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Rare Union Soldier's Account Of Ambush Resulting In Death Of Jewish Colonel Marcus Spiegel
June 18, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2456
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 103
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Jimmy Carter Condolence Letter To Widow Of Marine Killed In Failed 1980 Iranian Hostage Rescue
April 26, 1980
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1470
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 571
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Cleveland: Wolf’s Book on American Jewry “Challenges Fairness and Justice, For a Class of Our Citizens to Whom They Have Not Always Been Accorded”
December 30, 1895
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2235
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2186
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Young Congressman McKinley Regrets He is Unable to Attend Wedding of Simon Wolf’s Daughter: Mrs. McKinley Is Ill
June 12, 1878
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 640
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Simon Wolf Writes President Arthur About Getting His Old Job, as Justice of the Peace, Back
August 4, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 381
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President Cleveland Supports Washington’s Leading Jewish Charitable Organization's “Israelites Fair” - An Affair Headed by Simon Wolf
January 23, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2502
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1212
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1211
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1210
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Chaim Weizmann on the Assassination of Russian Pogrom Organizer Plehve: A Pity He Didn't Die Years Ago
August 4, 1904
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1585
Russian Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plehve, a notorious pogrom organizer and tormentor of the Jews, had been killed the week before by a bomb. Upon hearing of his death, Chaim Weizmann only wished it had happened sooner.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1405
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Roosevelt Advises Scapegoated Woodring On How To Handle Negative Press Following Pearl Harbor
March 4, 1942
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1382
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Third Term President Roosevelt Writes to Harry Woodring: "Our Democratic Way Of Life Is At Stake"
January 21, 1941
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1380
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Roosevelt Responds To Woodring Amidst The Intense Congressional Interest In Woodring's Resignation
June 25, 1940
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1377
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1375
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On His Last Day In Office, James Monroe Writes His Bank, Trying To Make Sense Of His Account
March 3, 1825
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 935
James Monroe’s Major Accomplishments, What He’s Known For, & His Last Day In Office
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Kennedy and the Arts: His Unprecedented Invitation of Scholars, Artists, Writers, and Thinkers to His Inauguration
September 8, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1444
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A Rueful Harry Truman on the 3rd Anniversary of his Presidency: “I don't know whether I need congratulations or commiseration”
April 15, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 256
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Grover Cleveland Worries He Cannot Bring His Baby Into Recently Quarantined White House After His Inauguration
February 20, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1967
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1163
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Mark Twain and Olivia Langdon: Twain Writes Ecstatically On The Pursuit Of His Future Wife
December 12, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1852
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Abraham Lincoln's Prayer To "The Almighty" For Himself And The Nation - A Singular Letter
May 21, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2509
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2024
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Napoleon, Failing To Conquer Palestine, Orders The Ransoming Of Prisoners: August 1799
August 12, 1799
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 236
After sustaining massive losses in his campaign on the Holy Land, Napoleon attempts to raise some revenue by ransoming off the hostages in his possession.
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President-Elect Harding Refers to His Upcoming Term as "Imprisonment in the White House"
January 12, 1921
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1550
President-Elect Harding refers to his upcoming presidential term as "imprisonment in the White House," while expressing envy that his correspondent is going to Honolulu. Harding also informs him that the upcoming inauguration will be a very pared-down affair.
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Robert E. Lee's Famous Letter Declining to Furlough, As a Rule, Jewish Confederate Troops for the High Holidays
August 29, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2494
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1410
Truman complains to Acheson that Republican papers across the country were coddling Eisenhower and serving as “mouthpieces” for Joe McCarthy, calling it the "age of hysteria."
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Former PresidentHarry Truman on President John F. Kennedy's Handling of Racial Violence and the Cuban Missile Crisis
October 12, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1426
Harry Truman suggests that the explosive situations in Mississippi and Cuba could have been avoided with appropriate, decisive presidential action from Kennedy, whom he refers to here not by name but only as "the man in charge," and "the man in the White House
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1419
Former President Harry Truman writes to his dear friend and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to push back against historians and communists about what really happened in the Truman White House.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1407
Truman tells his newly-resigned Secretary of State Dean Acheson that he was more courageous and judicious than Thomas Jefferson and William H. Seward.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 693
In this letter to Acheson, Truman remarks that he wanted to “punch the publisher” who wrote negatively of Dean Acheson and George Marshall, his friends and former secretaries of state. He chastises the “so called ‘free press’” and bemoans having to enduring criticisms while administering the “terrible responsibility” of the presidency.
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Harry Truman Refers to Himself as an "Old Man Who - By Accident Became President of the United States"
December 20, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 695
Harry Truman refers to his humble roots as he objects to high ticket prices for the upcoming Democratic dinner, contrasting himself to the current President, John F. Kennedy.
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Truman on the Recognition of the Jewish State and the "very dark" situation in Palestine
May 17, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 370
Two days into the Israeli War of Independence, Harry Truman thanks a rabbi for his offer to assist the President, and refers to the fledgling state's situation as "very dark."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1464
Nixon sends a letter of condolence to the parents of William Schroeder, who was killed at the Kent State anti-war demonstration in May of 1970.
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“Big Bill” Taft, Happily Golfing, Relates His Post-Presidential Loss of Eighty Pounds
April 10, 1914
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1286
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 964
Franklin Pierce, who signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act while president, thus enabling the spread of slavery, and pitting the North against the South, doubles down on his decision six years later, on the eve of the Civil War.
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Pierce Defends the Democratic Party as Non-Sectional, Wonders About the Outcome of the 1860 Election
April 18, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1809
Pierce insists that the Democratic party is united over the issue of slavery months before the presidential election of 1860 causes the party to split into Northern and Southern Democrats, respectively.
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Lincoln Family Friend Edward Jonas Recalls Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates
December 3, 1917
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 398
Edward Jonas recalls his interactions with Abraham Lincoln during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858. Though he was a young boy at the time, he recounted how Lincoln exchanged stories with him and listened extremely attentively to him.
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Camille Pissarro's Autographed Letter in Support of Emile Zola Amidst the Dreyfus Affair
March 5, 1898
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 919
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2377
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Twain Asks His Young "Quaker City" Shipmate & Favorite, Emma Beach, For Help With His Articles About the Voyage
January 31, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2111
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Saul Bellow on Kissinger, Sadat, and Writing "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account"
October 26, 1975
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1565
In Jerusalem, and writing the journal which was to become "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account," Bellow muses about his experiences in that city: the various and interesting people he is meeting, what he is thinking, and passing along what he has heard about two of great figures of that time and place – Henry Kissinger and Anwar Sadat.
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President John F. Kennedy Says He’s Tempted to Write About Thomas Jefferson but His Current Job Takes Up All His Time
June 5, 1962
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 660
President Kennedy declines a publisher's offer to write a book about Thomas Jefferson, citing his time-consuming job as President of the United States.
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George Washington Describes His Daily Routine At Mount Vernon After 8 Years Of Neglect During His Presidency
May 29, 1797
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1556
Two months after retiring, former President George Washington gives an account of his daily life at Mt. Vernon.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1272
One of Roosevelt's many jabs at Wilson, whom he labelled a coward for failing to declare war on Germany in 1915 after the sinking of the Lusitania.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 646
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Palestine, Truman Says, is a “Matter of Considerable Disturbance” to be Determined by U.N.
February 9, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 686
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 690
Truman, like other presidents, conceives of the role and constraints of the presidency as being like a "jail." Here, Truman explicitly calls the presidency a jail, referring to his inability to go on a trip to Panama with a friend.
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President Harry Truman Writes about the Assassination Attempt on His Life Just the Day Before
November 2, 1950
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 691
The day after a second assassination attempt in November of 1950, President Harry Truman expresses his fury at the stupidity of the would-be assassins, and mourns the two guards killed.
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Harry Truman Writes General Hap Arnold About FDR's Death, Two and a Half Weeks Before, as "The Greatest Blow"
April 30, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 694
Two weeks after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death, Harry Truman is still reeling from the shock and his new role with all its responsibilities.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 925
After lunching with Lincoln biographer and Jewish activist Emmanuel Hertz, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. tells Hertz that he looks forward to receiving the latter's brother's book on Judaism, as well as the Jewish Publication Society's latest translation of the Bible.
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Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Has Received Jewish Books and is Reading Them With "the Greatest of Interest."
March 23, 1927
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 926
Having received the Jewish books from Emmanuel Hertz, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. follows up and tells him that he's already set to reading them with "the greatest of interest."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 927
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. avidly read Joseph Hertz's book about Jewish thought, and lists for Hertz's brother Emanuel, his favorite passages.
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Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Tells Emanuel Hertz He Will Always Try to Justify His Good Opinion
January 14, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 929
Having lunched together and corresponded for some half dozen years, Roosevelt tells Hertz it will always be his earnest endeavor to justify his good opinion.
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President James Madison Tracks Down His Shipment, Seized in the Embargo, of 114 Gallons of Brandy
November 24, 1809
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 932
Here President Madison writes to the Collector of the Port of New York, David Gelston, that a pipe of brandy (114 gallons) was sent him to him but "carried into England," resulting in the condemnation of the offending vessel. The brandy, being "neutral cargo," was saved. Now Madison asks that the brandy be sent to him in Washington.
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President James Monroe on Purchase of Florida and John Adams's Recommendation of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse
June 15, 1821
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 934
President Monroe writes to his Secretary of War, James Calhoun about the Purchase of Florida, and about John Adams's recommendation of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse as medical superintendent of military facilities in New England.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 939
In response to a pastor's request for an autograph of John Quincy Adams alongside that of his father, John Adams, John Quincy readily obliges with his own autograph, but explains that towards the end of his father's life, "his eyes and hands had almost ceased to serve him and he dictated even his signatures."
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Andrew Jackson Predicts Martin van Buren Will Win with a Greater Majority Than Any Since Washington
October 4, 1836
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 944
Andrew Jackson incorrectly predicts that his Vice President and chosen successor Martin van Buren would win the upcoming election by a landslide. Van Buren emerged victorious, but it was a close race.
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Martin van Buren, Just Two Days Into James K. Polk's Term, Prepares to Write His Political Antagonist
March 6, 1845
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 948
Feeling betrayed, Martin van Buren prepares to protest political appointments made by James K. Polk just days after the latter assumed the presidency.
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Rare Letter of John Tyler as Vice President Recommending a Consul to Galveston, Texas
March 23, 1841
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 952
Under Tyler's Presidency, Texas was acquired as the twenty eighth state. In this letter, written as Vice President, Tyler recommends someone to consul, as Texas was, at the time, a foreign country.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 954
President John Tyler, writing to his wife amidst a "political storm," tells her that the Presidency is a prison, from which he can only escape for minutes.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 961
President Pierce fears that if the Kansas-Nebraska Bill-which granted the States the right to decide on slavery-would not pass, Civil War would ensue.
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Pierce on His Favorite Portrait of Himself, That of His Dead Son, and Those of the First Five Presidents
June 7, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 962
Franklin Pierce writes to Francis Bicknell Carpenter, a renowned painter who would go on to achieve even greater fame with his paintings of Lincoln, especially of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation. Here, Pierce expresses the great satisfaction he and Mrs. Pierce take in Carpenter’s portrait of his dead son – painted from a daguerreotype following the boy's tragic death in 1853.
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Grover Cleveland, the Only President to Be Married in the White House, Writes His Bride About Wedding
May 23, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1164
Love letter from President Grover Cleveland to his secret fiance, Frances Folsom, outlining every detail of their upcoming nuptials in the White House.
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Grover Cleveland, First President to Marry in the White House, Handwrites an Invitation to His Wedding
May 28, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1165
President Grover Cleveland invites his Postmaster to his wedding the following Wednesday, with a hand-written invitation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1183
Edna M. Hurry, a fifteen-year-old bookkeeper, goes into striking detail in her eyewitness account of President William McKinley's assassination.
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Secretary of Navy Long: President William McKinley, "Acute and Wise," Will Not Seek Third Term
June 11, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1186
In this private note to his daughter, in which he discusses, amongst other things, a birthday present for his daughter, Naval Secretary John Long reveals that President William McKinley will absolutely not be seeking a third term.
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President Rutherford B. Hayes Salutes Service of U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton
July 26, 1877
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1198
Hayes salutes the service of his Civil War comrade-in-arms in "the old 23rd," Brigadier General John Eaton Jr., as the United States Commissioner of Education.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1204
The election of Rutherford B. Hayes hung, precariously, on disputed returns from four states -- chief among them, Louisiana. Here, long after the fact, Hayes reviews with one of his chief lieutenants, John Sherman, what happened there, and why.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1206
President Rutherford B. Hayes claims that the Roman punch served in his White House contains no alcohol.
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Former President Rutherford Hayes Expresses Satisfaction with Himself, His Successor, and John Sherman
March 6, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1213
Two days after leaving office, Rutherford B. Hayes writes to John Sherman, his Secretary of the Treasury, to thank him for his help. Hayes also adds that he's happy with his successor, and that he read Sherman's farewell speech to the Treasury, which did much to dispel the notion that Sherman was "too cold in temperament."
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An Eerie Prescience: James Garfield Finds a "Streak of Sadness" in His Nomination as President
July 3, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1216
President James Garfield, who would be assassinated, or mortally wounded nearly a year to the day he wrote this letter, eerily finds a "streak of sadness" in his nomination for the Presidency. Garfield was shot less than four months into his term; he lingered for seventy-nine days before finally succumbing to his wounds.
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President Benjamin Harrison Discusses a Letter Written by his Grandfather, William Henry Harrison
May 25, 1892
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1235
President Benjamin Harrison thanks Curtis Guild, Sr., a collector, for sending him a copy of a letter written by his grandfather, William Henry Harrison. The President is pleased to have obtained a letter of "great family interest."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1236
Young Benjamin Harrison, who had made stump speeches for President Lincoln's campaign calls in a favor just two days into Lincoln's administration: he endorses Senatorial Elector and Lincoln canvasser Will Cumback as worthy of "a mark of Administrative favor." Lincoln appoints Cumback paymaster.
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Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1237
Benjamin Harrison declines to write a short tribute to Abraham Lincoln, explaining that as he is short on time, it would not be appropriate to take on the task, as one must choose one's words wisely when discussing Lincoln.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1238
President Benjamin Harrison writes to his aunt, and tells her that with not a soul in the White House but himself, it is "very lonesome."
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Former President Benjamin Harrison Explains That Former Presidents Should Be Seen and Not Heard
September 4, 1900
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1244
Appalled by William McKinley's imperialism, Benjamin Harrison declines to endorse and speak on his behalf, insisting that former presidents should be "seen and not heard."
