THE TAFT CAMPAIGN OF 1908
Roosevelt favors Taft to succeed him--I visit Taft at
Cincinnati--Roosevelt plans for his African trip--I take part in
the Taft campaign--Roosevelt's method of preparedness--Election
evening at the White House--Roosevelt rebukes a bigot; his letter
on religious liberty--Taft tells Roosevelt he will retain Wright,
Garfield, and me in his Cabinet--Roosevelt's speech at the dinner
to Vice-President-elect Sherman--Looking toward the end of my term;
the last Cabinet meeting--Closing the administration of Roosevelt
and ushering in that of Taft.
Early in September, 1907, in a conversation with Roosevelt at Oyster
Bay, we touched on matters political and the forthcoming national
convention of the Republican Party for the nomination of a President.
Roosevelt had again publicly made the statement he gave out at the time
of his election, that he would not accept a renomination, and had made
known his desire that the party nominate Taft.
I had just returned from Hawaii, and told him that throughout my trip to
and from the Pacific Coast I observed an almost universal determination
to force the nomination upon him. I had met many people and addressed
several merchants' organizations and other bodies, and again and again
the sentiment of prominent Republicans was: "We know Roosevelt is
sincere in his statement that he would decline the nomination, but what
can he do if he is renominated? He is a patriotic man, and how can he
refuse to obey the unanimous wish of his party and the people at large?"
The President knew of this strong sentiment for him, and that was one of
the main reasons why he made the public and definite statement that he
favored the nomination of Taft, whom he regarded as best qualified to
carry forward the measures and policies of his Administration.
Some of Roosevelt's closest friends counseled him not in any way to
interfere with the selection of his successor. He practically agreed to
that, but in order to escape the nomination himself he felt compelled to
throw his influence toward Taft. I think it was Secretary Root at the
time who remarked that it would be impossible for Roosevelt to let the
tail of the tiger go without some such plan. Notwithstanding his
positive statements that he would not accept a renomination at the end
of his term, and his constant reiteration of this determination, the
pressure throughout the country was overwhelming.
The people naturally resent the selection of a candidate for them by the
President in office, and in the past have shown their resentment by the
defeat of such candidates. But the conditions surrounding the Taft
campaign were somewhat different. Roosevelt was committed heart and soul
to the moral principles for which his Administration had stood in face
of the mighty opposition of the "interests." How the force and might of
this opposition had grown until Roosevelt took up the "big stick" can
perhaps hardly be measured except by those who were with him in the
bitter fight. No one was more conversant with the principles and
policies of the Administration than Taft, and, all things considered,
perhaps none better qualified than he to carry them forward in a firm
and constructive way.
The logic of the situation was, of course, that Roosevelt stand again
for the Presidency, especially as that would not in reality have been a
third term. But he would not under any circumstances recede from the
decision announced on the night of his election. It required great
firmness not to be swept off his feet by the tremendous pressure to
induce him to consent to be renominated. In the face of these facts the
people were less inclined to resent his indicating his preference for
the successor whom he regarded as best qualified to carry forward the
policies he had inaugurated by such reforms as the rebate law against
railroads, the anti-trust laws, and child labor legislation, and other
progressive measures.
At the Cabinet meeting just before the summer vacation Taft came in
radiantly happy. He had been nominated the day before; it had been
understood for some time that he would be nominated on the first ballot.
Reflecting at the time upon the qualifications of Mr. Taft as a
successor to Roosevelt, I put down among my random notes that I thought
he possessed the very qualifications for constructively carrying forward
the principles Roosevelt had stood for, and which only Roosevelt could
have so courageously vitalized. Taft always appeared to be jovial and
kept, at least outwardly, a genially good-natured equilibrium. He
possessed to a marked degree a fund of spontaneous laughter--a valuable
asset in the armor of a public man. The power to create a good laugh has
at times not only the elements of argument, but of avoiding argument;
with it a man can either accede to a proposition or avoid acceding; it
can be committal or non-committal; it conceals as well as expresses
feelings, and acts as a wonderful charm in avoiding sharp and rugged
corners, in postponing issues and getting time for reflection. In the
practice of the law I was once associated with a very able man who had
the ability to laugh his opponent out of court. And his was a jeering
laugh where Taft's laugh was contagious and good-natured. Not that he
lacked the ability at times to be fearless and outspoken; he had shown
himself to be that in a number of speeches prior to his nomination.
