The rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris [394]
102. But.5; Robert E. Livingstone int. FRE.
103. Nicholas Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: The Man as I Knew Him (Dodd, Mead, 1967), 56. “It was never safe to contest with him on any question of fact or figures.” (HCL in New York State Memorial, 1919).
104. Nicholas Roosevelt, TR, 56; Wag.74.
105. Ib.; Stanley Isaacs int. May 1, 1956 (TRB). For other examples of TR’s memory, see Wis.114; Stoker, Irving, 237; Bishop, Joseph B., Notes and Anecdotes of Many Years (Scribner’s, 1925) 136.
106. Eve. Star, Jan. 1, 1907.
107. Moore, Old Guard, 178; Fenwick, 1907 has a floor diagram showing crowd movement through the White House.
108. Child qu. Wag.108.
109. W. Post, Jan. 2, 1907; W. Her., same date.
110. W. Post, Jan. 2, 1907; see Whi.404–5 for TR’s post-reception ablutions.
111. Fenwick, 1908; Guinness Book of World Records (1978 ed.). Some contemporary sources, e.g. N.Y. Sun, Jan. 2, 1907, put the figure as high as 10,000; others, e.g., Eve. Star, put it as low as 5,063. Guinness’s figure of 8,150 is borne out, in fact slightly exceeded, by W. Her., Jan. 2 (8,513) and the respected N.Y. Tribune (8,500) and may be accepted as a fair estimate.
112. The personal details in the following section are too numerous, and too ephemeral, for individual citation. Basic sources: Diary (1907) of Kermit Roosevelt in Library of Congress; Longworth, Derby, and Roosevelt interviews listed above. Other sources as cited below.
113. Naval War is still considered definitive. See Herr. 196; also Gable, John A., Theodore Roosevelt as Historian and Man of Letters, intro. to TR’s Gouverneur Morris, Bicentennial Ed. (Oyster Bay, 1975) vii.
114. Eve. Star, Jan. 1, 1907; TRP. The subjects covered by these letters range from Choctaw and Chickasaw legislation through The Song of Roland to white goats’ heads.
115. Mrs. Longworth int. Nov. 1954; Amos, Valet, 11; Kermit Roosevelt Diary, Jan. 1, 1907; Day Allen Willey clip, n.d., TRB; Nicholas Roosevelt, TR, 55. For TR’s half-blindness, which was kept a secret during his term as President, see Morr.355, 653.
116. TR to S. American expedition companion, 1913, memo in TRB mss.
117. Rii.311–2; memo of TR’s vice-presidential campaign, TRB mss. (see Ch. 28); Wag.45–6; But.88; Whi.501.
118. Wis.89.
119. W. M. Sims in TR.Wks.VI.xi. In TR Medals file, TRB, Sims recalls TR telling him, after a reprieve from a theatre performance granted by Mrs. Roosevelt, “I have three books, and I am going to read them all tonight.”
120. Mor.5, passim; TR, Letters to Kermit (Scribner’s, 1946) passim; Rob. 239. Author’s guess at 500 other volumes is based on TR’s average of one and often two books a day. Those who consider it an inflated estimate should refer to Wag.56, and Mor. 3.642–4 for TR’s own stupendous reading list for 1902 and 1903, compiled for Nicholas Murray Butler on Nov. 4, 1903. (“Of course I have forgotten a great many, especially ephemeral novels … and I have also read much in the magazines.”) See also The Critic, June 1903: “The President is known as one of the most extensive patrons of the Library of Congress … no previous President has ever sent to this institution lists of books so lengthy … The President is constantly consulting not only the latest authorities upon subjects which interest him, but also original editions and manuscripts.” See also TR to George Haven Putnam, Oct. 6, 1902: “That man Lindsay who wrote about prehistoric Greece has not put out a second volume, has he? Has a second volume of Oman’s Art of War appeared? If so, send me either or both; if not, then a good modern translation of Niebhur and Momsen or the best modern history of Mesopotamia. Is there a good history of Poland?” (Mor. 3.343–5).
121. Mor.5.502; ib.3.557; TR to Mrs. Cadwallader Jones, Oct. 23, 1906 (Derby mss.).
122. Mor.5.549.
123. Ib., 537; Century, Jan. 1907. “The Ancient Irish Sagas,” which TR wrote to take his mind off Brownsville, is reprinted in TR. Wks.XII.141 ff. See DeeGee Lester, “Theodore Roosevelt, the Ancient Irish Sagas and Celtic Studies in the United States,” Eire-Ireland