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Theodore Roosevelt Pens Congratulatory Letter on White House Card: Lauds Utica Public Library
December 15, 1908
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1251
President Theodore Roosevelt salutes Utica philanthropist Frederick T. Proctor and the Public Library he supported, on the excellent work it is doing, and wishes it good luck.
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Theodore Roosevelt Bitterly Regrets Being Forced to Sit Through WWI At Home "In Comfort and Safety"
August 14, 1918
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1253
Roosevelt has lost one son to the Great War, and two have been badly injured in it. He can't stand the idea that his sons have been put in harm's way, whilst he remains at home, and finds it terrible that the war takes the young. Roosevelt also finds it "more terrible, of course, if the young fear to face death in a great crisis for a great cause."
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Edith Roosevelt on Her Husband's Recovery from an Assassination Attempt and the Bullet Left Inside Him
February 3, 1913
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1254
Edith Roosevelt writes to a friend who had asked the Roosevelts for medical as well as financial guidance. Mrs. Roosevelt answers that the medical advice should be left to their family physician; Theodore will dispense with the financial advice after the medical issue is resolved. She mentions in passing that the surgeon has deemed it safer to leave the bullet in Theodore's chest, which makes her anxious.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1255
Before departing Panama, Theodore Roosevelt writes to Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero who, as the first President of Panama, received Roosevelt when he visited the Canal Zone in November, 1906. Roosevelt and Amador had worked together on creating the Panama Canal, and here Roosevelt thanks Amador for his thoughtful gifts.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1256
Three days before he died, Theodore Roosevelt, by then unable to rise from the sofa and write, dictated this letter. In it, he finds the strength to lambast Woodrow Wilson for erring "in intellectual honesty and moral straight-forwardness," as well as finding fault in his own "single error," which was to support Wilson for the first sixty days of World War I.
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Theodore Roosevelt on the "Treacherous Injustice at Chicago" and His New Bull Moose Party
July 2, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1257
Theodore Roosevelt, who had recently created the Progressive party when he lost the Republican party nomination to Taft, takes stock.
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Former President Theodore Roosevelt Writes About Taking Books on His Upcoming Safari to Africa
March 11, 1909
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1274
Former President Theodore Roosevelt tells Samuel Crothers that he has limited space for books while on safari, but is bringing Crothers's A Gentle Reader.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1276
Theodore Roosevelt expresses his admiration for Abraham Lincoln and wishes to emulate him in championing the cause of the common people.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1278
Theodore Roosevelt resented Woodrow Wilson's weak position on German naval aggression. Here, he unequivocally states that had Wilson shown some strong leadership and stood up to Germany, over 1000 civilians would not have lost their lives at sea.
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FDR Assures Fired, and Fired Up, Isolationist Secretary of War: No War Unless Monroe Doctrine is Breached
June 20, 1940
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1376
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, having just fired his Secretary of War, Harry Woodring, responds jovially to the latter's resignation letter. Roosevelt assures Woodring that the United States will maintain a non-interventionist policy with regards to World War II.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1415
In this remarkable letter, Truman, who inherited the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, muses to his ex-Secretary of State about presidential succession in the case of death, or even disability.
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Harry Truman Reads John Nicolay and John Hay on Abraham Lincoln, As He Tries to Write History of Presidency
April 17, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1417
Harry Truman gratefully accepts the complete works of Lincoln, which he sees as a great help to his research on the history of the presidency.
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He's "Young, Inexperienced and Hopeful. Let's Hope the Hopeful Works." - Truman on Kennedy
September 25, 1961
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1406
Truman initially regarded Kennedy as as young, inexperienced, and up for office because his father bought him the vote. Here, Truman supports Kennedy's handling of the Berlin crisis, which saw the city divided between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. Rather than seeing Kennedy's actions as weak, he praised the President's leadership in buying time with the Soviets in order to retain control of half the city.
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Hiding Two Deadly Illnesses, Franklin D. Roosevelt Dreams of a World Organization for Peace: The UN
March 24, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1383
In the weeks before succumbing to illnesses, Franklin Delano Roosevelt writes this letter, in which he claims that the necessary solution to warfare is an active participation in a peace organization.
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Truman, About to Implement the Truman Doctrine in Greece, Calls Greek-American Politicians "Connivers"
May 3, 1947
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1401
President Truman, who was about to deploy the Truman Doctrine in Greece in order to fight the first proxy Cold War against a communist takeover of that country, expresses reservations about appointing a Greek-American to oversee the distribution of funds to anti-communist factions in Greece.
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Taft, Running for President Against Theodore Roosevelt, Calls Him a "General Menace" To the Country
October 31, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1290
Taft says he wouldn't mind losing the election against Roosevelt, if only to have thwarted Roosevelt from gaining a third term in the White House. He calls Roosevelt "a genuine menace to the welfare of our country."
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William Howard Taft Confesses He's "Struggling to Get into a New Trade… Fading Away into Obscurity"
April 6, 1913
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1291
A deflated Taft, who had recently finished third in the elections as a sitting President, appreciates the invitation to a specific event, but regretfully must decline this, and all others, at the moment, until he settles into his new role as a university lecturer. He especially regrets it, as he fears that these invitations will cease as he fades "away into obscurity."
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President-Elect Howard Taft Qualifies the Thought of a Four Year Term: "If I Live"
November 30, 1908
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1292
President-Elect William H. Taft informs an acquaintance that since he is about to assume the presidency, he must remain in the United States for at least four years, if he lives.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1298
After being betrayed by his mentor, Theodore Roosevelt, who tried to secure the Republican nomination for himself, Taft, having recently won the nomination, lets schadenfreude wash over him as Roosevelt is defeated.
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Woodrow Wilson Lobbies for Ratification of the Treaty of Versailles - A Matter of Gravest Consequence
July 19, 1919
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1313
This letter is an example of Woodrow Wilson's attempt to court Republican senators to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, of which he was one of the chief negotiators; Congress refused to ratify it.
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Woodrow Wilson Explains That He Wouldn't, and Couldn't, Pardon Atlantic City Boss Kuehnle
February 25, 1914
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1319
As Governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson brought down crime boss Louis Kuehne. When asked if he would pardon him, Wilson replied that he couldn't, and even if he could, he would not.
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Woodrow Wilson on How the Bodies of America's WWI Dead Are Handled Prior to Eventual Re-Burial in the US
October 9, 1918
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1320
President Woodrow Wilson explains the process by which every fallen soldier is tagged and temporarily buried until their bodies can be brought to their final resting place in the United States.
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Woodrow Wilson on the Emotional Impact WWI Has Had on Him - Which Led to His Devastating Stroke
July 6, 1922
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1321
Woodrow Wilson confides that he doesn't read anything pertaining to World War One that "renews too deeply the emotions of wartime," as he is "too much affected and too upset by it."
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President Harding, About to Leave on the Trip During Which He'll Die, Makes Plans to Meet a King
June 7, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1326
President Warren Harding writes to arrange a royal visit from King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy upon his return from the trip he was embarking on. The meeting would never happen, as Harding would die on the trip.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1327
In this eerie letter, in all probability the last that Harding wrote from the White House, he discusses a memorial proposed to be erected south of the cemetery in Marion, OH. A few weeks later, Harding would be dead, and the memorial erected to him would be in the precise location of the monument he discusses here.
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President Warren G. Harding Acclaims Abraham Lincoln the Apogee of the Golden Age of American Statesmanship
February 20, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1331
President Warren G. Harding, whose administration would be marred by scandal and corruption, reflects on the Edenic, Lincolnian age of politics, in which all men were giants owing to the "moral intensity of this one man," Abraham Lincoln.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1336
President Warren Harding promises his Solicitor General, James Montgomery Beck, that he would not "overdo it" on a trip across the continent, the stress of which would ultimately kill him.
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Vice President Calvin Coolidge: His New Job is of Little Responsibility But He's Kept Busy All the Same
November 8, 1921
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1339
Vice President Calvin Coolidge tells the Archbishop of Boston that though his job carries little responsibility, the demands on his time are enormous.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1342
A scarce autograph letter from Coolidge's presidency, thanking a retiring Republican congressman for his service, and wishing him well.
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Former President Herbert Hoover, at Seventy-Five, Confesses His Hope to Make Ninety - Which He Did
September 25, 1949
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1345
Former President Herbert Hoover congratulates F.A. Seiberling - the founder of Goodyear Tire - on his ninetieth birthday, and hopes that he, too, will be as fortunate to make it to ninety.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1347
One of six or seven autographed handwritten letters by Herbert Hoover as President. Here, he is conscious of the rarity of his letters, and playfully writes this one, his quota for the year, he jokes.
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Important People, Hoover Explains, Don't Have Time to Write Longhand - Or Like Their Letters Being Sold
April 3, 1959
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1352
Herbert Hoover explains that important men neither have the time to write letters by longhand, nor do they like the "trafficking" of their letters.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, as President-Elect, Recognizes the "Grave Responsibility" He is About to Undertake
November 19, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1359
Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledges not only the "grave responsibility," but the "great opportunities" in his new role as President.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Thanks His Secretary of War for a "Delightful Old Book of Abraham Lincoln's Debates"
January 10, 1939
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1370
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt expresses his gratitude to his Secretary of War, Harry Woodring, for the gift of a volume of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1372
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had established the National Resources Board as an advisory board to the President regarding "physical, social, governmental, and economic aspects of public policies for the development and use of land, water, and other national resources," now has to step in and prevent a quarrel between the Board and the Army Engineer Corp, who were locked in battle over funding.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1373
After forgiving his old and dear friend many missteps, Franklin Roosevelt finally fires Harry Woodring as Secretary of War.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 965
President Franklin Pierce invites the prominent Philadelphia cleric, Henry A. Boardman, to visit at the White House, "that we may make some time under this roof a period of enjoyment." The Pierces, who lost their last surviving child in a train crash two years earlier, were still in mourning, and Pierce hoped Boardman's visit might bring some comfort to them.
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President Franklin Pierce Warmly Endorses the Kansas-Nebraska Act as "Demonstrably Right and Patriotic"
March 9, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 966
Pierce endorses the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed citizens of those states to decide if they wanted to retain slaves or not. This decision reversed the Missouri compromise of 1820 and sharply divided the nation.
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Candidate Franklin Pierce Writes About Nathaniel Hawthorne's Campaign Biography of Him
September 27, 1852
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 967
An agitated candidate Pierce writes to the publisher of Nathaniel Hawthorne's campaign biography of him, demanding that the West and Southwest be "liberally supplied" with "Hawthorne's book" as "the sales which are to be made must be made promptly."
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 979
Just seven months before this letter was penned, her beloved son and only surviving child, Bennie, was struck down before her eyes in a train wreck, in which he was the only fatality. Here she writes to her sister about family matters - but her tragic loss is never far from her thoughts.
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Buchanan Approves Abraham Lincoln’s Ordering Fremont to Rescind His Emancipation Proclamation
September 27, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 984
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 985
Three weeks before many of the stranded colonists would leave Jaffa with Mark Twain on the Quaker City, Governor of Maine Joshua Chamberlain here passes on Secretary of State William Seward's interest in extending aide to 156 American Christian colonists in Jaffa.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 986
President James Buchanan accepts a minister's advice to choose his cabinet slowly and wisely, and adds that he trusts "a kind Providence will bestow upon me wisdom from on high to enable to choose the proper men for the proper places."
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James Buchanan, Ill With Dysentry Before His Inauguration, Declines Jefferson Davis's Invitation to Dine
February 20, 1857
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 988
James Buchanan, suffering from dysentery, regrets to decline Jefferson Davis's invitation to dinner.
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President James Buchanan, Strained in the Summer of 1860, Writes He Hasn't Time for His Friends
July 14, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 989
President James Buchanan reassures his friend that although he scarcely has time for personal correspondence, he "cordially reciprocates" towards Theseus Apolion Chesney "the friendly feelings which dictated" his letter.
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The Eyewitness Account of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination by the Physician Who Treated Him at the Scene
May 28, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 1004
Charles Leale, a surgeon and first responder to Lincoln's shooting, gives a detailed summary of the night of the assassination to a friend.
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Account of Execution of Deserters at Beverly Ford Mentions Rabbi Praying With One of the Condemned Men
August 29, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 1026
Captain Jacob Winans writes to his father about the execution of deserters at Beverly Ford, mentioning the presence of a rabbi to pray with one of the convicted soldiers.
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Breathtaking Detailed Eyewitness Account of the Execution of Deserters at Beverly Ford
September 3, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1027
This eyewitness account details the chronology of events, or protocol of the execution of deserters at Beverly Ford. Those executed had with them the clergyman of their faith. They "were accompanied by a Catholic priest, a Jewish Rabbi and a Methodist preacher."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1030
Chief Justice Taft looks forward to reading Emmanuel Hertz’s Lincoln addresses, noting that "The fame of Lincoln has spread to every land, and details in respect to his personality will certainly prove to be of interest and usefulness."
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Chief Justice William Howard Taft Comments on an Abraham Lincoln Address by Emanuel Hertz
March 26, 1926
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1031
William Howard Taft, the only man to be both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court here comments, obliquely, on an address about Lincoln, in which Emanuel Hertz has "noted a reference to a suggestion of mine."
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John Tyler: His Cabinet Problems, Franklin Pierce’s Election, and Presidential Etiquette
November 25, 1852
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1049
Though he expresses admiration for President-Elect Franklin Pierce, and claims he'd be willing to host him, President John Tyler refuses to congratulate Pierce, nor does he invite him over.
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James K. Polk Gives Orders for a Fireproof Celebration for the Battle of Cerro Gordo in Washington
May 8, 1847
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1052
Here Polk-mindful of the dangers of unattended candles and oil lamps-gives orders not to illuminate public offices in honor of General Scott’s victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo.
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Confined for Two Years to the White House, President James K. Polk Tries to Plan an Out of Town Visit
May 24, 1847
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1053
President James K. Polk, in desperate need of a respite from the White House, politely declines his friend's invitation to stay at his house in New York, citing the inconvenience of having the President stay in a private home.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1054
Here, James K. Polk repeats the astonishment he expressed in a June missive regarding his candidacy. He reitirates his pleasure in being the instrument for bringing unity to the Democratic party, and hopes to effect "so great a good."