Withal I could not help feeling sad that Roosevelt's plan had so well
succeeded, and in an intimate chat with the President after the Cabinet
meeting I told him so. He would not have been human if, amid the
satisfaction he felt in having his choice for the Presidency respected,
there was not some feeling of regret in stepping down from the greatest
office in the world, which he had administered with so much satisfaction
and success, and the duties and responsibilities of which he had enjoyed
more than perhaps any one of his predecessors. To use his own words as I
so frequently heard them: "I have had a bully time and enjoyed every
hour of my Presidency." Another four years in office would doubtless
have prolonged that enjoyment.
* * * * *
Early in September I went to Cincinnati to meet Taft at his headquarters
in the Hotel Sinton, and Terence V. Powderly, head of the Information
Division of the Bureau of Immigration, formerly president of the Knights
of Labor, accompanied me. I brought to Taft's attention some
correspondence that had been conducted by Louis Marshall, of New York,
with Charles P. Taft, his brother, and with the candidate for
Vice-President on his ticket, Sherman, regarding some narrow and
prejudiced editorials on Russian immigration appearing in the Cincinnati
"Times-Star," owned by Charles P. Taft. I pointed out that not only were
these editorials untrue and unjust, but they did not reflect his policy
and yet were so interpreted. Secretary Taft then asked the editor of the
paper, Mr. Joseph Garretson, and his nephew, Hulbert Taft, to call on
me. With them I went over the whole subject, and upon my return to
Washington young Mr. Taft sent me a double-column article from the front
page of the "Times-Star," together with a double-column editorial,
forcefully and clearly written, embracing the whole matter as we had
covered it during my visit to Cincinnati.
Samuel Gompers had come out strongly in favor of Bryan, and no one could
tell what effect that might have on the great labor element of the
country. Mr. Powderly, who was very broad-minded and independent in his
politics, said it would have little if any effect on the labor vote, as
it is not a group vote, and no leader, however powerful, can make it so.
This statement later proved to be entirely correct. The Democrats among
the labor men went their way, and the Republicans went theirs.
* * * * *
The Cabinet met again after the summer vacation on September 25th. The
President wanted to talk with me afterward about several matters, so I
waited and sat with him while he was being shaved. He spoke about the
arrangements he had made for his African trip, and said several
taxidermists of the Smithsonian Institution were to accompany him. I
told him that Dr. Adler of the Institution had spoken to me of the
matter, and my particular concern was that one of the men in his party
on this African expedition should be a physician. He assented, saying
that after all he was fifty years old and ought to be more careful about
his health than when he was younger. He seemed to know that I had had
something to do with enabling the Smithsonian Institution to supply
these men, but I did not let it appear that I knew much about it. When
his book "African Game Trails" appeared he sent me a copy with the
inscription:
To Oscar Straus
from his friend
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Nov. 1^{st} 1910.
In the Appendix he makes acknowledgment to several of his friends
including myself, "to all of whom lovers of natural history are
therefore deeply indebted."
He mentioned that he had had an invitation to give a lecture at Oxford
University upon his return, which he felt like accepting because it was
a course in which some of the most prominent men of the past, including
Gladstone, had lectured, and it appealed to him to speak at this ancient
university. I encouraged him to do so. He said he did not intend,
however, to accept invitations to other European countries, because he
did not wish to be feted. This lecture would be more in line with his
work.
* * * * *
At the request of Roosevelt and the urgent solicitation of Taft, I took
an active part in the campaign, making scores of speeches in the leading
cities of the East and Middle West. I made the first on September 26th,
the day after the first Cabinet meeting of the season, under the
auspices of the Interstate Republican League, in Washington. It was one
of the largest political meetings ever held there. I addressed myself to
a recent speech by ex-Secretary of State Olney, in which he had endorsed
Bryan. I pointed out how much more had been done under the Roosevelt
Administration than by the Democratic Administration with which Mr.
