Description
Presentation copy to President Theodore Roosevelt from his future Vice President, Charles W. Fairbanks, the first edition of One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of The Battle Of Monmouth, June 27, 1903.
Octavo, 16pp. Original brown paper wrappers, title printed on cover, bound at spine with string. Light wear to covers, internally clean. Housed in custom blue cloth clamshell, title in gilt over red morocco label on cover.
Inscribed on the title page: “To President Roosevelt / with the cordial regards of his friend / Charles W. Fairbanks.” An exceptional association copy. (Mansell Imprints, 14660) Not found in Theodore Roosevelt archives or listed in Sagamore Hill Library collection.
The celebration in Freehold, New Jersey on June 27, 1903, was attended by New Jersey Governor Franklin Murphy and Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks. Letters were read from President Theodore Roosevelt and former president Grover Cleveland. When Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency upon the death of William McKinley, the Constitution provided no mechanism to appoint a new vice president, leaving the seat open during Roosevelt’s first term.
Senator Fairbanks (1852-1918) was selected as his Vice President for the 1904 election, a nod to conservative factions of the Republican Party. Roosevelt and Fairbanks were not close, with Fairbanks actively working against his New Deal agenda. With the popularity of Roosevelt going into the 1908 election, he was free to choose his successor and named William H. Taft, bypassing his Vice President. Fairbanks retired from public life, except for an unsuccessful campaign in 1916 as Charles Evan Hughes vice-presidential nominee.