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Polk, Surprised at His Candidacy, Declares the Presidency Too Important an Office to be Sought or Declined
June 8, 1844
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1055
James K. Polk, everyone's second choice, astonishingly won the Democratic nomination. Polk here is forthcoming that his candidacy was the result of a concession, adding that the office of the presidency is too important to be sought or declined.
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President-Elect James K. Polk Anxiously Queries His Tailor About New Clothes for His Inauguration
January 9, 1845
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1056
President-Elect Polk anxiously queries his tailor about a cloak and suit of clothes – assumedly to be worn at his inauguration - that has yet to arrive. He asks that they be sent as soon as they are ready. He would leave for Washington less than three weeks later.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1060
At the close of the Civil War, on the day that President Lincoln would be assassinated, Millard Fillmore writes to the Historical Society of Buffalo about sending them a historical sketch. A few weeks later, he would address the Society on the topic of Lincoln's assassination.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1061
In this sometimes scathing letter mostly concerning Thurlow Weed, former President Millard Fillmore can say only one good thing about him: Weed was "the first among his friends to see and admit the danger to the country from Lincoln's election."
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President Fillmore Arranges to Attend Opening of the Railroad Line from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes
May 8, 1851
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1062
The railroad connecting the Atlantic to the Great Lakes was a cause for national celebration. It would extend the web of the railway network, contributing to the industrial boom in the United States, enlarging the markets while reducing shipping and production costs.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1064
President Millard Fillmore writes he regrets not having seen Governor Gibbs the day before; looked for him that day; and will be happy to see him in the evening.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1066
Here the bibliophilic Fillmore, whose time in the White House was best spent, by all accounts, building its library, thanks a prominent Albany publisher for “a copy of that indispensable ‘Manual’ to every New Yorker, ‘The Red Book,’” on his last day in office.
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Millard Fillmore On the Fugitive Slave and Kansas-Nebraska Acts: "You Can Not Reason With Fanaticism"
September 12, 1856
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1069
Though he detested slavery, Millard Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required citizens of Northern free states to return slaves to their Southern owners. He was denounced by politicians who four years later voted for the same rule of law to apply in the Kansas-Nebraska act. Here, he wishes to expose their hypocrisy.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1070
Millard Fillmore tells a correspondent that the very probable prospect of him losing the election would bring relief and more leisure time.
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Having Ascended to the Presidency Just a Week Before, Millard Fillmore Orders a New Black Hat
July 18, 1850
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1071
Eight days after President Taylor died and Millard Fillmore went from being vice president to president, the latter, taking his new role seriously, orders a new hat.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1072
Upon receiving a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, President Millard Fillmore reflects on the "vexing" problem of slavery, commenting almost prophetically, "Who can penetrate the dark future and say whether this ever disturbing subject may not send this Union asunder," and confesses that he "can not look without apprehension to the future."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1075
James Buchanan, consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents, thanks a rare admirer for vindication.
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Abraham Lincoln Recommends a Franklin Pierce White House Appointee to General Benjamin Butler
January 14, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1085
Here, for the second time, Abraham Lincoln endorses Thomas Stackpole, who had risen through the ranks as a White House staff member, from watchman, to doorman, to the more intimate steward. Lincoln had recommended Stackpole to General Wool as a fine businessman, and repeats the endorsement to General Benjamin Butler four years later.
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Abraham Lincoln Reacts to Attempted Jail-Break of Confederate POWs on Johnson Island
October 2, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1090
This note from Lincoln to the Naval Secretary Gideon Welles instructs him to get a firsthand report about the infamous attempted prison break of Confederate POWs on Johnson's Island.
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Hannibal Hamlin Calls for Making Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday a National Day of Observance
February 7, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1105
Hannibal Hamlin, who served as Abraham Lincoln's first Vice President, regretfully declines an invitation to speak at an event honoring the late president's birthday, but calls for it to be nationally recognized as a holiday, much like Washington's birthday.
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Oliver Wendell Holmes: At Fort Stevens, Abraham Lincoln Was Forced to Duck From Enemy Fire
June 14, 1922
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1106
Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes confirms that during the Civil War, when he was serving as a captain, President Abraham Lincoln came to visit the troops at Fort Stevens, during which they were fired upon. This was the only time in American history a sitting president has exposed himself to combat. President Lincoln was forced to duck from enemy fire.
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Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1108
When asked if Chester Arthur should be kept under heavy guard, Robert Todd Lincoln responds that if a deranged person wants to kill the president, "it is impossible to thoroughly guard against those classes of people."
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Carl Sandburg: Walt Whitman "Strolls In and Out of the Pages Regularly" of His Lincoln Biography
October 12, 1938
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1110
Carl Sandburg, a poet who won acclaim for his four-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln, tells Morris Lychenheim,one of Whitman’s last surviving friends, that Walt Whitman "strolls in and out of the pages regularly."
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Statesman, Political Exile, Attorney, and Queen's Counsel, Judah Benjamin Arranges a Meeting
June 26, 1873
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1118
Judah P. Benjamin, the Jewish former statesman of different roles in the Confederacy, relocated to England and became a successful barrister there. Four years before he wrote this letter, he obtained the rank of Queen's Counsel, and in order to save his correspondent the trouble, offers to call on her at home, rather than in his offices at the Temple.
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Robert E. Lee, Charmingly, and Piously, Responds to a Young Girl's Gift of Socks in 1865
December 20, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1123
Robert E. Lee thanks a little girl for her letter and her gift of socks that he has received upon becoming president of Washington College.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1124
Returning from Germany to the United States in the 1870s, General George McClellan speaks disparagingly of the Jewish people on board, and his success in distancing himself from the "children of Jacob."
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A Union Officer in the Field Describes the Reaction to News of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination
April 20, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1128
Here, an Ohio lieutenant, serving in Alabama, describes how the troops there received, and took, "news of the shocking murder of our president."
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On His Penultimate Day in Office, President Ulysses S. Grant Announces His Intention to Travel the Globe
March 2, 1877
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1142
Just before setting off on a two-year world tour, Grant arranges for bank dividends to be sent to his son and namesake, U.S. Grant, Jr. so that the latter can manage his affairs during the world tour.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1149
Hayes, in arranging for a visit at his home, announces he will be attending the funeral of the man he succeeded in the White House, Ulysses S. Grant, in New York City.
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Lucretia Garfield On How Her Husband's Portents at Chicago Convention Foreshadowed His "Fateful Ending"
November 19, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1150
Lucretia Garfield, President Garfield's widow, writes two months to the day after his death, still in disbelief. She shares with her correspondent that "the spirit of prophecy fell upon" her late husband, with many of his utterances now coming back to her as eerily foreshadowing his own demise.
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Chester A. Arthur Laments the "Never Ending and Still Beginning Pressure" of the Presidency
August 9, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1151
President Chester A. Arthur apologizes for his delay in sending an autograph, attributing it to the "never ending and still beginning pressure" of the presidency.
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Vice President-Elect Chester A. Arthur Accepts Congratulations on Winning His First and Last Election
November 10, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1155
Chester A. Arthur accepts congratulations on having won his first, and last, election: that of Vice-President of the United States. Arthur would be Vice President for six months before assuming the presidency on the occasion of Garfield's assassination in 1881.
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Eisenhower & Kennedy: Eisenhower Writes JFK a Chilly Letter After Losing the 1960 Election
December 16, 1960
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 703
Eisenhower coldly, yet cordially, confirms that his friend and Defense Liaison Officer, General Andrew Goodpaster, will be staying, as per Kennedy's request, with the President until February or March.
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President-Elect Eisenhower Thanks Mary Lincoln's Niece for the Gift of a "Truly Historic Memento"
November 28, 1952
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 704
President-Elect Eisenhower thanks the grandniece of Mary Lincoln for a gift of a pen holder made from the original wood of the Lincoln Homestead.
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Homesick General Eisenhower Writes of a WWII Visit to Jerusalem and Levant at Christmas
December 26, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 708
Homesick Eisenhower writes to his wife to thank her for Christmas gifts and to express his longing to see her. He omits his recent promotion as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 712
John F. Kennedy writes a condolence letter to Medgar Evers's widow. Four hours before Evers was shot in front of his wife and children, Kennedy had given a televised speech calling for an end to racial discrimination.
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After His "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" Speech, JFK Thanks the Overseas Military for Making His Visit a Success
July 8, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 715
President Kennedy thanks General Landon, the Commander in Chief of the United States Air Force in Europe for the "magnificent way" in which the General ensured that Kennedy's visit to Germany was a success.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 716
President John F. Kennedy's infant son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely and lived for 39 hours. Five days later, the president thanks his sister-in-law and husband for their support during this difficult time.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 719
Jack London tells a fan and possible relative that London is a common Jewish surname and he has often been approached by Jewish people inquiring if he is related to the Jewish contingent.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 725
Frank Lloyd Wright ostensibly responds to Lewis Mumford's book, The Conduct of Life, recently sent to him – and refers, obliquely, to Mumford's criticism of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 726
Frank Lloyd Wright, infuriated by "obituaries" of his work, and deeply resentful of the "European invasion" of ideas, vows to make a comeback for the sake of architecture itself.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 728
Twenty seven years after making history at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright sets the record straight about three questions surrounding the first flight.
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Theodore Herzl Writes a Condolence Letter, Seemingly in Connection With Anti-Semitic Attacks
April 17, 1890
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 729
Theodor Herzl writes a condolence letter amidst an outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks beginning in Vienna, and sweeping through Austria.
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Theodor Herzl Sets Out to Establish the First Zionist Congress and Vows "the Jews Will Get Palestine!"
May 4, 1896
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 731
Theodor Herzl tries to garner support for his vision of a Jewish State amongst the Hasidic Jews of Europe. Herzl sets forth his ecumenical vision, where Jews would be free to practise (or to not practise) their religion in their own way, with no "falling out over matters of religion." Herzl mentions the first Zionist Congress, confident that the Jews will obtain their ancestral homeland of Palestine.
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Theodore Herzl Admits to Exhaustion But Swears to Continue "The Great Campaign...As Long as I am Able"
November 10, 1896
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 732
Theodore Herzl admits to exhaustion but vows to continue the "great campaign" for as long as he is able.
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Theodor Herzl Writes of a Matter Unknown, He Says, Even to His Editor, Amidst the Dreyfus Affair
July 27, 1899
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 736
Theodore Herzl writes excitedly about a matter unknown to his editor, Edward Baher. He doesn't want his correspondent to lose one day on this scoop, so Herzl returns his manuscript immediately. Given the date of the letter, it's very likely that it has to do with Dreyfus's having just been brought back from Devil’s Island to face a second trial in Paris.
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Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 739
Theodor Herzl considers, and ultimately rejects, a lecture tour in the United States.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 754
Max Nordau agrees to help a Mrs. E. Woodruff with her book, vowing to send his "literary might" shortly.
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Max Nordau Praises the Juvenile Poetry of "E. Babette Deutsch" and Predicts an Exceptional Future
October 22, 1907
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 755
Over a decade before she became famous as a poet, novelist, critic and translator, Babette Deutsch received this letter of praise from Max Nordau.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 759
Max Nordau had put forth the idea of "Muscular Judaism" at the 1898 Zionist Congress. His vision was one of men who were physically and morally fit. Here, he exchanges photographs with Hubert Carleton, the proponent of the Episcopalian version of his vision, called "Men and Religion Forward."
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Ben-Gurion: Had a Jewish State Been Established in 1937, Millions of Jews Would Not Have Died in the Holocaust
January 8, 1956
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 765
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David Ben-Gurion Compares, Favorably, the Fledgling IDF to George Washington's Revolutionary Army
January 27, 1956
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 766
At a critical juncture, when Israel was vastly outnumbered, Ben-Gurion compares the fledgling IDF to "an army that had been established by the owner of an estate in Virginia." Though Ben-Gurion compares the IDF to George Washington's Revolutionary Army and wishes to learn from it, he also claims that the Jewish people's situation is "different from any other nation."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 769
David Ben Gurion tells his correspondent that Israel was founded by pioneers but now needs immigrants from free countries, most notably the United States, to come and populate it.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 771
David Ben-Gurion encourages Ida Camelhor Silverman, an eighty-six year old Hadassah officer, to visit Israel, citing the Biblical Sarah and Moses Montefiore as examples of people who travelled to Israel at advanced ages. Two years after receiving this letter, Silverman actually settled in Israel, where she would die two years after making Israel her home.
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Fifteen Years as Prime Minister is Enough, David Ben-Gurion Says: Now He's Writing the History of Israel
June 27, 1966
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 772
David Ben-Gurion explains to an admirer that he left politics because no single person should be practically synonymous with a country. He has a different and important task at hand: writing his epic history of Israel from 1870-1965.
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David Ben-Gurion Asks a Manuscript Collector About a 1945 Photograph, At the Start of the Six-Day War
June 6, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 774
A day into the Six-Day War, David Ben Gurion asks manuscript collector and Lincoln scholar Justin Turner for a photo.
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Chaim N. Bialik on the Jewish Persecutions in the Diaspora and the Determination to Make a Home in Zion
May 19, 1934
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 782
Writing in 1934, Bialik affirms that the latest persecutions of the Jewish people necessitate the creation of a Jewish state.
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Albert Einstein on the "Bumpy" Creation and Beautiful "Dream" of the Hebrew University
April 8, 1929
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 792
Here, Einstein writes a conciliatory letter, appreciating that Selig Brodetsky is not alienated by his gruff manner in handling and discussing the Hebrew University, a cause so dear to his heart. At the time a mathematician at the University of Leeds, Brodetsky would go on to become the Hebrew University's president twenty years later.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 793
Einstein expresses support for creating a Jewish homeland in Peru, and offers to do what he can to promote the project, cognizant that lending his name to a project concerning Jews will certainly have an impact.
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Einstein, Working to Save Jews from Hitler, Discusses "Brown Book of Hitler Terror" and Personal Risk
July 20, 1933
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 794
Einstein discusses the Brown Book, an expose documenting, amongst other things, the oppression of Jews. The growing momentum of speaking out against Nazism was encouraging for Einstein, but he thought that it would be more impactful if the criticism came from "only foreign non-Jews." Einstein understood that with his high profile, his public condemnation of Germany would have deadly consequences for German Jews.
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Albert Einstein Advises a Young Refugee From Germany, Then Controlled By What He Called "The Hitler Gang"
March 18, 1935
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 796
Einstein encourages a young German immigrant to stay in California, as it offers more opportunities than Palestine; he advises against returning to Europe, from where, as he put it, "no good can come." He especially warns against Germany, controlled by "The Hitler Gang."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 797
In his reply to Inge Stern, a German ?migr?e to Los Angeles, Einstein notes that he's pleased she's getting on well, and adds that "Jewish smarts serve one well."
