of stories, usually humorous,
each one being illustrated by a picture or a portrait
which he rapidly drew with black crayon on a very



56 IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

large-sized pad of brown paper placed on an easel
in sight of the audience. On this particular even-
ing the last story which he told was one about Ad-
miral Dewey. The story, somewhat condensed,
ran about as follows:

At the time when Admiral Dewey was being bitterly at-
tacked in the newspapers, and criticized throughout the
country because of the disposition which he made of the
house presented to him in honour of his victory at Manila,
I published in one of the newspapers a cartoon in his defense.
I thought the Admiral was most outrageously treated, and
I rather laid myself out to make the cartoon a striking and
effective one. A few days after it was published a friend of
mine who knew Dewey met me on the street in New York and
said: "Dewey has seen your cartoon and wants to see you.
Will you go over to Washington?" "Sure," I replied. We
went over, and my friend took me to the Admiral's house.
We entered the drawing room; I was presented to Mrs.
Dewey; and just as the Admiral came forward to give me
his hand, he burst into tears and threw himself upon a sofa
in a paroxysm of weeping. Mrs. Dewey apologized and
said: "You must excuse the Admiral, Mr. Davenport. He
has been wrought almost to a pitch of nervous prostration
by the unjust attacks made upon him. We had decided to
go to Europe, never to set foot on American soil again, and
had actually packed our trunks when we saw your cartoon.
It was the first ray of light, and made us change our minds,
and we have decided to remain in America, although some of
our trunks are still upstairs just as we packed them for our
departure."

Davenport thereupon rapidly sketched a portrait
of Admiral Dewey and his talk or lecture was



THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 57

finished. There were calls for Mr. Roosevelt.
He rose:

" Mr. Davenport," said he, "may I ask if the story
you have just related of Admiral Dewey is accurate
in all its details, or have you taken the pardonable
liberty of an artist and put in a little colour ?"

"No," answered Davenport, "the incident is
just as I related it, in every detail."

Whereupon Mr. Roosevelt paid an eloquent
tribute to Dewey, defending him from the attacks
that had been made upon him, and, after thanking
Davenport, sat down. I happened to be next to
him, and immediately on taking his seat he turned to
me, and — recalling the numerous times in the month
or two preceding in which he had remarked that he
was "going down like Dewey" — said, sotto voce,
"Lawrence, they may treat me like Dewey, but I'll
tell you one thing, I shall neither weep nor shall I go
to Europe!"

Unhappily first the country and then the Gov-
ernment did treat him like Dewey, but he neither
wept nor did he abandon his country. He did
not even show resentment or disappointment, but
kept up his fight to the very end, in the greatest
good spirits. His buoyancy, his capacity to rise
superior to all external disappointments, was, I
think, one of his greatest qualities.



58 IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

When Roosevelt arrived in New York in June,
1910, after more than a year's absence, and after
President Taft's Administration had been in power
for more than a year, he found the Republican
party in a condition of chaos, if not completely
disrupted. He believed that under the leaders
then in control the party was going backward, that
instead of being a party of progress it was becoming
a party of reaction. His foresight was confirmed
in the autumn by the Democratic victories and
especially by the loss to the Republican party of
Ohio, President Taft's own state. The disruption
was caused by "Cannonism" the term used to
describe Speaker "Joe" Cannon's control of party
councils and party legislation, by the controversy
over the Ballinger case and by Mr. Taft's ap-
parent indecision and inconsistent public utter-
ances on the tariff question. This domination of
the reactionary group led some of the younger and
forward-looking men in the party to make a pro-
test. It was rebellion, and was in fact called the
Insurgent Movement. It is well to remember that
the Insurgents (so-called) of 1910 were the direct
political progenitors of the Progressives of 1912.