Olney was connected, in bringing suits against the trusts under the
Sherman law; that in Mr. Olney's time nearly all such suits were brought
against labor combinations, while in Roosevelt's time they were brought
against the offending corporations.
I had been in close touch with Roosevelt during his own campaign four
years before, but I must say he threw himself with greater energy into
Taft's campaign, watching every phase of it with great care and
circumspection to counteract every unfavorable tendency and to push
promptly every tactical advantage. On Sunday afternoon, September 27th,
I received a telephone message to come to the White House. When I
arrived I found present Secretaries Cortelyou and Meyer, Lawrence F.
Abbott, of "The Outlook," and William Loeb. Roosevelt was dictating a
letter to Bryan, in answer to the latter's attack upon the
Administration's policies, and invited each of us to make suggestions.
Those that seemed good he immediately incorporated. I had brought with
me some facts and figures that I prepared for campaign use, and all of
this material he embodied. When the dictation was finished, he asked us
to return at nine o'clock in the evening to go over the finished
product, as it was important that the letter be given to the press for
next morning's papers.
When we arrived in the evening, the President was already at his desk
correcting the typewritten pages, of which there were about twenty. The
duplicates were handed to us, and we passed them from one to another for
reading and suggestions. At one point I suggested changing an expression
to a more dignified form, which the President vetoed with the
characteristic remark: "You must remember this letter is not an etching,
but a poster." That was an apt illustration of his purpose, namely, to
attract and fix popular attention; and I withdrew my suggestion.
The published letter occupied three and a half newspaper columns. It was
powerful and effective and nailed some of the main fallacies that Bryan
had been expounding. This was the third such letter by Roosevelt, and
some people were inclined to criticize them as having the appearance of
overshadowing Taft and other campaign orators. This might have been true
to an extent, but it was of little consequence in comparison with the
tremendous effect of the letters in enlightening the people with regard
to the greater national principles for which Taft stood.
The following week I started on a campaign tour. I made speeches at
Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago. In accepting the pressing
invitation of the National Republican Committee to make a series of
speeches, I made one condition, which was that I would not speak at any
meeting gotten up on sectarian or hyphenated political lines. It was,
and I regret to say still is, customary, in political campaigns,
especially among local managers in smaller cities with large
foreign-born populations, to appeal to their former national sympathies.
I regarded this method as un-American and inimical to the solidarity of
our Americanism. My letter to the chairman of the speakers' bureau,
Senator Joseph M. Dixon, was by him given to the press and widely
published. It had a very good effect, and through that campaign at least
put an end to advertising and meetings based on race or creed appeal.
Upon my return to New York I spoke at a number of meetings in Brooklyn
and New York with Mr. Taft, the last and largest of these being the one
at Madison Square Garden, at which General Horace Porter presided.
Charles E. Hughes, who was candidate for Governor, also spoke on that
occasion.
* * * * *
The President and Mrs. Roosevelt invited Mrs. Straus and me to return to
Washington with them in their private car on election day, after we had
voted in our respective districts. _En route_ the President again
mentioned the arrangements for his African trip and told me he had also
accepted an invitation to speak at the Sorbonne, Paris. He was already
preparing his Oxford address, the draft of which when ready he wanted
me to read. It is generally believed that Roosevelt did things hurriedly
and impulsively. But those of us who were acquainted with his methods
knew the contrary to be true. Preparedness was one of his outstanding
characteristics. He was a most industrious worker, and as soon as he
made up his mind to do something, whether it was to deliver an address
or to bring forward some reform, he set to work at once making
preparations, so as not to leave it until the time for the event was at
hand. In the case of his Oxford and Sorbonne addresses, for instance, he
prepared them long in advance and gave himself plenty of time to correct
and polish them. He told me he pursued this method because it freed his
mind and enabled him to be ready for the next thing to come before him.
That is certainly not the way an impulsive man works.