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Albert Einstein Disagrees with Louis Brandeis; Argues that Palestine is Not the Key to Jewish Survival
January 25, 1936
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 798
Writing in 1936, Einstein disagrees with Louis Brandeis that a Jewish state is necessary for Jewish continuity. "The persecutions will never cause us to perish," Einstein argues, and the dispersion of Jews around the globe ensures their survival.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 800
Writing in 1942, Einstein reiterates his support for Judah Magnes's proposal that the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine would come to an arrangement themselves, without the intervention of the British.
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Einstein On His Anti-Nazi Work: "Had Those Fellows" Listened, "These Horrors Would Not Have Existed"
March 15, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 801
In 1943, Albert Einstein writes to Lionel Ettlinger that had people only listened to the pair of them, the horrors of the Holocaust could have been avoided. Einstein had travelled throughout Belgium and England in 1933 - shortly after Ettlinger had released a documentary about the German aggression against the Jews in Europe - warning anyone who would listen.
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Autograph Letter of Astronaut Judy Resnik-Killed in the Challenger Disaster-About Autographs
January 25, 1978
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 819
Judy Resnik, the second American woman, and second Jewish person in space, responds to requests for autographs and photographs.
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Chaim Weizmann Thanks British Zionist Leader for a Copy of His Book, "The Jews, the War and After"
December 14, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 829
Weizmann thanks the British Zionist leader, Phineas Horowitz, for a copy of his new book, The Jews, the War and After, which he looks forward to reading "with much pleasure and profit."
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Campaigning for General Land Office Commissioner, Lincoln Asks Congressman to Write to “Old Zach” About Him
June 1, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 853
Abraham Lincoln writes to Representative Moses Hampton of Pennsylvania, a congressman with whom whom he had served. Lincoln was seeking the position of commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington. and wanted Hampton to put in a good word for him with President Zachary Taylor. Lincoln did not get the position.
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Rare Gerald Ford Presidential Letter Written After His "Tough and Traumatic" Defeat By Jimmy Carter
November 6, 1976
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 876
Defeated President Gerald Ford writes to Congresswoman Edith Green of Oregon to thank her for her support during the difficult loss of the presidency.
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Five Weeks After Having Been Shot and Almost Killed, Ronald Reagan is Pleased with Recovery
May 4, 1981
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 890
Five weeks after the assassination attempt, President Ronald Reagan writes to his friend Glenn Ford, telling him that he feels fine, and is even surprising the doctors, which, in turn, makes him feel even better.
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Grover Cleveland Celebrates a Great Deception: The One Year Anniversary of His Secret Cancer Surgery
July 1, 1894
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 891
President Grover Cleveland writes to his friend and personal physician, Dr. Joseph Bryant, on the occasion of the one year anniversary of Cleveland's secret cancer surgery. The surgery, to remove a tumor on the president's jaw, was astonishingly performed on a yacht anchored on Long Island Sound, in order to conceal the President's condition from the public. Remarkably, the secret was kept for a quarter of a century.
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"Honest Abe" Lincoln, Annoyed About an Unpaid Bill, Orders It Paid – On the Day He Effectively Declares War
April 19, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 907
On a very busy day for Lincoln; the day we would declare war on the South, he discovers that his bill for his ten day stay at the Willard Hotel prior to his inauguration remains outstanding. He sends his secretary, John Nicolay, with this letter to the hotel owners, instructing them to give Nicolay the receipt and he will write a check for the amount immediately.
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Abraham Lincoln, in a Prelude to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Agrees to Follow Douglas to Bloomington
July 15, 1858
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 909
Abraham Lincoln writes to his friend William H. Hanna to assure him that he will follow Douglas on his speaking tours to take advantage of any "openings."
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President William McKinley Writes to the Widow of His Vice President and Dear Friend, Mrs. Hobart
March 8, 1900
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 915
In this letter, written four months after the death of his vice-president and dear friend, Garret Hobart, President McKinley thanks Mrs. Tuttle-Hobart for the gift of fruit, and for the wonderful time spent together with her and her son.
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McKinley is Comforted to Learn That His Gravely-Ill Vice President is Improving - 5 Days Before Hobart Dies
November 16, 1899
Autograph Telegram Signed
1 page
SMC 916
This letter, in which President McKinley expresses his relief that Garret Hobart-his vice-president and dear friend-is on the mend, was written a mere five days before Hobart's health took a turn for the worse and he died.
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Chaim Weizmann Thanks Clark Clifford for His Help In Getting President Truman to Recognize Israel
February 20, 1949
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 647
Clark Clifford, President Truman's aide, argued against Secretary of State George Marshall "as if it were a case to be presented to the Supreme Court." Truman immediately recognized the Jewish State, and Weizmann, on his first day as President of Israel, thanks him.
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David Roberts Sends Sketches of Holy Land to Archaeologist to Refute Famous Argument About Temple Mount
February 2, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 645
Ahead of a meeting of the Royal Institute of British architects in London, David Roberts sends his sketches to the archaeologist J.J. Scoles, with whom he would collaborate to debunk James Fergusson’s thesis that the Dome of the Rock was the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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David Ben-Gurion on God’s Promises to His People: Strength and Peace – One Given, the Other, Coming
July 22, 1971
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 664
Two years before the Yom Kippur War, and quoting from Psalms, David Ben Gurion tells a correspondent that there is definitely trouble brewing with Egypt, yet God promises his people two things: strength and peace. The former is obtained, and the latter, Ben-Gurion has faith, is coming.
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Harry Truman Presents Supreme Court Chief Justice Vinson With a Gavel Having "Historical Connections"
October 5, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 680
Harry Truman presents the Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson with a gavel made from the Jefferson Tree at Fulton Missouri. Here, Truman tells the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, "Tip" Tipton how pleased both he and Vinson are with the gavel and its "historical connections."
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Harry Truman Tells How He Learned He Became the President: FDR's Death, He Says, Was a Complete Surprise
October 18, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 684
In this letter to Louis Reed (an administrative assistant to a West Virginia senator), Harry Truman reassures him that at the time they met, Truman had no idea that Roosevelt had died, and that he'd be ascending the presidency. It was as much of a surprise to Truman as to anyone else.
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Franklin Pierce Describes Nathaniel Hawthorne's Last Night Alive on Their Trip to New England
May 19, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 583
Former President Pierce tells the story of his friend, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne's demise, detailing their last trip and the epic moment of Pierce’s discovery of his death.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 584
In this marvelous letter, Theodore Roosevelt, about to be inaugurated for the second time, takes a haberdasher to task for some shoddy tailoring.
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Harry Truman Letter Written as Vice-President But Signed as President with "Terrible Responsibilities"
April 12, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 585
A letter from Harry Truman written as Vice President, then amended by hand as President, mentioning the "terrible responsibilities" that are now his. Truman had started this letter in the morning, as vice president, but by the evening, had ascended the presidency, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death that day.
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"All is Over and Lincoln Elected," John Tyler Writes, "As Confidence Between Man and Man is Giving Way"
November 10, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 586
Here, just six days after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with a scant 40% of the vote, Former President John Tyler laments the election.
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George Washington Argues for a "Professional Man" to Supply Technical Guidance on Canal Infrastructure
May 31, 1786
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 587
Though passionate about the construction of a canal in the Potomac, George Washington confesses to having little more than a layman's knowledge of the technical aspects of the project, and urges the company to retain a professional canal engineer.
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Harry Truman, "Blue as Indigo," Declares "Immature" Kennedy the Lesser of Evils Over "Impossible" Nixon
August 26, 1960
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 591
Truman is frustrated yet optimistic in this letter. On one hand, neither Kennedy nor Nixon were, in his opinion, desirable candidates. On the other hand, Truman concedes, this is probably how the "oldsters" felt in 1828, 1840, 1852, and 1860, when those elections changed the course of American politics. Ultimately, he posits America came out "on top" in these other elections and will in this one as well.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 592
Responding to his son's request for a loan, former President Tyler tells his son that between medical bills, providing for his own growing family and supporting his own brother, he doesn't have much to give, but is prepared to help, should his son not be able to secure a loan from a friend.
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General Edmund Allenby Commemorates His Victorious Entrance Into Jerusalem One Year Later
December 18, 1918
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 595
General Edmund Allenby, in celebrating the Allied victory of World War I, humbly commemorates the year anniversary of his conquering of Jerusalem.
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Alfred Dreyfus Reviews Case Against Him, Proclaims His Innocence, and Demands Another Trial
December 26, 1900
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 617
Alfred Dreyfus respectfully demands a retrial for his trumped-up treason charge from the French prime minister, and vows to prove his innocence till his dying day.
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Zachary Taylor Invites Relatives to the White House, Where He Will Die of "Too Many Cherries & Too Much Cold Milk"
March 20, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 372
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Chaim Weizmann to Orde Wingate's Widow About a Memorial for Wingate at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
October 27, 1944
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 374
Writing to Lorna Wingate, the young widow of Orde Wingate, the British champion of the Jewish Zionist cause, Chaim Weizmann advises her about the political necessities in undertaking a memorial to her late husband at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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Chaim Weizmann to Lorna Wingate on the Jewish Brigade: "There is No Shortcut to Jerusalem"
January 23, 1941
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 375
Chaim Weizmann tells Lorna Wingate that the Jewish Brigade, and future army, is a long game, and will come with hard work and fortitude.
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Chaim Weizmann in 1943: "Nothing Short of a Miracle if We Do Get Something Out of this War"
December 10, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 376
Writing during World War Two, Chaim Weizmann assures Lorna Wingate that her husband Orde is on the mend after a bout of typhoid. In the interim, he comments that many things are happening in Palestine that would provoke the British, though he hopes they will not allow themselves to be provoked. It would be "nothing short of a miracle if we do get something out of this war," he ruefully remarks.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 377
Chaim Weizmann writes to Orde Wingate's widow, Lorna, about the upcoming dates for a memorial service for her husband in the Great Synagogues in London and Jerusalem.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 378
Chaim Weizmann agrees to stand as Godfather to the son of Major General Orde Wingate, Orde Jonathan Wingate.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 379
Chaim Weizmann writes to Lorna Wingate, the widow of Major-General Orde Wingate, to tell her that the British government finally approved the creation of the Jewish Brigade. Weizmann's feelings are mixed, though, as Wingate - who died five months earlier - would have made this Brigade "a powerful force."
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Chaim Weizmann Analyzes British Partition Plans and Prerequisites for Statehood; Blasts American Jewry
June 20, 1937
Autograph Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 380
Chaim Weizmann accepts Wingate's offer to organize guerilla night squads to defend against Arab terrorism, analyzes the British Partition Plans, and blasts American Jewry - all in one letter.
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Polk, Exhausted, Says He's Feeling Better Now That He's Out of Office, Then Dies a Month Later
May 9, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 244
Polk writes to say he's been given the respite he needed after the presidency and is feeling much better, only to die less than a month after writing this letter, in October of 1849.
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Theodore Roosevelt Confidently Reports that the Mortally Wounded President McKinley is Doing Well
September 9, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 245
Roosevelt feels assured not only that McKinley will recover, but that his recovery will be so speedy that in a very short time he will be able to resume his duties.
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President Ronald Reagan Defends George Custer Against Charges of Negligence at Little Bighorn
June 21, 1984
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 248
Describing himself as a "Custer Buff," President Ronald Reagan regrets that White House custom forbids his writing a foreword to a book on Custer. Reagan then goes on to defend Custer as a "brilliant officer," and rejects the idea that Custer's last stand was foolhardy, but actually following orders.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 249
President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes a bland letter to the chairmen of the United Jewish Appeal, in which he scratches the surface of the Holocaust and rather hollowly endorses the UJA.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 251
Roosevelt, who has just become President due to McKinley's assassination looks forward at what must be done, rather than being "morbid."
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President Theodore Roosevelt Plans for Life After the White House: His African Safari
September 25, 1908
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 253
Theodore Roosevelt, in the midst of planning his post-presidential safari, asks a fellow big-game hunter currently residing in East Africa for recommendations of hunting spots for specific animals.
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Extraordinary Orville Wright Letter Discussing the Birth of Manned Flight at Kitty Hawk
December 4, 1919
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 382
Lawrence L. Driggs, who later went on to write extensively about early aviation, wrote a letter to Orville Wright asking him what was "the most interesting or significant episode in the birth of flying at Kitty Hawk." This long letter is Wright's response, primarily describing unusual soaring experiences during various test-flights.
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Ben-Gurion Predicts Victory Under Dayan in 6-Day War; Discusses How Many Arabs Equal One Israeli Soldier
June 6, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 385
Moshe Dayan is appointed minister of defence; Ben Gurion predicts that Israel will triumph over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the coming Six Day War.
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Mark Twain Inquires if Alfred Dreyfus Was Struck in the Face With the Hilt of a Sword
February 11, 1895
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 388
Here, Samuel Clemens, who had been in Paris when the Dreyfus affair struck, urgently seeks a detail of Dreyfus' degradation and abuse.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 392
Rather than an independent Jewish state, Einstein would like to see a "secured bi-national status in Palestine with free immigration," adding that it defies common sense to "ask to be given the political rule over Palestine where two thirds of the population are not Jewish."
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Eisenhower's Trip to Ohrdruf Concentration Camp: "I Never Dreamed... It Was Horrible."
April 15, 1945
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 393
General Eisenhower writes to his wife, after seeing the Ohrdruf concentration camp, that he never dreamt that such cruelty could exist in this world. Poignantly, he mentions that many American soldiers do not seem to know what they are fighting for. Eisenhower ordered every unit not on the front lines to tour the camp, and writes here "now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against."
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Ulysses S. Grant Tries to Lose the Anti-Semite Label Engendered to Him by His Infamous “Jew Order”
August 14, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 394
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 399
President Andrew Jackson invites a friend to the most famous cheese tasting in American history. On Washington's birthday, March 3, 1837, the President opened the White House for the American public to consume a cheese wheel, four feet in diameter, and weighing 1400 lbs. It took citizens of all walks of life approximately two hours to consume the block of cheddar.
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Lincoln Names Himself "The Humblest of All Whose Names Were Before the Convention" to Defeated Rival Cassius Clay
May 26, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 409
Newly-minted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln humbles himself before formal rival Cassius Clay in order to secure his position.
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Abraham Lincoln in 1860: "Just Now, The Skies Look Bright. What Clouds May Hereafter Rise, We Know Not."
