26th President. Fascinating association letter signed by William Barnes Jr., September 26, 1904, on Republican State Committee letterhead. Barnes recommends his brother, Thurlow Weed Barnes, for a position in the Treasury Department and mentions that it is the first personal request he has made since McKinley’s election.
Roosevelt’s endorses the letter on the verso:
Dear Mr. Strammy [?] I particularly wish this to be done, if it is possible. Yours, Theodore Roosevelt
Near fine condition, with expected age wear, fold lines, and light handling.
William Barnes Jr. was a journalist and politician, who played a roles within New York’s Republican Party. He was instrumental in helping William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft rise to the Presidency in succession. In 1912, Barnes helped Taft gain the Republican nomination, which led to TR running as part of the Progressive Party, forming a major divide among the former friends.
In a July 1914 editorial, Roosevelt accused Barnes of being a corrupt party boss who conspired with the Democratic Tammany Hall leader Charles Francis Murphy to block progressive reforms in New York. Barnes sued Roosevelt for libel, and the 1915 trial ended with a verdict in favor of Roosevelt, who argued that he was not liable because the charges he made were true.
Thurlow Weed Barnes and William Barnes Jr. were the grandsons of the prominent New York politician and newspaper publisher Edward Thurlow Weed.
An incredible letter with direct connection to the men who would splinter the Republican Party in 1912 and beyond.
26th President. Fascinating association letter signed by William Barnes Jr., September 26, 1904, on Republican State Committee letterhead. Barnes recommends his brother, Thurlow Weed Barnes, for a position in the Treasury Department and mentions that it is the first personal request he has made since McKinley’s election.
Roosevelt’s endorses the letter on the verso:
Dear Mr. Strammy [?] I particularly wish this to be done, if it is possible. Yours, Theodore Roosevelt
Near fine condition, with expected age wear, fold lines, and light handling.
William Barnes Jr. was a journalist and politician, who played a roles within New York’s Republican Party. He was instrumental in helping William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft rise to the Presidency in succession. In 1912, Barnes helped Taft gain the Republican nomination, which led to TR running as part of the Progressive Party, forming a major divide among the former friends.
In a July 1914 editorial, Roosevelt accused Barnes of being a corrupt party boss who conspired with the Democratic Tammany Hall leader Charles Francis Murphy to block progressive reforms in New York. Barnes sued Roosevelt for libel, and the 1915 trial ended with a verdict in favor of Roosevelt, who argued that he was not liable because the charges he made were true.
Thurlow Weed Barnes and William Barnes Jr. were the grandsons of the prominent New York politician and newspaper publisher Edward Thurlow Weed.
An incredible letter with direct connection to the men who would splinter the Republican Party in 1912 and beyond.