* * * * *
Election evening in Washington we were invited to the White House to
receive the returns. The twenty-five or thirty other officials who were
in the city were also there with their wives. The returns began to come
in shortly after eight o'clock and were being tabulated by Secretary
Loeb and his assistants. It was soon evident that Taft was elected, so
that by eleven-thirty we were able to send congratulations to the
successful candidate and Frank H. Hitchcock, chairman of the National
Committee.
The greatest strength of Taft proved to be what many supposed would be
his weakness, namely, that he was the choice of Roosevelt and stood for
his principles. The masses had understood the President and appreciated
his policies, though the big interests, the "ledger patriots," had been
too blinded by their selfish objects to recognize the permanent value of
the principles and policies of America's greatest reformer.
I felt convinced then, as I do now, that the Roosevelt Administration
will go down in history as marking the beginning of a new era in our
history--an era marking the end of aggression upon our political
structure by corporate greed and the beginning of larger opportunities
for the individual, in which the moral principles of our public life
were rescued from the danger of domination by an unprecedented onrush of
commercial power.
* * * * *
At the first Cabinet meeting after the election Roosevelt was buoyant as
usual. He made a few preliminary remarks about the approaching end of
the Administration: he and his Cabinet, especially the last one, had
worked in perfect harmony, and he felt sure we had all had a "bully"
time of it; he would retire at the end of his term without any regrets,
for he had the satisfaction of knowing that he and his Cabinet had done
all in their power for the greatest good of the Nation. I think it is
safe to say we all felt a little sad, I know I did, to think that in
four months we should separate, and that we should lose the inspiring
companionship and guidance of our leader, to whom each of us felt tied
by bonds of warm friendship and a sense of profound esteem and highest
respect, personally as well as officially.
It seemed to me then that it required no prophet's vision to see that,
if Roosevelt kept his health, in four or eight years the people of the
country would again demand, with unmistakable and overwhelming voice,
that he become President. At the end of eight years, even, he would be
only fifty-eight, younger than most Presidents at the time of assuming
office.
The President now brought up a question that he had been carrying over
from the campaign period. He had received several letters regarding the
religion of Mr. Taft. Some orthodox ministerial organizations had
endeavored to use the fact that Mr. Taft was a Unitarian as a reason for
prejudicing people against him. Roosevelt had been tempted to answer
these letters, but when he presented the matter to the Cabinet it was
the general consensus of opinion that he should not do so, that the
issue intimately concerned Taft, and information regarding it had better
be given out or withheld at Taft's discretion. To this the President
agreed, but he was incensed at this un-American attempt to bring
religion into politics, especially as Taft was every bit as good a
Christian as Washington, and a better one than either Jefferson or
Franklin; and his church was the same as that of Adams and Webster.
The election being over, Roosevelt was still desirous of expressing his
views in this matter, and he brought with him to the Cabinet meeting the
draft of a letter to be sent to one J. C. Martin, of Dayton, Ohio, who
had asked for a public statement concerning the faith of Mr. Taft. As
usual, he invited criticism and discussion. Several of us made
suggestions, and Secretary Root made one which the President asked him
to write out so that he might incorporate it. When the corrected version
of the letter was read, we all agreed that it was a remarkable document
for effectively rebuking the spirit of bigotry and upholding the basic
principles of the American Government, and that it should therefore be
published. It appeared in the papers of the country three days later.
I made bold to ask the President for the draft of this letter, which he
gladly signed and gave to me, and Secretary Root also signed his
penciled insert. As I consider this document worthy of a permanent place
among American annals, I herewith set it forth from the original in my
possession:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON, _November 4, 1908_
MY DEAR SIR:
I have received your letter running in part as follows:
"While it is claimed almost universally that religion should not
enter into politics, yet there is no denying that it does, and the
mass of the voters that are not Catholics will not support a man
for any office, especially for President of the United States, who
is a Roman Catholic.
"Since Taft has been nominated for President by the Republican
party, it is being circulated and is constantly urged as a reason
for not voting for Taft that he is an infidel (Unitarian) and his
wife and brother Roman Catholics.... If his feelings are in
sympathy with the Roman Catholic church on account of his wife and
brother being Catholics, that would be objectionable to a
sufficient number of voters to defeat him. On the other hand if he
is an infidel, that would be sure to mean defeat.... I am writing
this letter for the sole purpose of giving Mr. Taft an opportunity
to let the world know what his religious belief is."
