The rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris [464]
92. Mor.1024; un. clip, TRB, c. July 1, 1899; Rob.195. Note: Corinne wrongly places the date of Cromwell’s composition in 1900.
93. Probably Elihu Root, qu. Arthur Lee in TR.Wks.X. 169–70.
94. Mor.1043; ib., 1046; World, July 9, 1899; Mor.1038–9, 1502.
95. Ib., 1043, 1046. TR exceeded his word quota from Scribner’s by some twenty thousand words. The serial purchase price was $5,000, plus 15% in book royalties. Ib., 1049.
96. Eve. Post article, “Roosevelt the Ideal Contributor,” n.d., but c. Feb. 1919, TRB; Mor.1053; Lee in TR.Wks.X. 170.
97. Wis.65–6.
98. Mor. 1047.
99. See Trib., July 9, 1899; N.Y.T., July 16. See also TR to HCL, July 21, Mor. 1036–9, for a complete account of the meeting with McK.
100. Mor. 1037. TR was particularly scrupulous as the meeting had in fact been suggested by himself, in a letter to Secretary of State Hay on July 1, 1899. See Mor. 1024–5. His intention was to advise that Maj.-Gen. Francis V. Greene be put in command of the entire U.S. force in the Philippines, and that Maj.-Gen. Leonard Wood be given similar powers in Cuba. Mor.1025.
101. Secretary Long, who attended the meeting, was at any rate impressed. “I believe Roosevelt to be thoroughly honest, and his ambition is one for the good of the service. Sometimes, I distrust his judgment, but he is so above all purely selfish and dishonorable intentions that I esteem him very highly.” Journal, July 8, 1899, LON. As for TR’s reaction to the accession of Elihu Root to the Secretaryship of War, see Mor. 1041. His letter of congratulation is a startlingly cold document, avoiding direct compliments. It betrays more than a hint of anger that circumstances prevented TR himself being offered the position. Mor.1036.
102. Ib., 1062. Ib., 1052–3 gives TR’s upstate itinerary.
103. Ib., 1062.
104. Ib.
105. Ib.
106. See, e.g., World, July 5, 1899; N.Y.T., Oct. 2.
107. See Spector, Ronald, Admiral of the New Empire (Louisiana State U., 1974) 111. Dewey was said by his family and friends to be a Republican (he remained mum on the subject himself) so TR naturally assumed that, as a loyal officer, he would support the renomination of his Commander-in-Chief. When Dewey subsequently announced he would, indeed, run for President, and under the Democratic banner, TR’s fury knew no bounds. Spector, Admiral, 106 ff., tells the full story of Dewey’s act of hubris.
108. Ib., 104–5; Bee.261.
109. TR had been hoping to ride in boots and breeches, as befitted a Colonel of Cavalry, but his brother-in-law Douglas Robinson protested that it would be “unwise, and … undignified.” Mor. 1072.
110. Bee.261–2.
28: THE MAN OF DESTINY
1. See HCL to TR, Dec. 7, 1899, Lod.I.424. EKR to B, n.d., from Albany: “I think exactly as you do about the v.p. for Theodore—Cabot has a strange bias about it.” HCL to TR, July 12, 1899, LOD.
2. Ada.275. See Jos. passim on HCL’s kingmaking role in TR’s life: “Much might be said of his strange behavior in this [vice-presidential] affair.” Ib. 108.
3. Mor.1112.
4. Ib., 1104.
5. Ib., 1166; TR.Auto.318.
6. A copy of the Message was sent to TCP by TR on Dec. 19, 1899.
7. Che. 167–9. Even Elihu Root jibbed at the line about morality, and pointed out that most of the grand fortunes in America belonged to people whose industry and imagination had conferred “great benefits” on the community. “There is altogether too general an impression,” he chided TR, “that it is immoral to acquire wealth.” Dec. 13, 1899, qu. Che.170.
8. Extracts from the Message are quoted in TR.Auto.324–5. Che.206; Pri.211.
9. Che.94–5; Gos.207. See ib., 59–61 for Payn’s background.
10. Pri.212.
11. Che.92; TR.Auto.300. Significantly, TR chose to launch his investigation of Payn on May 27, 1899, the day of his big triumph on the Ford Bill. “If there has been any iniquity,” he wrote Secretary Youngs, “I wish we could discover it.” Che.93–4.
12. TR.Auto.300.
13. Che.95–6.
14. Evening Post,