Jul 30, 2020 - Sale 2543

Sale 2543 - Lot 36

Unsold
Estimate: $ 150 - $ 250
"WE HAVE GOT TO REGENERATE . . . OUR GOOD OLD REPUBLICAN PARTY" WOOD, LEONARD. Typed Letter Signed, as Governor General, to Harriet Gaylord, thanking for newspaper clippings, hoping to return home soon, explaining that progress in Manila is slow but the people and legislature are cooperative, and hoping to rebuild the Republican Party according to "Roosevelt standards." Manila, 17 January 1923

Additional Details

". . . We have got to regenerate . . . our good old Republican Party, but the work must be done within the party. We do not want any of the half balanced, half bolshevik group who are trying to advertise themselves by the free distribution of political nostrums to get hold of an organization which has been the salvation of the country in the past and . . . will do it again. . . . There are a lot of people who are trying to waive the Roosevelt standards but they are, as a rule, miserable fakers who are seeking to advertise themselves at the expense of the welfare of the country. . . ."
Leonard Wood (1860-1927) served in 1895 as personal physician to President and Mrs. McKinley, assisted Theodore Roosevelt in the organization and later command of the "Rough Riders," served as military governor of Cuba, 1899-1902, and as governor general of the Philippines, 1921-27.
Theodore Roosevelt founded the "Bull Moose" or Progressive Party in 1912, splitting the Republican Party into those who rallied around him, and supporters of William H. Taft. After only limited success in 1912, the decline of the party was clear when, after the 1914 congressional elections, Progressives held just over 1% of House seats and none in the Senate. Progressives were never again drawn to the Republican Party, many turning to the Democratic Party during the 1930s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt formed the New Deal Coalition.
With--Leonard Wood. Clipped Signature and date. 1 1/2x4 1/2 inches; mounted at side edges to a portrait. Np, 1927.