* * * * *
I received many such letters as yours during the campaign,
expressing dissatisfaction with Mr. Taft on religious grounds; some
of them on the ground that he was a Unitarian, and others on the
ground that he was suspected to be in sympathy with Catholics. I
did not answer any of these letters during the campaign because I
regarded it as an outrage even to agitate such a question as a
man's religious convictions, with the purpose of influencing a
political election. But now that the campaign is over, when there
is opportunity for men calmly to consider whither such propositions
as those you make in your letter would lead, I wish to invite them
to consider them, and I have selected your letter to answer because
you advance both the objections commonly urged against Mr. Taft,
namely: that he is a Unitarian, and also that he is suspected of
improper sympathy with the Catholics.
You ask that Mr. Taft shall "let the world know what his religious
belief is." This is purely his own private concern; it is a matter
between him and his Maker, a matter for his own conscience; and to
require it to be made public under penalty of political
discrimination is to negative the first principles of our
Government, which guarantee complete religious liberty, and the
right to each man to act in religious [affairs] as his own
conscience dictates. Mr. Taft never asked my advice in the matter,
but if he had asked it, I should have emphatically advised him
against thus stating publicly his religious belief. The demand for
a statement of a candidate's religious belief can have no meaning
except that there may be discrimination for or against him because
of that belief. Discrimination against the holder of one faith
means retaliatory discrimination against men of other faiths. The
inevitable result of entering upon such a practice would be an
abandonment of our real freedom of conscience and a reversion to
the dreadful conditions of religious dissensions which in so many
lands have proved fatal to true liberty, to true religion, and to
all advance in civilization.
To discriminate against a thoroly upright citizen because he
belongs to some particular church, or because, like Abraham
Lincoln, he has not avowed his allegiance to any church, is an
outrage against that liberty of conscience which is one of the
foundations of American life. You are entitled to know whether a
man seeking your suffrages is a man of clean and upright life,
honorable in all his dealings with his fellows, and fit by
qualification and purpose to do well in the great office for which
he is a candidate; but you are not entitled to know matters which
lie purely between himself and his Maker. If it is proper or
legitimate to oppose a man for being a Unitarian, as was John
Quincy Adams, for instance, as is the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, at
the present moment Chaplain of the Senate, and an American of whose
life all good Americans are proud--then it would be equally proper
to support or oppose a man because of his views on justification by
faith, or the method of administering the sacrament, or the gospel
of salvation by works. If you once enter on such a career there is
absolutely no limit at which you can legitimately stop.
So much for your objections to Mr. Taft because he is a Unitarian.
Now, for your objections to him because you think his wife and
brother to be Roman Catholics. As it happens they are not; but if
they were, or if he were a Roman Catholic himself, it ought not to
affect in the slightest degree any man's supporting him for the
position of President. You say that "the mass of the voters that
are not Catholics will not support a man for any office, especially
for President of the United States, who is a Roman Catholic." I
believe that when you say this you foully slander your fellow
countrymen. I do not for one moment believe that the mass of our
fellow citizens or that any considerable number of our fellow
citizens can be influenced by such narrow bigotry as to refuse to
vote for any thoroly upright and fit man because he happens to have
a particular religious creed. Such a consideration should never be
treated as a reason for either supporting or opposing a candidate
for political office. Are you aware that there are several States
in this Union where the majority of the people are now Catholics? I
should reprobate in the severest terms the Catholics who in those
States (or in any other States) refused to vote for the most fit
man because he happened to be a Protestant; and my condemnation
would be exactly as severe for Protestants who, under reversed
circumstances, refused to vote for a Catholic. In public life I am
happy to say that I have known many men who were elected, and
constantly reelected, to office in districts where the great
majority of their constituents were of a different religious
belief. I know Catholics who have for many years represented
constituencies mainly Protestant, and Protestants who have for many
years represented constituencies mainly Catholic; and among the
Congressmen whom I knew particularly well was one man of Jewish
faith who represented a district in which there were hardly any
Jews at all. All of these men by their very existence in political
life refute the slander you have uttered against your fellow
Americans.
