Scope and Content Note
The papers of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (1887-1944), which include correspondence and other papers of his wife Eleanor Butler Roosevelt, cover the period 1780-1962, bulking largest between 1920 and 1944. The collection consists of Diaries, Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Special Correspondence, Letters of Condolence and Congratulation, Subject File, Speech, Article, and Book File, Printed Matter, and Papers of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). The last segment of the papers contains correspondence of President Theodore Roosevelt, including nine letters addressed to Marcus Alonzo (Mark) Hanna.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., was not a consistent diarist. However, the diaries he did maintain, written primarily during the 1920s, are significant for their observations on important events and individuals. There are numerous entries concerning his activities as assistant secretary of the navy and his relationships with Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby, President Warren G. Harding, and others. The diaries, which are handwritten as well as in typescript, contain notations and deletions made by Eleanor Rooseveltafter her husband's death.
Roosevelt maintained a large correspondence with family members, often writing diary-like letters. Other significant family correspondence includes the letters he exchanged with his father concerning political events, particularly after 1903.
Correspondence of Theodore and Eleanor Butler Roosevelt with prominent associates and friends is contained chiefly in the Special Correspondence series. Among their numerous correspondents are Joseph and Stewart Alsop, William Edgar Borah, Pearl S. Buck, Chiang Kai-shek, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Felix Frankfurter, Robert Frost, Edward Grey, Warren G. Harding, Charles Dewey Hilles, Herbert Hoover, Frank Knox, Vachel Lindsay, Walter Lippmann, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall, W. Somerset Maugham, John J. Pershing, Gifford Pinchot, Manuel Luis Quezon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Henry Lewis Stimson, Arthur H. Vandenberg, Walter Francis White, William Allen White, and Alexander Woollcott.
The General Correspondence and the Subject File contain much information about social, political, and intellectual currents in the 1920s and 1930s. Prohibition, military preparedness, "Cousin Franklin" (Franklin D. Roosevelt), political campaigns, socialism, and veterans' benefits are among the topics discussed. As a government official, military officer, and son of a former president, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., received letters from ordinary citizens as well as prominent individuals. These letters and Roosevelt's replies constitute a rich source of information about the period.
Among the major facets of Roosevelt's career that are documented in the Subject File are his activities in organizing the American Legion in 1919; his role in the presidential election campaign of Leonard Wood, 1919-1920; his participation in the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament, 1921-1922; his race against Alfred Emanuel Smith for the governorship of New York, 1924; his expeditions to Africa and the Far East, 1924-1939; and his military participation in both world wars, which led to numerous medals and decorations, including the Croix de Guerre and (posthumously) the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Roosevelt was in much demand as a speaker and appeared before many veterans groups and political gatherings. During the period between the world wars, he regularly campaigned throughout the nation for Republican presidential nominees. The Speech, Article, and Book File contains the texts of many such speeches, as well as speech requests and comments. It also contains speeches and other material relating to his role as governor of Puerto Rico, 1929-1932, and governor general of the Philippines, 1932-1933. Roosevelt's many magazine articles of the 1920s and 1930s usually concerned travel, the out-of-doors, or World War I and are preserved in typescript form in the Speech, Article, and Book File. On the other hand, there is little more than correspondence to represent the many books he wrote, although there are drafts, reviews, clippings, legal papers, and research material relating to Eleanor Butler Roosevelt's book, Day Before Yesterday (1959).
The Miscellany file contains a variety of papers, including an autograph collection, items relating to the Roosevelt family, and typewritten transcripts of many letters from Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Jr., and Eleanor Butler Roosevelt. A fairly complete file of clippings on the activities of the two Theodore Roosevelts is located among the Printed Matter. Since the clippings are unmounted and in poor condition, photocopies are available for reader use.