July 2, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 410
Lincoln reports to his friend that his prospects for winning the 1860 election looked promising.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 414
Here, relating to the Mexican War ending, Abraham Lincoln alludes to "Othello's occupation's gone."
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Herman Melville "Disinters," a Rare Copy of "Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land" to Send it to an Admirer
January 22, 1885
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 419
Herman Melville sends his only presentation copy of Clarel to an admirer, noting that the poem was so unpopular, the admirer would have a difficult time getting his hands on a copy.
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Former President Franklin Pierce Defends Himself Against Treason Charges Brought by William H. Seward
March 24, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 422
Franklin Pierce, a public detractor of President Lincoln and of the Union, is charged with being a member of a secret league, intending to overthrow the government. Incensed by the publication of the allegations, Pierce arranges for his old friend, Senator Latham of California, to introduce a resolution demanding that all the correspondence in the matter be submitted to Congress for inquiry.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 423
Though he was the first president to ride in an automobile, President Theodore Roosevelt had a profound dislike for them. He does, concede, however, that once their use is regulated, they will likely be less objectionable.
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Theodore Roosevelt Arranges a Dramatic Presentation About the Rough Riders
September 29, 1898
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 424
Roosevelt arranges to meet Mason Mitchell, whom he deems "the only Rough Rider with dramatic and literary capacity," in order to discuss their dramatic presentation about the Rough Riders.
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Shortly After Firing General MacArthur, President Truman Writes of His "Trials and Tribulations"
April 14, 1951
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 428
In the days following MacArthur's dismissal, and all of the upheaval surrounding it, President Truman thanks his Secretary of State Dean Acheson for his unwavering support and friendship.
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Harry Truman Looks at the Potsdam Conference 12 Years Later: An Astonishing Appraisal of What Went Wrong
April 8, 1957
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 429
Knowing that his papers would be released for reporters to examine his version of the Potsdam Conference twelve years prior, Harry Truman paints a revisionist history of what happened and what went wrong.
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It Was His Boyhood Reading, Harry Truman Recalls, That Prepared Him for When His "Terrible Trial Came"
December 18, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 430
Harry Truman, the only U.S. President of the 20th century who did not receive a university education, reflects on how his childhood love of reading and self-education prepared him for his sudden ascent to the presidency.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 431
Three weeks after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright dives into a detailed and technical explanation of what went right in the flight, and what went wrong.
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George Washington Dreads Assuming the Presidency: He Feels as if He's Being Led to His Execution
April 1, 1789
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 433
Draft of George Washington's letter to Major General Henry Knox, in which, thirty days before his inauguration, Washington compares assuming the presidency to being lead to his execution. He insists he doesn't have the political skill, ability, or even the inclination to lead. He fears, terribly, that he risks his good name in assuming the presidency.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 443
At the request of his correspondent, John Coulter, Lincoln wrote this letter outlining his electoral win-loss record against his long-time detractor, the Reverend Peter Cartwright.
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Abraham Lincoln Suggests Suffrage for Some Louisiana Blacks: The "Very Intelligent" and Union Veterans
March 13, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 448
Abraham Lincoln tactfully suggests to the new governor of the freshly freed state of Louisiana, Michael Hahn, that Hahn might grant suffrage for blacks who either fought for the Union or were "very intelligent." This proposal was a very elegant compromise between those who did not want suffrage for blacks and those who did; it also ensured that Lincoln, right before an election, didn't rock the boat too much.
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Edgar Allan Poe Details His Literary Life and Says "The Raven and "The Valdemar Case" Are His Best Work
April 16, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 458
Poe discusses literary merit and the business of publishing; identifies "The Raven" and "The Valdemar Case" as his best work.
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30-Year-Old Theodore Roosevelt Declares His Affinity for the West, and His Identification with its Heroes
February 25, 1888
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 464
Researching his history about the conquest of the North American frontier, Roosevelt writes to the president of the Tennessee Historical Society, declaring his affinity for, and identification with, such great Tennesseans as John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Clark, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Sam Houston.
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Theodore Roosevelt Decries the Deprivations Suffered by His Rough Riders After Battle of San Juan Hill
July 19, 1898
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 465
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt writes to the father of one of his soldiers who was taken ill with typhoid fever. He thanks the father for his offer to send some food to the soldiers but condemns the government for not providing enough food, supplies, and medical treatment to his cavalry.
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FDR's 1938 Plan to Settle Jewish and "White" Refugees in the Unexplored Highlands of Venezuela
June 3, 1938
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 473
In 1938, Franklin Delano Roosevelt remarks, in the strictest privacy, that "in the crowded state of affairs in some nations in Europe and in certain areas of the United States, existing situations could be relieved by a small but fairly constant stream of emigrants to the unoccupied parts of the world." FDR is referring here to not only "white" refugees, but to European Jews as well.
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Mourning Daughter Susy, Mark Twain Describes His Family Life as Adrift, Indifferent, and Derelict
January 19, 1897
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 484
Mark Twain describes the listlessness of his family life since the sudden death of his daughter Susy. Whereas once they had a charted course, now they are adrift. And what is more, they are "derelict" and indifferent to their plight.
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Contemporary Copy of Chase's Letter to Abraham Lincoln in Support of General Hunter's Emancipation Order
May 16, 1862
Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 501
Salomon P. Chase, President Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, was the most ardent abolitionist in Lincoln's cabinet. Here, he praises General Hunter's declaration of emancipation of all slaves in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
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Ronald Reagan Offers Ethel Kennedy His Help as Robert F. Kennedy, Shot in Los Angeles, Lay Dying
June 5, 1968
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 502
In this telegram, Ronald Reagan, a political opponent of Robert F. Kennedy, sets aside partisanship and offers Ethel Kennedy assistance.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 508
David Ben Gurion places responsibility for peace with the Egyptians at their feet, but also remarks that "a great deal depends on Russia."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 517
In this short sketch of his public career, Johnson recounts his various elective offices, and suggests additional published sources of his “humble history."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 518
President Andrew Jackson describes himself as"very lonesome" in the White House. Though he was surrounded by many family members, it his his wife, Rachel, whom Jackson desperately misses.
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Life's Lessons: John F. Kennedy Advises a College Student What Classes to Take for a Life in Politics
August 2, 1954
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 522
John F. Kennedy, then a senator, is asked what he recommends as a course of study for a young person wishing to enter politics. In addition to recommending joining a campaign for practical knowledge, Kennedy says he feels that a "thorough knowledge of English is most essential," followed by the obvious choice of law for postgraduate studies.
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John F. Kennedy: National Security and Future of the Space Program Depend on Ending Labor Strife Delays
May 16, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 523
John F. Kennedy views the delays with the labor unions as a threat to not only the space program, but to national security. He urges Arthur Goldberg, the Secretary of Labor, to come to a swift arrangement with union leaders in order to resume the space race against the Soviets.
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Early John F. Kennedy Letter About the Death of His Brother Joe, Which Would Propel Him Into Politics
September 1, 1944
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 524
This letter thanking Miss Forbush for her condolences and prayers on the occasion of Joe Jr.'s death in World War II marks the beginning of John F. Kennedy's shouldering the mantle of his father's political aspirations.
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Abraham Lincoln Comforts His Campaign Manager After Losing the Senate Race: "And This Too Shall Pass"
November 16, 1858
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 527
Following his defeat in the 1858 Senate contest, Lincoln writes to his campaign manager: “You are feeling badly - 'And this too shall pass away' - Never fear." The phrase came from an Eastern folktale attributed to King Solomon. Judd's disappointment would indeed soon pass away: within 6 weeks Lincoln would be proposed as a presidential candidate in the 1860 election.
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Abraham Lincoln Explains Why He Supports Zachary Taylor For President in 1848: Political Pragmatism
April 10, 1848
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 532
Though an ardent supporter of Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln explains why he supporting Zachary Taylor in the upcoming election. Not because he would make a better president than Clay, but because "he would make a better one than Polk, or Cass, or Buchanan, or any such creatures, one of whom is sure to be elected, if he is not." In short, Lincoln was being politically pragmatic.
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Abraham Lincoln, Noting "We Have Not Yet Appointed a Hebrew," Names C.M. Levy an Assistant Quartermaster
November 4, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 533
Here President Lincoln makes an historic appointment for primarily political purpose. Mindful of the support that Jews, flocking to the Republican Party, had given him, Lincoln was clearly eager to repay the favor.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 538
Rabbi Sabato Morais of Congregation Mikve Israel sends his congregation's contribution to the Lincoln Memorial to be built in Washington. The synagogue was part of an appeal to all religious institutions in Philadelphia, and Morais, who revered Lincoln, was proud to report to the city's mayor that his congregation had raised $300.
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Edward Robinson Writes to His Publisher to Inquire About His "Biblical Researches in Palestine"
October 12, 1840
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 545
Edward Robinson, eager to sail home to America, inquires with his publisher as to the progress of his manuscript for Biblical Researches in Palestine. His work would be the cornerstone and genesis of biblical archaeology.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 547
Here, in print, Theodore Roosevelt appropriates the word "bully" to use as a commendation.
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Theodore Roosevelt on Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "One of the Great Classics of Human Eloquence"
December 29, 1908
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 548
Theodore Roosevelt accepts compliments on his address for the upcoming cornerstone ceremonies of the Lincoln birthplace, and is grateful that his words are not printed alongside the immortal Gettysburg address.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 550
Writing a fortnight after the death of his favorite son, Quentin, Theodore Roosevelt admits his difficulty, and remarks that "the old should not live when the young die."
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James Garfield on Assassination: "It Can No More Be Guarded Against Than Death By Lightning"
November 16, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 556
Though he is reviewing the "usual number of threatening letters on that subject," President-Elect James Garfield does not think that assassination is anything to worry about, as it cannot be prevented. He was shot in the back twice by Charles Guiteau eight months later.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 560
Many Americans were self conscious that the White House stood in a barren field. Adams said the view was romantic, though the house sat in the wilderness. To Jefferson, the White House was actually a "pleasant country residence."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 566
Shortly after having been part of the Union loss at the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln, in an effort to encourage the troops, promotes Sherman to General. Sherman would devastate the South and ensure Union victory three years later.
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Theodore Roosevelt Comments On, and Then Annotates, a Manuscript Detailing the Attempt Made on His Life
February 5, 1913
Typed Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 258
Theodore Roosevelt comments on a manuscript detailing, step by step and minute by minute, the assassination attempt made on his life on October 14, 1912.
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William Tecumseh Sherman Vents Anti-Semitic Prejudices, Discusses Runaway Slaves, & Sketches Total War
November 2, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 259
Writing during the war, Sherman casually blames smuggling and theft on Jews. Additionally, he depicts the hatred of the Southern population towards the North, justifying, presumably, his harsh conduct of war.
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Secretary of War William H. Taft Reports That San Francisco is Almost Destroyed in the Earthquake
April 18, 1906
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 261
Secretary of War Taft writes this missive primarily about the administration of the Philippines, and expresses concern for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, James Francis Smith, whom he knew to be in San Francisco during the earthquake. The scale of the damage was as yet unclear, and Taft reports that the city was almost destroyed, and since telegraph wires are down, "we are in the dark."
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Rare William Howard Taft Autograph Letter as President: He's Happy to Meet After His Daily (Golf) Game
December 3, 1911
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 262
With this rare autograph letter as President, Taft announces he will play golf with his beloved military aide, Archie Butt, in the morning, and will be glad to meet with his correspondent, just after lunch.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 281
Samuel Clemens writes to his daughter Jean about the new house, "Innocence at Home," President Grover Cleveland's morality and abilities, and the doctor's orders for her epilepsy.
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Mark Twain, on the Heroic Writing, and Fantastic Success, of Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs
February 3, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 282
Samuel Clemens encloses a copy of General Grant's memoirs, calling them "the most admirably simple, direct, and unpretentious story that was ever put on paper by a supremely great man."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 283
Writing shortly after the death of his friend, General Grant, Twain muses on the nature of legacy. He agrees with his correspondent that monuments to Grant will one day crumble though his reputation will live on. Twain then moves on to discuss the longevity of cities, and even touches on the issue of the origin debates, still being hotly debated in that year, 1885.
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General Custer Gives an Order to His Loyal Adjutant Cooke, Who Would Die Next to Him at Little Bighorn
December 12, 1874
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 289
This order to Cooke concerns another 7th Cavalry regular who also rode with Custer – though not as a friend. Major Lewis Merrill, with whom Custer had numerous run-ins, is alleged here to have taken some instruments belonging to the 7th Cavalry band: Cooke is tasked with making sense of what happened.
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Libbie Custer Makes a Secret Plea to Aid the Widows of Captain Yates, Lt. Calhoun, and Enlisted Men
October 8, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 291
In order to maintain their dignity, Libbie Custer secretly petitions for funds for the widows and children of fallen soldiers at Little Bighorn.
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Prime Minister Winston Churchill on Orde Wingate: A Man of Genius Who Might Have Become a Man of Destiny
September 10, 1944
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 293
On his way to the second Quebec conference, Winston Churchill remembers that a year ago, he, Orde, and Lorna Wingate were on their way to the first conference. Churchill offers his condolences to the newly-widowed Lorna.
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Winston Churchill Thanks Ormsby-Gore for Accepting Post to the Permanent Mandates Commission
February 24, 1921
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 294
Winston Churchill Thanks Pro-Zionist Ormsby-Gore for Accepting Post to the Permanent Mandates Commission Responsible for Palestine.
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From Prison, a Defiant Alfred Dreyfus Writes to his Family Swearing to Clear His Name
January 14, 1895
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 295
Alfred Dreyfus writes to his family from prison, and attempts to lead his family by example by keeping his head held high and not weakening in the fight to clear his name from the stain of treason.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 298
Thomas Edison says he cannot complete the megaphone, as he is in the midst of working on the light bulb; that same day, however, the light bulb would be burning successfully.
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Letter From Gettysburg Battlefield, July 4th, 1863: Union Soldier Hopes "This Battle Will End the War"
July 4, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 299
Writing to his mother on the fourth of July, Private Strouss tells his her that he is alive, unharmed, and although unsure who has won, he hopes that "this Battle will end the war" so that he may return home.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 302
Ben-Gurion claims that as long as the USA and the USSR fight the Cold War by proxy in the Middle East - by arming Arab countries - there will be no peace in the region, and Israel will have to continuously fight for its survival.