I believe that this Republic will endure for many centuries. If so
there will doubtless be among its Presidents Protestants and
Catholics, and very probably at some time Jews. I have consistently
tried while President to act in relation to my fellow Americans of
Catholic faith as I hope that any future President who happens to
be a Catholic will act towards his fellow Americans of Protestant
faith. Had I followed any other course I should have felt that I
was unfit to represent the American people.
In my Cabinet at the present moment there sit side by side
Catholic and Protestant, Christian and Jew, each man chosen because
in my belief he is peculiarly fit to exercise on behalf of all our
people the duties of the office to wich [_sic_] I have appointed
him. In no case does the man's religious belief in any way
influence his discharge of his duties, save as it makes him more
eager to act justly and uprightly in his relations to all men. The
same principles that have obtained in appointing the members of my
Cabinet, the highest officials under me, the officials to whom is
entrusted the work of carrying out all the important policies of my
administration, are the principles upon which all good Americans
should act in choosing, whether by election or appointment, the man
to fill any office from the highest to the lowest in the land.
Yours truly
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
It is amusing sometimes to contemplate the matters that occupy the
attention of certain zealously inclined religious persons or groups. I
recall the flurry caused the year previous by the appearance of the new
five, ten, and twenty-dollar gold pieces without the legend, "In God We
Trust," which by Roosevelt's direction had been omitted. As a matter of
fact that legend was not used on our coins prior to 1866, when a law was
passed permitting it subject to the approval of the Secretary of the
Treasury. The issuance of these coins, artistically designed by
Saint-Gaudens, without the legend was merely a return to the precedents
of the fathers of the Republic. I had a small collection of early coins
at the time, none of which bore the legend. However, when these new
coins appeared several religious bodies passed resolutions disapproving
of the President's action. Roosevelt gave out a statement to the effect
that he had always regarded that legend as connecting God and mammon,
and therefore not as religious, but as sacrilegious. But the opinion
against the omission was so strong that in subsequent coinage it was
restored. The agitation had been somewhat anticipated by the President,
and he was not the least perturbed by it. At a dinner one evening he
remarked to me, concerning it, that it was sometimes a good thing to
give people some unimportant subject to discuss, for it helped put
through more important things.
* * * * *
After a Cabinet meeting toward the end of November, 1908, I was talking
with the President regarding various phases of the administration of my
Department, and I mentioned one or two matters that I hoped my successor
would carry to completion. Roosevelt said to me: "Well, I can tell you
one thing that Taft told me; you will be head of the Department under
the next Administration, if you will accept, and I want you to accept."
He had indicated this once or twice before, but had never stated it so
definitely. I had been perfectly content to finish my term of office
with the close of the Administration, but I felt if it was the wish of
both Roosevelt and Taft that I continue I should be happy to remain.
Taft had evidently intended retaining several of the Cabinet officials,
but subsequently changed his mind, which was one of the things that
caused the break between Roosevelt and him. Mr. Lawrence F. Abbott has
embodied in his excellent book, "Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt," an
article he contributed in January, 1912, to the Cornwall, New York,
local press, covering the Roosevelt-Taft relations. Before publication
this article was sent to Roosevelt, and by him annotated and returned to
Mr. Abbott. The part regarding the retention of Cabinet members reads as
follows:
Mr. Taft on his election no doubt wished to carry on the work of
his predecessor, and, if not publicly, often privately said that it
was his desire and intention to retain those Cabinet colleagues of
Mr. Roosevelt who had contributed so much to the re-creation of
the Republican Party. [Note by Mr. Roosevelt: "_He told me so, and
authorized me to tell the Cabinet, specifically Garfield, Straus
and Luke Wright._"] But this intention became gradually modified
during the winter of 1908-09.
On December 16th I attended the dinner of the Ohio Society in New York,
at which President-elect Taft made his first public address. There was a
notable gathering of the leaders of finance and commerce and of the
Republican Party, and great expectancy was evident as to what Mr. Taft
would say. Ex-Senator Spooner, a brilliant speaker, also made an
address, which contained some pointed criticisms of Roosevelt policies.
