10. June 2-Dec. 1911: Political Storm Clouds Gathering
President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was a prolific writer of books, articles, and especially letters, and received as much mail as he sent. His correspondents ranged from heads of states to average Americans, and covered a wide range of topics. Discover what Roosevelt and his correspondents had to say about the issues of their day.
T. R. became a grandfather for the first time in August 1911. His delight at this news was countered by his increasing disappointment in President Taft’s leadership. Although T. R. continued to advocate progressive measures in his Outlook columns, he did not openly break from Taft until October, when the administration’s anti-trust prosecution of U.S. Steel implicitly questioned T. R.’s handling of a prospective financial panic in 1907. Closer to home, T. R. worried about wife Edith, who had been injured in a horseback riding accident on September 30.