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John Wilkes Booth Writes to John Ford to Arrange His Performance in a Play Which Lincoln Was to Attend
September 17, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 304
Though this was not the play at which John Wilkes Booth would jump from the stage and assassinate President Lincoln, here, a year and a half before he would do so, Booth writes to John Ford in order to arrange his performance at the latter's theatre for a play which Lincoln was to attend.
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Major Archibald Butt, Military Aide to Roosevelt and Taft, Writes the Day Before Boarding the Titanic
April 9, 1912
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 305
Archibald Butt enquires about a refund for train travel, instructing the refund be sent care of the White House. Butt, in Europe to restore his health, would board the Titanic home to the United States the next day. He was last seen standing on the sinking deck with John Jacob Astor.
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Jewish General Edward S. Salomon Accepts an Invitation to Meet With His Old Comrades-in-Arms
January 28, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 308
Edward S. Salomon was a hero of Gettysburg and Atlanta, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming a Brigadier General. He commanded a Jewish regiment, the 82nd Illinois, and here accepts an invitation "to meet the officers of the late Army of the Cumberland."
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Einstein on the Tragedy of Herzl's Son: "A Warning to All Jews Against Defection From Their People"
September 8, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 311
Albert Einstein comments that the tragic story of Theodor Herzl's children "constitutes a warning to all Jews against defection from their people," and gives permission to the author of a forthcoming book about Herzl to use Einstein's remark for PR.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 312
This handwritten letter conveys President Eisenhower’s best wishes to the Board of Trustees of the Utica Public Library, and to all the visitors to that fine institution.
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In 1936, As Hitler Closes In, Freud Acts to Help a Colleague's Son Who Has Been Charged With High Treason
November 8, 1936
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 314
Sigmund Freud writes to support his friend Paul Federn, whose anti-fascist son has been arrested for the second time for high treason in Austria. Freud had previously lent his friend 3000 francs and insists that he accept the additional 2000 enclosed in the letter.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 315
Garfield, who would be shot and mortally wounded in July 1881, really only fully functioned as Chief Executive for four months; as a result, his autograph letters in office are very scarce.
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Warren G. Harding Thanks a Young Girl for a Four-Leaf Clover, Just as His Luck was Running Out
June 14, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 324
In June of 1923, a young girl named Vivian Little sent President Warren G. Harding a pressed four-leaf clover for good luck. Ironically, that month would bring the worst luck yet for the President; the scandals he was involved in were beginning to surface, and his heart disease would take his life within two months.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 328
Former President Herbert Hoover expresses his preference for typewritten letters for the sake of efficiency, but since "the typewriter is a poor method of conveying emotion," he handwrites this letter in order to "convey more than usual wishes of a happy and prosperous New Year."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 330
Writing to a minister's wife who was horrified by the 1929 anti-Jewish Hebron massacre in Palestine, President Herbert Hoover responds coolly to her "interesting observations."
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Beset By an Ally-Turned-Detractor, Theodor Herzl Says It's a "Miracle" He Hasn't Become an Antisemite
March 6, 1899
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 331
Theodor Herzl asks Ulla Wolff how much she wishes to be paid for her article in his newspaper Die Welt, insisting that frankness is the best way to avoid awkwardness between friends. He goes on to be even more candid, and describes his acrimonious split with one-time editor of the newspaper, Saul Raphael Landau, writing that it is a "miracle from God" that Herzl himself hasn't become an antisemite.
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Sen. John F. Kennedy Declines McCarthyite Alvin Owsley's Invitation to Visit Texas; Invites Him to Lunch
November 11, 1953
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 340
Kennedy’s letter to Alvin Owsley, addressed to him in Dallas, is dated almost ten years to the day on which he would make his ill-fated trip to that city as president. In a sad twist, Kennedy concludes the letter with the hope that he will be able to see Owsley during "one of my visits to Texas on another occasion."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 341
Ahead of his trip to Ireland, President Kennedy reassures his close friend Dot Tubridy that she will be included in all presidential functions.
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President John F. Kennedy On His Historic Trip to Ireland: "It Couldn't Have Been Better. We Loved It."
July 9, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 342
John F. Kennedy writes to his close friend Dot Tubridy to tell her how much he enjoyed his trip to Ireland and seeing her.
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In 1942, Ensign J.F. Kennedy Requests Sea Duty on a PT Vessel: "Recommendation Approved"
June 26, 1942
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 343
This document sent John F. Kennedy to sea during World War II, where he would become a celebrated hero after his boat sunk, and he swam three miles to shore dragging a shipmate to safety with his lifejacket between his teeth.
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President Kennedy Sends General Maxwell Taylor to South Vietnam to Appraise the Situation
October 13, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 344
Under pressure to send US ground troops to Vietnam, President John F. Kennedy plays for time by sending General Maxwell Taylor to South Vietnam to appraise the situation. Kennedy reminds Taylor that the "initial responsibility for the effective maintenance of the independence of South Viet-Nam rests with the people and government of that country."
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Abraham Lincoln's Famous Civil War Condolence Letter to Young Fanny McCullough About Loss and Memory
December 23, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 346
Written to Fanny McCullough on the loss of her father, Abraham Lincoln makes a very rare reference to his mother's death when he was a boy. Lincoln, too, was dealing with more recent grief, having buried his son earlier that year. This letter was written a week after the battle of Fredericksburg, which claimed the lives of over 1500 men, including Fanny's father.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 347
Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, pleaded with Lincoln not to go to Petersburg because of great personal risk to the President. Lincoln responds that he had already been to Petersburg with Grant, and plans to go to Richmond, newly fallen, as well. He assures Stanton that he will take care of himself.
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"Occident" Subscriber Begs Rabbi Leeser to Write Abraham Lincoln and Convince Him to Stop the Civil War
May 22, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 349
A subscriber of Leeser's periodical The Occident beseeches the publicly neutral Leeser to intervene with President Lincoln in order to end the Civil War.
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Rare Abraham Lincoln Letter to His Dear Friend Abraham Jonas - He is "Hobbled" by a Troublesome Nephew
October 21, 1856
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 350
Abraham Lincoln makes an extremely rare allusion, by way of a none-too-kind pun, to an intimate family problem. Lincoln cannot come to Quincy to speak on behalf of the Republican ticket, because he is working day and night to keep his wayward, crippled step-nephew out of jail. His nephew was the source of a considerable amount of trouble for Lincoln, and here he refers to it in code, for Jonas alone to understand.
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Abraham Lincoln Arranges for the Anonymous Publication of His Famous Poem "My Childhood Home I See Again"
February 25, 1847
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 353
To minimize the risk of ridicule, Congressman-Elect Abraham Lincoln asks fellow lawyer, Andrew Johnston, to publish his poem about the publication his poem anonymously in the Quincy Whig.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 356
President Lincoln hand-writes every component of a letter of thanks to Jewish civic leader L.J. Lieberman thanking him on behalf of Messrs. Rockhill and Wilson, clothiers, who had donated a suit tailored to the President's measurements to the Great Sanitary Fair in Philadelphia in June of 1864.
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Abraham Lincoln Sends His Autograph as a Favor to His Jewish Friend Sigismund Kaufmann
December 24, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 357
Sigismund Kaufmann, a prominent Jewish-German, was a friend of President Lincoln, and had amassed the support of New York's German Jews in favor of Lincoln. He had requested Lincoln's autograph, and the president happily obliged.
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President Harry Truman Defends Atomic Bombing of Japan as "the Only Language" a "Beast" Can Understand
August 11, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 367
Harry Truman defends his use of the atomic bomb, reasoning that the only language the Japanese understand is that of extreme force.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 369
Harry Truman had eventually been won over by the young John F. Kennedy, whom Truman regarded as young, inexperienced, and up for office because his father bought him the vote. Writing about the election of the first Catholic president, Truman claims that it makes no difference what one's religious affiliation is, as long as the Constitution is defended.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 108
Nelson jubilantly reports that the French are being pushed back from Acre and from Zante (Greece), pleased at Napoleon "the villain's" ignominious end.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 110
Primarily discussing his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," T.E. Lawrence confides in Brig. General Sir Gilbert Falkingham Clayton that no person of any "race or creed" living in Palestine trusts the British for "more than two minutes." If they would, he ruefully comments, "things would be more stable there."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 111
T.E. Lawrence writes to his superior at the Arab Bureau, General Clayton, to ask if he should send a letter he wrote to Sir Mark Sykes, the man responsible for divvying up the Middle East between the English and the French. Here, Lawrence mentions to Clayton that the "Jewish section" should be cleared up, and when they fight the French, the French section will fall into English hands, as well.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 112
Here, Charles Gordon, writing to friend and fellow explorer, Sir Samuel Baker, is positive of the location of not only Calvary, but of other archaeological sites purporting to be of biblical significance, though disputed, by his own admission.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 113
Charles Gordon reveals that he will be going to Palestine. There, he will fulfill a cherished ambition, searching to establish authoritatively the locations of the site of the crucifixion, the line of division between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, the identification of Gibeon, and the whereabouts of Christ’s tomb.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 116
President McKinley's secretary, George Cortelyou thanks the Mayor of San Francisco on behalf of the McKinleys for all the help they received when Mrs. McKinley had taken ill out West.
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Mark Twain Names His Lecture Tour About Holy Land Trip: "The American Vandal Abroad"
October 7, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 117
Twain's use of the title, The American Vandal Abroad – a play on The Innocents Abroad - suggests that perhaps American tourists to the Holy Land weren't always so innocent. Twain recorded, aghast, how these religious pilgrims sliced off souvenirs from venerable biblical sites in Palestine.
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Mark Twain to French Jewish Writer Marcel Schwob: "I Do Commit Crimes, But They Are Not of This Grade"
November 4, 1888
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 118
Here Twain denounces a French translation of a story he did not write, pronouncing it a "singularly unpleasant production." He assures Schwob that he has been deceived: "I do commit crimes," he writes, "but they are not of this grade."
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"The American Historian of Joan of Arc Makes His Best Compliments," But Unable to Meet French Ambassador
October 23, 1902
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 120
Samuel Clemens, speaking in third person, referring to himself as "the American historian of Joan of Arc," regretfully declines an invitation to meet the French ambassador. He signs the letter as "Mark," though he also refers to himself as Clemens.
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Ulysses S. Grant Says Mark Twain Has Offered Him "More Favorable Terms" To Publish His Memoirs
November 23, 1884
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 121
Here, Grant reports to his friend and advisor, George Childs, that he’s soured on the Century deal, and is being wooed by Twain’s own publishing firm, Charles L. Webster & Co.
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Rutherford B. Hayes Responds to Lincoln's Assassination: Now He is "The Darling of History"
April 15, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 124
On the day Lincoln died, General Rutherford B. Hayes wrote that Abraham Lincoln would ever be remembered as the "darling of history."
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Custer: "Libbie Bacon is the Fortunate, or Unfortunate Person...Who Will Unite Her Destinies With Mine."
December 19, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 126
General Custer writes to his friend, Judge Christiancy, to share with him a secret: He will be returning to Monroe, Michigan in a few months to be married. Inadvertently foreshadowing his death and Libbie's misfortune, Custer jokingly tells Christiancy that Libbie, who would "unite her destinies" with Custer's, is "fortunate, or unfortunate."
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"Doomed to the Gallows" By Public Opinion, James Buchanan Says History Will Vindicate Him
May 8, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 127
Despite being condemned by the Chief Justice and public opinion, Buchanan, unwaveringly trusts in the words of his Secretary of War, James Holt, who wrote that Buchanan's "labors will yet be crowned by the glory that belongs to an enlightened Statesmanship & to an unsullied patriotism."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 128
In Washington, President Woodrow Wilson, writing on the letterhead of his Cornish, N.H. estate at Harlakenden, reports to his daughters, whom he left behind in Cornish, that the White House is the most "empty and forlorn" house imaginable.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 131
President Lyndon B. Johnson's letter of condolence to the parents of Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut who died in the Apollo I fire.
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Former President William Howard Taft Rejoices in Averting Another Run: "I Have Served My Time"
November 19, 1919
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 134
William Howard Taft is relieved to finally be a private citizen and does not seek to be reelected to the office of the presidency.
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In 1851, Rabbi Gotthelf's Louisville Congregation Votes to Send $100 Per Year for Jerusalem's Poor
July 17, 1851
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 137
Rabbi Gotthelf, the first spiritual leader of the Louisville synagogue of Adas Israel, tells Isaac Leeser, the editor of The Occident, that his congregation has pledged to donate $100 a year to Jerusalem's poor.
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Jack London, Hit Hard By the San Francisco Earthquake, Concentrates on Building His Yacht, "The Snark"
May 15, 1906
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 140
The San Francisco earthquake, just three weeks before, has nearly wiped London out, and he hasn't, he says here, the funds to invest in an improved gas stove; his priority is building "the Snark, " with which he will circumnavigate the globe.
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Abraham Lincoln: He'll Speak Where it will do Good - Not as a Compliment to Himself
October 29, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 141
Abraham Lincoln, determined to speak out against slavery wherever helpful, instructs the editor of the Carlinville Whig paper not to introduce Lincoln as "merely a compliment to me," for he'd rather save everyone the bother, unless "it promises some good."
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John Wilkes Booth Letter, Written Eight Weeks Before Lincoln's Assassination, Mentions Ford's Theatre
February 9, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 142
John Wilkes Booth writes to his friend to request that he send his card photographs to an address in New York City. After that, he shall collect his mail at Ford's Theatre. Ironically, the cards that Booth has sent for, his "favorite" photo of himself, later became the image on the wanted poster associated with the assassination of President Lincoln.
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On the Day of President McKinley's Death, Asst. Secretary of State Cridler Writes of His Horror and Fury
September 14, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 143
Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Wilbur Cridler expresses his anguish at President McKinley's death, and his rage at the assassin. Cridler, as a religious Christian, expresses difficulty conceiving of why God would allow this tragedy to happen.
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At the behest of President Lincoln, General Grant Decline's Lee's Suggestion of Armistice Negotiations
March 4, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 147
General Grant obediently replies to Secretary of War Edward Stanton with repeated crossed out protestations that he was not trying to usurp any authority. He had previously written to Stanton to ask if he could accept General Lee's invitation to negotiate an armistice, and had received a rebuke from President Lincoln himself.
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Benjamin Mordecai, Jewish Benefactor of Confederate Cause Honored by the Famed Palmetto Riflemen
January 12, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 148
Benjamin Mordecai graciously responds to the soldiers of the Palmetto Riflemen, who had thanked him for his donation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 150
Ronald Reagan denounces socialism to a correspondent abroad, and makes special mention of the atrocities committed by the socialism of the Soviets and the Germans during World War II. Reagan mentions that the Soviets held back whilst the Nazis slaughtered the Polish freedom fighters who were mostly, he mistakenly claims, Jews from the Ghetto.