He extolled the Constitution and in a veiled way indicated a deviation
from it on the part of Roosevelt. Spooner had made other speeches along
these lines, and I confess to some exasperation that this occasion
should have been used to attack Roosevelt and his policies.
Taft was the last speaker, and I hoped that when he arose he would
resent these attacks, or at any rate uphold the policies of the
Administration of which he had been an important member. But I was
disappointed. He took no notice of what Spooner or one or two of the
other speakers had said. To some of us this was the first evidence that
there was a rift in the relationship between Roosevelt and Taft.
Mr. Taft invited me to return to Washington on the train with him next
morning. _En route_ I spoke of Spooner's speech, and said it appeared to
me as an attempt to drive a wedge between him (Taft) and the Roosevelt
policies, and that the attack was received by the great financiers who
were present, Harriman, Ryan, and others, with great favor. Taft said he
had observed it and did not like it. He thought first that he might say
something in reply, but on second consideration he decided to let it
pass. I told him that usually I enjoyed such an occasion more when I did
not have to speak, but on that evening I very much regretted not having
the opportunity to answer that attack.
We talked of a number of things, but he said nothing about desiring to
have me continue in the Cabinet, though Roosevelt had mentioned the
subject to me several times. I then concluded that while in New York a
change of mind had come to him in this matter, and what occurred at the
dinner seemed to emphasize this conclusion. He was going down to
Augusta, Georgia, for a short vacation and asked me to come and see him;
but when I reached Washington there was much to be done in my
Department, and, as he was besieged by politicians and I had nothing
special to bring to his attention, I thought the more considerate thing
was not to take up his time needlessly.
* * * * *
In January the New York delegation in Congress gave a dinner to
Vice-President-elect Sherman at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington. There
were present all the New York Congressmen, Speaker Cannon, the junior
Senator from New York, Depew, and Senator-elect Root. Along about ten
o'clock the President arrived. As usual on such occasions, there was
informal speaking, and of course the President was called upon. His
offhand remarks that evening were so inspiring that I regretted they
were not taken down that they might have been preserved. In my random
notes I have incorporated the substance of some of them; to the effect
that our highest purpose should be to perform the duties before us. He
said he had been in public life twenty-six years (as I understood), and
nearly eight years of that as President, and he had enjoyed it all;
adding, humorously, "even the scraps I have had."
Referring to the presidential duties, it was not always possible to
spell out from the words of the Constitution what those duties imposed
upon the occupant of the office. He instanced the anti-Japanese outbreak
in California. There was nothing in the Constitution that either
permitted or conflicted with his taking the position he had in his
communications to the Governor of California. It was his purpose to call
the attention of the people at large in that State and throughout the
country to the dangers of the situation if the contemplated legislation
were put through. He referred to the impractical attitude of the peace
societies and other peace advocates in objecting to all appropriations
for naval expenditures. They could render a better service by agitating
to prevent a condition of international irritation that had all the
possibilities of war; the good effect of the well-considered
"Gentlemen's Agreement" with Japan had been negatived by the
unreasonable legislation proposed in California.
Making reference in a general way to the work of the Administration, he
said it was important to look to the future, but to fix one's eyes on
the future and neglect the present was as unwise as to limit one's view
entirely to the present. He hoped the people would not trouble
themselves as to what to do with the ex-President; so far as he was
concerned he was able to take care of himself; upon his return from
Africa they would find him working not as an ex-President, but as a
private citizen in the ranks, and cooperating with his party
representatives for the best interests of the country.
He closed by saying that what may become of one's personal reputation,
one's fame as an individual, is of no consequence. The individual
disappears. Oblivion will engulf us all. Only results count. In order to
achieve results there must be cooperation. He was always ready to
cooperate with men whose tendencies were forward, even if such
cooperation led only one step forward where he would have liked ten; but
he would refuse to cooperate with men whose tendencies were backward.