It is, of course, a fact that not long after his re-
turn from Europe in 1910 Mr. Roosevelt did plunge
into active^politics again, was elected a delegate to



THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 59

the State Republican Convention at Saratoga, and
made himself the leader of that convention, not by
"steam-roller methods" — for he did not possess
the power of official authority — but by the sheer
force of his personal influence and persuasive argu-
ment. He not only did not shut off debate but
contended that the "Old Guard," or Reactionary
Group, should have complete freedom of discussion
and the right to vote untrammelled by any tech-
nical procedure. It was the most open and, in the
best sense of the word, the most democratic con-
vention that New York had seen for a long time.
Roosevelt's candidate for governor, Mr. Henry L.
Stimson — later from 191 1 to 1913 Secretary of
War — was nominated for governor although he
was defeated for election in the autumn by Mr.
Dix, the Democratic candidate. Mr. Stimson's
defeat at the polls was regarded as a defeat for
Roosevelt, and his opponents asserted that it
meant the elimination of his active influence or
authority in American politics. But in this judg-
ment they were as mistaken as he himself had been
when he compared himself to Admiral Dewey.

How is it possible to reconcile Mr. Roosevelt's
professions that he wished to keep out of active
politics and had no ambition for political prefer-
ment, with his political activities in the summer of



60 IMPRESSIONS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

1910, his organization of the Progressive party in
191 2, and his candidacy for President under the
auspices of that party? It was commonly said at
the time, and is perhaps now believed by some
people, that his course was prompted by the desire
to destroy Mr. Taft politically because of rancour
and antagonism that had sprung up between them.
Fortunately I have in my possession a document
which may throw some light upon this question.

I had known through intimate association with
Mr. Roosevelt of all the incidents which had led
to the estrangement between himself and Mr. Taft.
In the various political contests between 1910 and
1912 people had not infrequently come to me and
asked for the facts, or had made statements to me
that I knew were not accurate. I finally went to
Mr. Roosevelt and asked his permission to describe
the situation as I knew it, permission being neces-
sary, I thought, because my knowledge had been
acquired through confidential relationships. For
example, when heleft New Yorkfor Africa, inMarch,
1909, 1 went with him, by invitation, to the steamer
on which he sailed. Just before the ship pulled out
into the stream I asked whether there were not
something I could do of final service. "Yes," he
said, "I wish you would send a telegram to Taft."
I thereupon sat down at a table in the suite of



THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 61

rooms which he was to occupy and took down in
long hand, at his dictation, a message — which I
later despatched myself to Mr. Taft — a cordial
and warm-hearted telegram bidding his old friend,
now his successor in the White House, good-bye.

I later learned that Mr. Roosevelt never received
any reply or acknowledgment of his telegram,
and that the first communication which came to
him from Mr. Taft was not received until a year
and three months later, when he arrived in Lon-
don, although friends and acquaintances, and even
strangers, had sent him, when he reached Khartum,
cablegrams and letters of congratulation on his
success in passing through the dangers of his African
journey. This letter from Mr. Taft, written in
his own hand, was received by Roosevelt in Lon-
don in June, 1910. It stated the political difficul-
ties into which the Republican party had been
plunged and asked Mr. Roosevelt's counsel and
help in extricating the party from those difficulties.

On receiving Mr. Roosevelt's permission to make
public, as I saw fit, such facts as these and others
I wrote in January, 191 2, for the weekly paper in
my own home town — the Cornwall, New York
Local Press — an article which was stated by the
editor to give "some facts concerning the personal
relations of President Taft and Mr. Roosevelt















rod (hat Mr Hoot* r*pu-
rr»ai rorporaltoB Uottr

*U «|>oll|l) ff-tiri4 la • W* of t>0
fart lb* I Mr Hryaa »•■ Ukoty to
atl* fto tad .orrnr»tloa riapiln.
u I* ru; tiwuyS boo t* look bowk
oa4 fool ifcat probably tor fetch-
niboed Bopoblko* eoold Uti K«6
otcctod. but laoao »Us rvm«aibsr ib«
onJrltJe* of tbo cinwto of IftOS
«tll eieo rotaoabor tbat there wore

tlBM «kH «rtB l»* llaaablka*
tuaurn f**« the* Mr Bryan'e

i.m.t| Bf OlerUOB VOfV atLOfOtbef

lr c an fort

iBAJlr devidad U«l

r either Mr. Iluitm
or Mr. Roe*. ■ •* Ml of thb oooeUeB
for ihr mw I b'i |lvff» above.