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President Harry Truman Says "It Will Be a Relief to Get Out of Washington" At the End of His Term
January 9, 1953
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 154
As Truman winds down his time in the White House, he confides to the mother of one of his best staffers that "it will be a relief to get out of Washington."
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Congressman Lincoln Praises Future Vice President of Confederacy for his Opposition to the Mexican War
February 2, 1848
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 161
In 1848, Abraham Lincoln and Alexander H. Stephens were both Whig supporters of Henry Polk, and ardently against the Mexican War. Here, Lincoln praises Stephens. Thirteen years after their short-lived alliance, the country was embroiled in a civil war; Lincoln was President of the United States, and Stephens Vice President of the Confederacy.
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In Refusing a Parole, Lincoln Notes That Federal Prisoners Are Being "Frozen and Starved" in Libby Prison
March 3, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 162
Here, Lincoln replies to a request from his wife Mary’s cousin, Lyman Todd, that he cannot "enlarge on parole" a Colonel Smith. Such a thing would set a precedent, he says, upon which nearly all the prisoners held by the Union might act – and this, in the face of how the Confederacy was treating Federal prisoners, is completely unacceptable.
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Union Soldier After Gettysburg: "We Will Whip Lee's Army So That He Will Not be Fit to Do Anything More"
July 6, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 168
A letter from a Union soldier to his family after the battle of Gettysburg. He lists missing soldiers, and reports the numbers of dead, wounded, and missing.
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Rabbi Arnold Fischel Writes to Rabbi Sabato Morais About a Lecture on International Jewry
June, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 170
Rabbi Arnold Fischer, the Dutch Ashkenazi leader of the Portuguese Sephardi synagogue in New York writes to the Italian rabbi of the Sephardi synagogue in Philadelphia, Rabbi Sabato Morais to ask him for information about Jewish life in Italy for his colleague, Raphael de Cordova, a Jew from Jamaica, who was preparing a lecture about Jewish life around the world.
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Woodrow Wilson Suspends His Campaign on Account of Theodore Roosevelt Assassination Attempt
October 24, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 172
Here, Governor Wilson tells a political operative that he wishes with all his heart that it were possible for him to address a noonday meeting near the Borough Hall as suggested, but cannot. Wilson resumed his campaign when Roosevelt was discharged from hospital, and went on to win the election.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 177
Ebert Martin, Theodore Roosevelt's assistant, jumped on Roosevelt's would-be-assassin and wrestled him to the ground. Here he reports from Roosevelt's hospital room that the candidate is improving.
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Calling Himself a "Wandering Jew" Chaim Weizmann Dreams of a Jewish University "Of Our Own" In Jerusalem
July 18, 1906
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 178
Chaim Weizmann, who was instrumental in establishing the Hebrew University, writes here of how it would be a "dream" to receive a degree from a Jewish University "of our own," imagining a graduation ceremony atop Mt. Zion.
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Jewish Confederates: Letter Regarding Benjamin Mordecai's Support of a Commission for Jacob Valentine
February 1, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 181
The secretary to the governor of South Carolina assures Charleston native Benjamin Mordecai that Jacob Valentine would be considered for a commission in service to the state. Mordecai had made possible South Carolina's secession from the Union with a generous donation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 184
Thomas Cooke thanks a member of the clergy for a testimonial of his tour, and asks if any corrections are necessary.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 189
David Ben-Gurion recalls Dwight D. Eisenhower as a "lovely person," who wanted to help the Jews immediately after World War II, but was prevented from doing so by the British Foreign Office and the American State Department.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 190
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Typed Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 194
President Lyndon B. Johnson writes to Dr. Max Nussbaum, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, to add his congratulations to Sir Winston Churchill on receiving the Theodor Herzl award for his contributions to the Zionist cause.
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Theodor Herzl, Hurt and Frustrated, Considers Quitting-in 1896, the First Year of the Zionist Movement
October 19, 1896
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 195
Herzl requests from the Lemberg Zionists a copy of a letter in which he reputedly said that an English millionaire was willing to sacrifice 150 million guilders – a "gross distortion or silly misunderstanding" of what he actually said. He is also hurt by the tone in which he was discussed in this connection - so much so, in fact, that he is considering resigning from the Zionist movement.
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Abraham Lincoln Biographer Ida Tarbell Praises Isaac Markens's "Abraham Lincoln and the Jews"
March 24, 1913
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 198
Here, Ida Tarbell, renowned for her biography of Abraham Lincoln, salutes Isaac Markens, whose seminal study of Lincoln and the Jews pioneered the genre in Lincoln literature.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 213
Abraham Lincoln writes this letter mostly in what he imagines to be Stephen Douglas's inner monologue. Lincoln minces no words in accusing Douglas of stirring up a debate on the subject of temperance in Illinois in order to divide the Republican party and get himself elected to the state Senate.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 229
Two months before Lincoln's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln invites some of Washington's most famous socialites to Ford's Theatre to watch the brother-in-law of John Wilkes Booth perform.
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Hugh McCulloch Confides That He Would Reluctantly Accept an Appointment as Treasury Secretary
February 16, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 231
Hugh McCullough confides in House Speaker Schuyler Colfax that should President Lincoln offer him the position of Treasury Secretary, he'd accept with "extreme reluctance." Ironically, McCullough wasn't Lincoln's first choice, either. Sadly, McCullough shone in the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination by stabilizing the markets.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 235
Max Nordau co-founded the World Zionist Congress with Theodor Herzl, and was his psychiatrist and friend. Here, still reeling from Herzl's death, thanks an American journalist for not only writing an article about Herzl, but also for his kind depiction of Nordau in the article.
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The Ultimate Presidential Rarity: An Autographed Letter of the Sick, Soon to Die, William Henry Harrison
March 10, 1841
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1558
One of three autographed letters in existence by President William Henry Harrison. The bedridden president confesses that he is "so much harassed by the multitude that call upon me that I can give no proper attention to any business of my own."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1575
Young Mark Twain, during his four month stint in Hawaii, makes plans to see Haleakala, a volcano on Maui.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1552
Though Lincoln had almost no experience in government, his new Republican party swept to victory in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in the Congressional elections of October 9th, and it looked, almost for a certainty, Lincoln writes here, "as if the Government is about to fall into our hands."
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Abraham Lincoln's Scarce Reference to Deaths of Mother and Sister, With Accompanying Poem About Memory
April 18, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1553
In all of Abraham Lincoln's surviving letters, he only mentions the death of his mother twice, and the loss of his sister once; both are mentioned here. Lincoln also includes a poem he wrote on the occasion of returning to his home state twenty years after he departed it.
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Lincoln is "Not in a Sentimental Mood" Having Heard Reports of the Bloody Battle of the Wilderness
May 7, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1554
After just having heard that the union lost 1776 men in the Battle of the Wilderness, amongst other bad news, Lincoln was asked to give a sentiment for an autograph collector, Lincoln replied "I would give a sentiment, but just now I am not in a sentimental mood."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1468
President Gerald Ford admires Lincoln more than anyone because of his "honesty, integrity and utmost dedication to the American people," and his willingness to confront slavery.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1447
President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961. This letter from him wishes the Peace Corps volunteer good luck on the upcoming entrance exams.
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Vice President Johnson Quotes JFK's Famous "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You" Challenge
June 29, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1454
In thanking a lawyer for contributing a thoughtful report on business investment, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson misquotes John F. Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you" inaugural challenge.
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Lyndon B. Johnson Writes to the Parents of Astronaut Gus Grissom, Killed in the Apollo I Fire
January 31, 1967
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1459
President Johnson loved the Space Program; loved the astronauts; loved awarding Gus Grissom NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, for being the first American to fly into space twice. Burying Grissom, and his comrades, was a bitter responsibility – which he followed, still, with personal letters of condolence.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1462
Though Harry Truman called Richard Nixon a lying bastard, Nixon writes to Truman's nephew (and namesake) and tells him their differences were not personal, and that he should be proud of his heritage.
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Six Months After His Resignation, a Rare Richard Nixon Comment on Watergate: He Took One for the Team
February 3, 1975
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1463
Nixon implies that his resignation of the presidency was done in part to ensure the political survival of associates and supporters.
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Reagan Promises To Work for Foe Nixon in '68 : "We Haven't Too Many More Chances in This Land of Ours"
August 22, 1968
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1473
Ronald Reagan, who lost the Republican nomination to Nixon, promises to "beat his brains out" in supporting his former foe; the Republican party doesn't have "too many more chances."
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Ronald Reagan Describes Himself as a "Crier of Doom"– And Claims Not to Aspire To the Presidency
August 4, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1474
Ronald Reagan contends that America cannot survive another four years of Lyndon B. Johnson's administration's "aimlessness." He therefore calls himself a "crier of doom," as he vows to help enact political change.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1475
Governor Reagan responds to a man who sharply condemns his unwillingness to prevent the execution of a man convicted for killing a policeman. Despite the combative nature of the man's letter (also transcribed here), Reagan willingly engages the man in discussing the function and protocol of the judicial system in the context of capital punishment.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1476
Ronald Reagan's draft of a letter to a Vietnam serviceman expressing his gratitude for his and other soldiers' service. Reagan calls for both a policy and leadership change, alluding to Johnson's handling of the war.
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Reagan, Arguing for Capital Punishment, Discusses the Rabbinic Interpretation of the Sixth Commandment
April 20, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1477
Reagan corrects protestors of the death penalty who quote the Bible saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill," referring to capital punishment. According to the original Hebrew, Regan argues, the Bible commands one not to murder - the convicted was, himself, charged with murdering a police officer in the first degree. The Bible also calls for reciprocal justice, ie, "an eye for an eye."
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Ronald Reagan Declares that JFK Was Much More "Intelligent and Perceptive" Than President Johnson
June 2, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1478
Ronald Reagan admits that he doesn't know exactly what President Kennedy would have done with regards to the Vietnam War, though he is certain that JFK was more "intelligent and perceptive" than Johnson, whom he doesn't name directly.
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President Ronald Reagan, Burdened by Budget Crisis, Happily Escapes Washington for a Day
June 24, 1983
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1483
President Reagan, who was encountering great difficulty in having his budget passed in the Senate, enjoys a day in New Jersey, addressing the University of Seton Hall.
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President Ronald Reagan on Challenges: "The Best Days Are Always the Ones that Lie Ahead."
January 5, 1984
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1484
In this letter, Ronald Reagan demonstrates the optimism for which he became famous.
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Christa McAuliffe, a Teacher, Writes About Her Excitement Going Into Space on the Ill-Fated Challenger
August 16, 1985
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1508
Christa McAuliffe was the first civilian selected to join astronauts on a space mission. A school teacher, she was planning to give lessons from the spacecraft, to be broadcast live; she would show her students how astronauts ate, slept, and lived on the space shuttle. This letter, written five months before the tragic live broadcast explosion of the Challenger, reflects McAuliffe's enthusiasm for her mission.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1509
Explaining that "being assigned to any mission is relatively tentative and re-assignment is just the luck of the draw," Jarvis tells his correspondent that after being bumped, he has been assigned to the Challenger as a payload specialist.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1510
Dick Scobee writes that he hopes to be selected as a space shuttle astronaut. He eventually would become the commander of the ill-fated Challenger.
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Benjamin Harrison Names Solomon Hirsch Minister to Turkey, the Third Jew to Hold That Diplomatic Rank
May 15, 1889
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1531
Solomon Hirsch tops President Benjamin Harrison's list of diplomatic appointees. Harrison was indebted to the German-born Hirsch, who carried his home-state of Oregon as Republican.
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Newly Sworn-in Theodore Roosevelt Reacts with Foreboding: a Heavy and Painful Task Has Fallen Upon Him
September 14, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1541
Grief-stricken over the death of President William McKinley just hours before, newly sworn-in Theodore Roosevelt describes the task before him as both "heavy" and "painful."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1544
President Lincoln asks Major Ramsey on behalf of a widowed woman to find work for her two sons. "Wanting to work is so rare a merit, that it should be encouraged," Lincoln continued, echoing his own famous work ethic.
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Fresh From His Capture of Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant Reports From Gettysburg: "Meade Whipped Lee Badly"
July 10, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1545
General Ulysses S. Grant assures Major General Banks-whose army lay in siege around the Mississippi-with two pieces of news. The first is that he is sending reinforcements. The second is that Major General George Meade defeated General Lee, and was pursuing him.
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Lincoln Asks General Grant as a Friend, for a Favor: Find a Place for His Son, Robert, on His Staff
January 19, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1548
In order to broker a compromise between his wife, who had already buried two sons, and Robert Todd, who desperately wished to experience the war, Lincoln writes to Grant, not as President, but as a friend, asking him to find a place on his staff for Robert to serve. Lincoln asks merely for his son to be given a nominal rank and that Lincoln himself, and not the public, would furnish his necessary means.
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William T. Sherman Recalls His Trip to the Levant, and Teases His Lady Friend About Harem Life
January 20, 1890
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1587
William T. Sherman writes to Mary Audenried, teasingly warning her that travelling in the Middle East is especially hazardous to women, and that she could find herself in a harem. Sherman insists that western women are treated more as equals than women in the Levant.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1615
Replying to Mrs. Cleveland's letter thanking him for his stirring eulogies of her husband, President William Howard Taft reiterates his genuine respect for President Grover Cleveland as a man of courage and public duty.
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Secretary of Interior on Campaign to Stop German Annihilation of Jews -The Holocaust- During WWII
October 18, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1616
Letter from the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, inviting friends to join a campaign to end the German annihilation of the Jews of Europe.
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Grover Cleveland Complains of an Avalanche of Unwelcome Invitations, As He Plans a Pleasure Trip Out of Town
August 18, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1622
Grover Cleveland expresses his exasperation for the niceties and public appearances necessitated by being the President of the United States, and says he's as "cross as a bear."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1648
Justice Benjamin Cardozo thanks Emanuel Hertz for his pamphlets on Lincoln, "which are sure to interest" him.
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President Calvin Coolidge Writes to a Jewish American About the Book "Jewish Thoughts"
September 11, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1650
This brief letter documents a rare instance of Calvin Coolidge communicating with a Jewish American and, rarer still, about an aspect of Judaism: here he thanks Emanuel Hertz for a copy of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire’s popular work, A Book of Jewish Thoughts.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1653
Here, President Calvin Coolidge thanks Emanuel Hertz, the Lincoln scholar and Jewish activist, for his book on Lincoln, confiding that he "is always deeply interested" in Lincoln.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1654
President Herbert Hoover, addressing a Lincoln biographer, suggests that Lincoln's greatness was not in winning a war, but in his conduct and attitude in victory.
