With some diachronic image , the serious we can do is speculate about their innermost thoughts and opine what their lives might really have been like . WithTheodore Roosevelt , we do n’t have to . In increase to a number of books , the 26thU.S. presidentwrote speech , editorial , diary entries , and letters that document virtually every aspect of his ego - proclaimed strenuous living both in and out of theOval Office .
When it comes to letter , however , only read those written byRooseveltcan sometimes be like listening to one side of a telephone conversation . fortuitously , the Library of Congress have X of thousands of letters drop a line to Roosevelt , too — and they need your help transcribing them .
Thecollectionincludes correspondence from variousphasesof his career , covering his time as a Rough Rider in the Spanish - American War ; his stint asWilliam McKinley’svice chair ( and abrupt ascent to thepresidencywhen McKinley was assassinate ) ; his own political campaign and two - term administration ; and his employment as aconservationist . Overall , the letters reveal the sheer volume of requests Roosevelt got , from social engagements to political appointments and everything in between . In January 1902 , for model , Secretary of State John Haywroteto Roosevelt ( then Chief Executive ) on behalf of someone who “ [ want ] to be a Secretary to our Special Embassy in London . ” A little over a week later , The Gridiron Club “ [ bespeak ] the delight of the company of The President of the United States at dinner ” that weekend at the Arlington Hotel in Washington , D.C.
Of more than 55,000 document in the digital archive , about 12,000 have already been transcribe , and nearly 14,000 want to be reviewed . There are also approximately 24,000 pages that still have yet to be touched at all . If you ’d wish to fall in the effort , you could start transcribinghere .