t»l« ruiiiiu. It baa Uta
Urn** «ftJ4 *bat hla <aod«*:r tu
forrc4 opoa the party by Mr. floow-
yelt. Tift uiTin Ho *ft» lb*
tree rbotce of too partf Mo baa

*oa ft deoerredly aatloaal roootatloa
throafb feta alnlaUtraUea of ih«
rtiuppiao laia*4o; to baa boea «
tacMOjfel «Bd popular BooreUry of
We*; bo vao boUorai i* laAerotaaa
laUaatoty Mr Roeoovolt'o paiioao-

pfcj Bb4 nrfBftplee «f OOOVCBMBt



lb* CSB* Ufld bclVtOH lb« date Qf hio

auction n.j hi. inauk-uralloa la liOt.
ur*-4 blm (o ■i-pttnt'* blRucir bo
IboftWlbl/ from any RooacT«1l »*



.iMd !•• • l*ft«J to 101! or
IWIdual merlin "without

warn Mr. Kooenvtlt i

tw- pw-aldenrr no tbo <

MrKlftUr h* pr-omW.cd



:led Id IW4 tbai



publicly, of i*n prtretely
vao blo dealre and taten-
lain those Cabin, i col-
Ur RoooevcU woo bad



lolooUoa became tT«du»Hr mod
I durtni tba viator of 19A9U».
r oor oaember of Ibo RoomtoH
>U*t woo retained, and th* on
nb«r «bo *ao Mr. Rooo«re]('i







BAfl



C»v* BftUatacUo* sot oftlr
twrtr bat b» tto) eoaaur. Mr. Rooaw-
volt oetorad lato too ctmaaJva for
Mr Tafia ciociioo «Kb bio rbaro<-
Urtoltr Mtboslaoai aad Uroboaa tig-
er HU ape«eboo. baa lettara. b»
b» vUC«n •! co.Jltk.a*, ft£i L tw
HUCftl OtBOtWftCO OBOjWlbBtO* oo

l.raoir to tbo Baeooaarsl rooalt of
too oloctlo* that bio crttlca b*ta
oaid tbat bo alow Baminatej and
oloctod Mr. Taft

Uafoftuaatolf. oomo of Mr. Taft'a
advlaora took tblo mlJUUft 'U* of



ora f/boao bo arowtd have prafenvd
to boo roUJMd vaa not rotaloed.
|rofor, of roaroo, to Mr Jam«o Oar-
AoM, Mr. RoqbctoH'o Secretary
tbo laUrlor.. la tbo BalHster e
trovontr vblrb baa bad oo dlaasln
bo fdeti Dpoa tbo Taft admlDlstra-
tloa aaotbor of Mr Roooovelt'a ici.i.
mate eoHcacDOB. Mr Clfford Placbot,
«u praxUcoJIv dfamlaood.
perfortly mooifrii from



t/o]



16 ***..










bo wti



Africa.




bury blcosolf la tbo wlldt for aoarlr
• raar. vaa to roaaoro any poaalblo
erouod for tbo cbargn tbat be vaa
iruorfortag with Ht Tafl'a uluaJcl*-
tratloa- Pett^e bate aaid to me
I rotaeUmoa. -Why y It tftat Mr.j
vbo vaa aucb aa l&Umatal
frlaad of Mr. Tafia, coated to aula I
that loUmacy after Mr Taft got|



talo the vcbti* Houoer



I should I



$&? '<



A photographic reproduction of a por-
tion of the "Local Press" article, show-



62



/I ■*■' V^ w -•- OD« »bo Uo»t 10 Itink. Ihftl Mr

M ^ ^- y^/w i noowoll rtfrolftcd frvm Imposing

<**Jj*^*S\ ^f 1 !*■■* »I»o ">• o*" P mU i H. from

*T.' j* J UK bicbt-t wot* of g*ucfr Toe ei






the bi(bt-t

preeidont of * college who remain

eo the Hoard of Ttd»1"- aod cor



>l*uant pnraonr



Ru0iq\*I1 be*



?~J>&4



I »h Q
bit •

Stele of No* '