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William McKinley Invites Old Friend to Go with Him to His Gubernatorial Inauguration: "Don't fail me."
January 5, 1892
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1666
William McKinley urges his friend John Taylor and his wife to join him and his wife to travel together to McKinley's induction ceremony as Governor of Ohio. He would later call upon the same friends to accompany him to his inauguration as president.
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Olivia Clemens Quotes “Mr. Clemens” - Mark Twain - About a Phrase in “Following the Equator”
January 9, 1898
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1670
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1673
Mark Twain gently Emerson's prose as being like "gravel in the bread," while at the same time complimenting Laura Wright Benjamin on her husband, William Wright, whose nom de plume was Dan de Quille.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1676
James Buchanan, a confirmed bachelor, teasingly laments his "usual hard fate when ladies are the question" – having missed a social call – and comments on a pending marriage.
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Herzl Directs U.S. Zionists to Force McKinley to Protest Turkish Discrimination of Jews in Palestine
February 25, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1680
In 1900, the Ottoman Empire officially barred Jews from visiting the Holy Land. The Italian government immediately protested this violation of human rights, which distinguished between Jewish and Gentile Italian citizens. Here, Theodor Herzl aims to introduce the debate to Congress or Senate so that a country as powerful as the United States would emulate Italy's example, inspiring other countries to follow suit.
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Mark Twain Discovers His Newfound Celebrity Status Upon his Return from His "Quaker City" Voyage
December 13, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1681
Mark Twain only realizes that his correspondence from his travels have made him something of a celebrity writer upon his return.
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Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 1684
A long and flirtatious letter from the young bachelor Mark Twain to Emma Beach, primarily about their recently shared “Quaker City” excursion to Europe and the Holy Land. He discusses, amongst other things, a lecture he's been up all night writing, and how the photos taken of him in Egypt are a terrible likeness.
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Mark Twain's Last Day in New York Before Leaving on the "Quaker City," Spent Drinking With Writers
June 8, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1686
A letter written in the wee hours of the morning after an evening and night spent drinking. Twelve hours later, Twain would be aboard "The Quaker City."
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Mark Twain Promotes his "Quaker City" Roommate to His Publisher as a Promoter of The Innocents Abroad
December 28, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1687
Dan Slote, Mark Twain's roommate on the "Quaker City" voyage, has sold about 200 copies of The Innocents Abroad to his friends, and given away about a dozen more. He is very well-connected, and can sell more copies. Twain asks his publisher to supply Slote with about 50 more copies of the book at a 40% discount, to be paid after he's sold the books.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1688
Twain is asked by a correspondent for recommended reading. Here he lists his favorite books.
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Mark Twain Says He Cannot Deliver a "Light and Nonsensical Speech" While President Garfield is Dying
August 23, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1693
Mark Twain explains he cannot deliver a "light & nonsensical speech" while fatally wounded President Garfield is dying. Signed as Samuel Clemens.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1695
Mark Twain deflects the responsibility for offending a Madame Blanc, and blames her French lack of humor.
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Mark Twain Can't Remember Recent Things But Vividly Recalls His Hannibal Courier Co-Workers
January 17, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1699
Mark Twain declares that "recent names & things take no hold" on his "bald-headed memory; they slip-up & slide off" so he isn't sure about a Mrs. Brackett - but to the mention of names and things from thirty-five years ago, his memory is alert.
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Abraham Lincoln Declares He is Not a "Man of Great Learning, or a Very Extraordinary one in Any Respect"
October 13, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1701
Abraham Lincoln consents to having a law book dedicated to him, but begs "only that the inscription may be in modest terms, not representing me as a man of great learning, or a very extraordinary one in any respect."
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Mark Twain on the San Francisco Earthquake and a Picture He Cannot Get Out of His Mind
April 30, 1906
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1708
Though himself a writer, Mark Twain says that the picture of the San Francisco earthquake entitled "The Spirit of Humanity," expresses the tragedy of the earthquake in a way that words cannot.
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President-Elect Garfield Turns Down a Loan to Tide Him Over Until Assuming the Presidency
November 16, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1710
President-elect Garfield graciously turns down Edwards Pierrepont's offer of a loan to tide Garfield over until he resumed the presidency and would earn $50,000 annually.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1738
This letter, written by David Rice Atchison, debunks the long-held erroneous idea that he acted as President of the United States for the 31 hours between the end of Polk's term and the beginning of Taylor's.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1740
President John F. Kennedy writes to eight-year-old Aine Tubridy to thank her for her picture of a painting he made of the Kennedy compound at Palm Beach, Florida.
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John Wild Bets the Black Hills Gold Rush - Set Off by Custer's Discovery of Gold There in 1864 - is a Bust
February 6, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1752
John Wild is willing to bet that those flocking to find fortune in the Black Hills "will be disappointed by going there."
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1759
Grant marvels at Egypt's antiquity, at "ruins that have been standing - as ruins - some of them, for many ages before the beginning of the Christian era." This causes Grant to find Egypt more interesting than any other place he has visited.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1767
Millard Fillmore accuses abolitionists of "destroying the Constitution" and attempting to "prevent a reunion of the states," in addition to "perverting this war into a war for emancipation."
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First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Two Weeks After McKinley's Death: "Life Does Not Seem Very Simple Just Now"
September 27, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1778
Two weeks after President McKinley's death and Theodore Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency, First Lady Edith Roosevelt thanks a friend in Boston for her warm wishes, and confides in her that "Life does not seem very simple just now."
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Albert Einstein Tells Cyril Clemens He Consents to Having a Street Named After Him - But That's All
March 25, 1939
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1781
Here Einstein responds to Mark Twain’s third cousin once removed, that he is willing to have a street named for him in Webster Groves, Missouri, but his health won't allow for him to attend the ceremony in order to deliver a speech.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1782
Einstein declines an invitation to join Weltstaatliga (World State League), explaining that he can no longer participate in German public endeavors after the genocide of the Jews.
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Albert Einstein Renounces German Citizenship;"I Will Not Be Returning to Germany, Perhaps Never Again"
March 28, 1933
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1792
Albert Einstein writes to his son from aboard the Belgenland, where he has learned that Hitler had given orders to ransack not only his Berlin apartment, but also his summer cottage. He decides whilst onboard to renounce his German citizenship, and tells his son that he will likely never return to Germany again.
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John F. Kennedy Letter, Post-Dated November 26, 1963, Signed Before He Left for Dallas
November 26, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2181
A letter from President Kennedy wishing Senator Dan Flood a happy birthday, dated November 26, 1963, four days after Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had signed the letter before leaving for Dallas.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2182
General Butler, discussing the arrest of two Jewish blockade-runners, displays his notorious anti-Semitism.
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Mary Surratt's Daughter Petitions Andrew Johnson for the Return of Her Mother's Remains
February 5, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2033
Mary Surratt was hanged as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. She was also the first woman executed by the United States government. Here, her daughter, Anna, successfully petitions President Andrew Johnson for the return of her body.
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President Millard Fillmore Acknowledges the Gift of "a Beautiful Picture of 'Ancient Jerusalem'"
June 17, 1852
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2034
The Unitarian President Fillmore thanks the Presbyterian Rev. Septimus Justin for "a beautiful picture of 'ancient Jerusalem.'" Although he has only had time to glance at it, the appears to him to be well-executed.
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On His First Day in Office, "Jack" Kennedy Thanks His Predecessor, Eisenhower, for a Smooth Transition
January 21, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2051
Masking his true feelings about his predecessor, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, and twenty-eight years Eisenhower's junior, thanks him for a smooth transition of power.
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General Custer Wants Brother Who Would Die With Him at Little Bighorn Appointed a Second Lieutenant
March 14, 1872
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2054
General Custer unsuccessfully requests that his youngest brother, Boston, be appointed second lieutenant in the Seventh Cavalry. Boston was not even admitted to the US army, due to his frail health. Custer ensured his brother was with him, and ultimately died with him, by appointing him as a scout.
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Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness Recalls Running to Fetch Dr. Liebermann Who Attended Lincoln's Deathbed
April 24, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 2388
Samuel Koontz ran to fetch the Russian-born Jewish Dr. Charles Henry Liebermann, who lived a scant two blocks from Ford's Theatre. The news that Liebermann was the first "important" doctor to attend Lincoln - discounting the gaggle of doctors (seven in all) from Ford's theatre - is significant. He was the first to treat him, owing to the distance between his house and the theatre.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2419
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Writing to Gideon Welles, Abraham Lincoln Attends to a Request From Jewish Congressman Leonard Myers
September 9, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2340
Republican Congressman Leonard Myers of Pennsylvania, renowned for his dedication to civil rights, wrote to President Abraham Lincoln not infrequently on behalf of those seeking an introduction, an appointment, or something to do with the machinations of war. Here, Lincoln writes to the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, that he wishes to accommodate Myers's request to appoint Charles R. Wilson to the Naval School.
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Republican Nominee Abraham Lincoln Mentions His Childhood Friends of Spencer County to Former Employer William Jones
June 18, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2342
Abraham Lincoln, returning to Indiana, says it would be rather nice to see his "old Spencer County friends."
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Teddy Roosevelt's Inauguration: TR Accepts a Gift For His 1905 Inauguration Day Suit
December 22, 1904
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2345
Theodore Roosevelt eagerly accepts the gift of a fine fabric with which to make his 1905 inauguration suit.
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Incredibly Rare Czolgosz Letter – 5 Weeks Before He Assassinated McKinley – as "Fred Nobody"
July 30, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1817
A rare and disjointed letter from Leon Czolgosz, ominously written in red ink, approximately five weeks before he would assassinate President William McKinley, signed as his alias, Fred C. Nieman.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1818
This 1889 letter to a book bindery owner in Philadelphia, thanking him for the gift of an olive wood box which he had made especially for the new President, is the earliest known example of a presidential typewritten letter.
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While "Driving Out" Indians From Little Bighorn, Custer Envisions the Mining Fortunes to be Made There
May 13, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1822
General Custer writes to his old classmates from Hopedale Normal College - which he attended before West Point - to tell them of the potential of a serious fortune made from their collaboration in mining in the Bighorn country.
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Abraham Lincoln Corrects His Presidential Salary Payment, Which Credits Him With Days Not Worked
April 5, 1861
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1848
Abraham Lincoln applies for his paycheck as President, and asks to be paid on the first of each month. He then realized that he started work on the fifth of the month, and immediately amends the request for the fifth of the month, lest he be paid for four days of work he did not complete.
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Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 1849
In Istanbul, Grant was struck by scenes of the refugees – many of them, Bulgarian Jews – who had fled the notoriously anti-Semitic Russian invaders during the just-concluded Russo-Turkish War. Grant also discusses the gift of an Arabian horse from the sultan and the logistics involved in shipping it back to the United States.
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Grover Cleveland, Recovering From Secret Cancer Surgery, Reports He is "Getting to be Quite a Drunkard"
December 17, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 1970
Recovering from his secret cancer surgery aboard a yacht a few months prior, Grover Cleveland reports to his physician and dear friend that he is having "a couple of drinks of whiskey a day, with very good results; and I smoke a cigar every day too."
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Former First Lady Frances Cleveland Reports Ailing Grover Cleveland is "Breaking Up Generally"
December 4, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2018
Although Grover Cleveland seems to be on the mend, with his "temperature, pulse & respiration" now normal, Frances Cleveland is still a bit distraught over her husband's slow recovery. He still has "trouble with his gut" and is perturbed that he's not gaining strength. It appears he's "breaking up generally." Cleveland would live for another seven years.
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Theodore Roosevelt Lambasts Woodrow Wilson for Refusing to Let Him Lead a Division in World War I
June 11, 1917
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2022
Fifty-nine year old, arthritic, overweight Theodore Roosevelt lambasts President Woodrow Wilson for refusing to allow him to lead a division in World War I, calling it Wilson's inability to "rise above the cheapest kind of party politics."
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President McKinley’s Secretary Cancels McKinley's Engagements "Owing to Mrs. McKinley's Serious Illness"
June 4, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1861
McKinley’s devoted secretary, George Cortelyou regrets to cancel President McKinley's appearance at Harvard University, "owing to Mrs. McKinley's serious illness."
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Titanic Postcard: Rare Postcard From the Titanic - Sent at Beginning of Voyage; Ship "A Peach," In NY "Next Tuesday"
April 11, 1912
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1893
Charlie Shorney writes to his father from the Titanic, telling him that the sea is calm, the ship is a "peach," and that he will be in New York next week. Charlie went down with the ship, and his body was never recovered.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1895
Just five days after Zola published “J’accuse!” in the French newspaper L’Aurore, Pissarro writes to say that he wishes his name added to “the protestation against the awful judgment of the court-martial” to be published, apparently, in that crusading paper.
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Reagan Worries That the Left Wants Conservatives in Concentration Camps and Says LBJ is a Bum
November 5, 1964
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1898
Two days after the crushing defeat of Barry Goldwater, Reagan takes stock of the nascent Conservative movement, speculates that the Left wants to see the Right in concentration camps, and gives vent to a rare burst of personal animosity: Lyndon Johnson, he declares, is a bum.
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President James Garfield's Assassin, Charles Guiteau, Convicted and in Jail, Declares He is Not a Lunatic
April 11, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1907
Here the disagreeable, disputatious, and insane assassin of President Garfield, Charles Guiteau, declares he is not a lunatic, and that the woman, his sister who raised him, and the brother-in-law who acted as his lawyer at his trial, are nuisances, with whom he, a convicted assassin awaiting execution in jail, wants nothing to do.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1914
Millard Fillmore loses the nomination but his party maintains the Compromise measures done in his term, which he considers a greater personal victory than the presidency.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1928
President William Henry Harrison's secretary, Henry Harrison, writes to his father, Benjamin Harrison, to inform him of the impending death of the President.
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Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, On Hearing that McKinley Has Been Shot, Wires For News
September, 1901
Autograph Telegram Signed
2 pages
SMC 1939
On the back of a railway timetable, Roosevelt writes the wire instructing the head of the facility in which McKinley was taken after being shot to keep Roosevelt appraised of the president's condition. On the other side of the page, a historian wrote Roosevelt's reaction to the news of McKinley's shooting, as well as his reaction to being told McKinley would survive.
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