* * * * *
In my Department I continued to push matters forward without allowing
the approaching close of the Administration to influence me. Under date
of January 22d I received a letter from President-elect Taft, in answer
to my inquiry, indicating that in all probability I should not be
retained in the Cabinet. He said he would have written sooner, but had
not decided in what capacity he wished me to serve his Administration,
though he thought perhaps I might be willing to accept an embassy.
However, he had not definitely decided not to retain me in the Cabinet.
He found Cabinet-making quite a difficult job.
Three days later I received another note from him mentioning the embassy
to Japan. He hoped to suit whatever preference I might have in the
matter after he had had a chance to talk it over with me in Washington.
At the last Cabinet meeting there was very little business transacted.
The President talked to us informally and very impressively, saying he
wished to repeat, what he had said before, that a President usually
receives credit for all the good work done in his Administration, but,
speaking for himself, his co-workers had an equal share in that credit;
no President, he said, had had a more effective, able, and cooperative
Cabinet than he. Then he added humorously that he wanted no response to
modify that statement. Some of us, however, could not resist expressing
in brief the sentiments we felt, and I answered him: If we have
performed our duties to your satisfaction and to the satisfaction of the
country, it is due in no small degree to the fact that around this table
we have caught the contagion of your fine spirit which has enabled each
of us to rise to our highest level of efficiency because we felt we were
cooperating in furthering those moral issues which you have vitalized in
our economic and national life, I wish to add that our President in his
boundless generosity has always given to each one of us not only the
fullest credit for what we have done, but a recognition far beyond our
individual merits.
* * * * *
On March 4th, at nine-thirty in the morning, the members of the Cabinet
assembled in the White House and accompanied the President to the
Capitol. We went to the President's room on the Senate side and there
awaited the bills to be brought in for the signature of the President.
That is usual at the closing of a session, and many bills that had been
passed in the last few days came from the engrosser for the signature of
the President. Each bill was handed to the Secretary whose department it
affected, and upon reading it over the Secretary advised the President
whether or not to sign it. There were three bills affecting my
Department, two of which I approved, and those he signed. Of the third I
had no knowledge and so stated; that one the President passed to become
law without his signature.
At eleven o'clock President-elect Taft came into the room, and we all
extended our congratulations to him. Precisely at noon President
Roosevelt went into the Senate Chamber and we followed. Both he and the
President-elect took a seat before the Vice-President's desk, and we
were seated in the front row, where were also the ambassadors of the
foreign powers. Vice-President Fairbanks opened the proceedings with an
appropriate address, whereupon Vice-President-elect Sherman was sworn in
and made a brief address. The new Senators were then sworn in in groups
of four. President-elect Taft next took the oath of office, which was
administered by Chief Justice Fuller.
Roosevelt then left the Senate Chamber to go to the station. In our
carriages we followed him, and at either side marched over a thousand
Republican delegates from the City of New York. One could observe on all
sides evidence of a feeling of depression and regret at the departure of
the man who had endeared himself to the country at large as no President
had since the days of Lincoln. It was apparent then, as the years have
proven, that he had the largest personal following ever attained by any
man in this country. By personal following I mean one that is not
dependent on office, but persists out of office as well. People were
attracted to him because he appealed to their idealism. They had faith
in him; they had an affection for him. They believed he would lead them
where they ought to go and where, therefore, they wished to go. It was
the fact that the mass of the people throughout the land regarded him
with love and admiration as the embodiment of their ideals of
Americanism which enabled him to exercise such a tremendous power for
the welfare of the country and which is destined to enshrine his memory
among the greatest men in our history.
When we reached the station, the large room reserved on special
occasions for officials was closed, and only such persons admitted as
were identified by Secretary Loeb--members of the family, members of the
Cabinet, and a few intimate friends. When I bade the President, now
ex-President, good-bye, he said we should meet often and should still
work together.
Roosevelt at the age of fifty was once more a private citizen, having
been the youngest President in our history. I am sure I speak for my
colleagues as well as for myself when I say we felt we were parting not
only from our official chief, but from one of our nearest and dearest
friends.
We returned in our carriages to the White House where we took buffet
lunch with President and Mrs. Taft; then to the stand erected in front
of the White House to witness the review.