> the
'or* Oo« rtorory 4ar
air Roosevelt Jumped
bojj u Ojn.f Bay.
Sound. ti*J Bad » pn
with Mr Tafl at Hew lievefi. woon
lb* Uitor was aUeBdlng a met«'.mi
^ of tk* CorporaUoa of Yale University

&4 v*+t Tb * toll 2



,iu Interview



•D nouoeed— very



l(^UfU'.Cl)



Wl'J.



the apparent eCluleseCOce Of IbOM
i/wat to Ur Teft, — that tlie meet-
«li tough! Or Ur Roosevelt for
l p-orpoae of cettlag aem* help t



the State aeewbtkan U

fftCH «r»— *E<1 I h*»* 1*1

■ot from Mr ItoaoevclU
friend of Mr Tart '



:faJM Tbe

i fcaew all tbe

umetancea— that Ur Tail »oot

word u tfr .Rooaeeelt taking bia

y- l« com* la of**' 'bat to (Ur

,»>T"t^*AA */uft^ ITaftl might gat the benefit of Mr

C*« V~ ■"■» Roosevelt's ad r tee regarding too eer-

-. C O •/< low* «pltt in too national e3alra of

^^^ *£r 'aaia^r*^ ^ R«p* B ue*B partj wnlch resulted

y -/ from the figfci of lb* "progreaslvoe"

j^^CioVN. *■ Co«croaa against eo-ealled "Can-



I ^- f k«tf ILMbtb



To* oovapopan.



t*ct*d Mr Tail, bot tb* i

/ st t . sf B*t> loio troobta be rua to blot Tor

WfA^-A*'r ey\ •*•»*" **■ •» ftel ""f*'' * "**

/7 <, / ' and «b«o Ur Toft callad oa Ur

^r^y * Booawolt b* qolcfct? aAd gaoerooslr

/ ^-«-^^~ , ^ -, *) raapoodod t* tb* caJL Tbaoo f



pabllabod, for. of

RoooeTolt could oot pet

mstr bad to grta and

u bono a good man;

other anjtiaUlAbU erutrtsma. I am

atatlac tb«m bow oo dt owb reapoo>

albUltr and wltboot eesraltauoo vlib

Ur BooaeTeU aimpij aa aa example

of Cbe aitaliitarpretatloo vbleb rrorr

aua la poblk Of* b*a oftaa, to aodor-



(Vbom it etaerged
Urn M Kb*m
up tb« KUe,



1TB tO tbO QDtttttOA Of

pollUcoJ ambKioD*



tbt>as&nd mi!>:i

>Dter of Africa.

reoatved soon*, ya« baodreda o(

legmne, urgtog bim to



una to become » canaidMa tor VblU



ncin' »u;,i*J I






o i bo exBbftosco cJ
id exprvwed hie bo-
wer, be *»• boasd
vtalklou of popular
wroasljr. tut is per
bo BAiu-rted that ko



tb* center of tbe ataga Oae ovca-
Uuj al a public lactore ot> too et£*n>
•r *bJcb brought aa home from
ZoulhaJxipioo to Nev Vora, wbcB
Homer ua\enport, tbe cajtoooUt.
'old a atory of Admiral Dcwor*a be
li»S overcome by Irare ai Ua treat
aeot he bad received from tbe Amer
lean Be«f»e aod of tbe rcvotaUoo be
at eoe time tortned of goto* to Eu-