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in the summer of 1906, had come to national attention the previous fall, when he acted as counsel to a state committee investigating the major life-insurance companies of New York. In the course of fifty-seven public hearings, he proved himself a “mental colossus,” investigating fairly but with such mastery of detail that many potential witnesses left town in order to avoid his examination. His success in winning the indictments or resignations of some of New York’s most powerful top executives won the admiration of TR, and propelled Hughes into public life. Even as he ran for governor, he was already being spoken of as a potential Supreme Court Justice or President. See also Robert F. Wesser, “Theodore Roosevelt: Reform and Reorganization of the Republican Party in New York, 1901–1909,” New York History 46.3 (1965).

87 Washington listened Booker T. Washington Papers, vol. 9, 118–19.

88 “There is some” Harlan, Booker T. Washington, 309–10.

89 one syllable Root, speaking in Utica, had quoted the passage in TR’s First Annual Message to do with journalistic rabble-rousers who “sowed the wind” of anarchy. “I say by the President’s authority that in penning these words, with the horror of President McKinley’s murder fresh before him, he had Mr. Hearst specifically in mind.” Outlook, 10 Nov. 1906.

90 Root’s statement had As Mark Sullivan notes, the speech destroyed any chance Root had of being nominated for the presidency himself. He had incurred the enmity of Hearst in his own home state. Our Times, vol. 3, 280.

91 “You can not” Booker T. Washington Papers, vol. 9, 118.

92 With that, he Emma Lou Thornbrough, “The Brownsville Episode and the Negro Vote,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 44 (Dec. 1957); Summary Discharge, 183; Weaver, Senator, 116; The New York Times, 21 Nov. 1906. Among the few empirical certainties in American history is that “Princess Alice” would not long have tolerated life in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Historical Note: The disparity between the date of TR’s order and its actual release on 7 Nov. has caused confusion in some sources. See Thornbrough, “Brownsville Episode,” and Harlan, Booker T. Washington, 309, for contemporary anger at TR’s manipulation of the election.

93 Across the nation Gould, Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, 236; TR, Letters, vol. 5, 488–89.

94 “Well, we have” TR, Letters, vol. 5, 488. Optimistic as always, TR did not choose to see a conservative backlash against progressivism developing in the Republican Party, as evinced by the antilabor vote and increased majorities for Foraker and Cannon (499).

95 “By direction of” Summary Discharge, 183. See Lewis N. Wynne, “Brownsville: The Reaction of the Negro Press,” Phylon 33 (1972).

96 There followed Weaver, Senator, 68–72; Summary Discharge, 183–84.

97 For the last Booker T. Washington Papers, vol. 1, 446.

98 arrogance of tone and language This phrase was used by Sir Mortimer Durand in a dispatch of 19 Oct. 1906. The Ambassador also quoted one of TR’s friends: “He feels his time is short.” British Documents on Foreign Affairs, vol. 12, 128.

99 “The order in” TR, Letters, vol. 5, 490. TR’s addressee was Governor Curtis Guild, Jr., of Massachusetts.

100 Roosevelt’s name For black reaction to TR’s order, see Thornbrough, “The Brownsville Episode,” passim; Booker T. Washington Papers, vol. 1, 446; Weaver, Brownsville Raid, 98–102.

101 HE HAD SEEN Ibid., 496; Harper’s Weekly, 8 Dec. 1906.

Historical Note: TR arrived off Colón on the afternoon of 14 Nov. 1906. Accompanied by his wife, doctor, and a small party of aides and press, he crossed the Isthmus the next day to inspect the Pacific approaches to the Canal Zone at La Boca. He spent the night in Panama City as the guest of President Amador. On 16 Nov., he explored the Culebra Cut, and the next day returned to Colón via Gatun (see text). The Louisiana left Limón Bay that evening. En route back to the United States, TR visited Puerto Rico. He arrived in Washington on 26 Nov.

102 Imaginations less vivid For the intensely stimulative effect of Panama on TR’s fancy, see his two letters