Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) to Frederick Bowen

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

A high-resolution version of this object is available for registered users. LOG IN

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07708 Author/Creator: Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Typed letter signed Date: 20 December 1916 Pagination: 1 p. + envelope ; 27.8 x 21.5 cm Order a Copy

"The people of this Country have seen [William Jennings] Bryan in high office. If...they make him President of this Country, they will give us four years of incompetence and corruption without a single redeeming feature."

December 20th, 1916.

My dear Dr. Bowen:
At the moment there is one point I wish to make in answer to your letter, written as it is by a man of such high character and influence. The people of this country have seen Bryan in high office. If on any issue whatsoever, no matter what it may be, they make him President of this country, they will give us four years of incompetence and corruption without a single redeeming feature, and they will have themselves to thank for having discredited whatever reform he champions so as to make it a stench in the nostrils of all decent men for half century to come. You, of course, remember that the straight-out Abolitionists, and straight-out Prohibitionists, both opposed Lincoln. This letter is for your private consideration only. [inserted: No man who is both wise and patriotic can afford to support Mr. Bryan for President on any platform; such an act would be profoundly unpatriotic; in an intelligent man it would be really base.]
Sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt
Dr. Frederick J. Bowen,
Mount Morris, N.Y.

[envelope]
Roosevelt
Dr. Frederick J. Bowen,
Mount Morris, N.Y.

[verso]
METROPOLITAN
432 FOURTH AVENUE NEW YORK

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources