WOODROW WILSON As President he signed and dated this hardbound copy of his speech to a joint session of congress requesting a Declaration of War on Germany. Book signed: "Woodrow Wilson/1 August, 1920" as President on first flyleaf, 16 pages, 8x12¼, hardcover. Address of the President of the United States Delivered at a Joint Session of the Two Houses of Congress April 2, 1917, privately printed in 1918. The complete text of President Wilson's speech requesting that Congress declare war on Germany and her allies. On April 6, four days after Wilson delivered this "War Message", Congress overwhelmingly passed the War Resolution that brought the U.S. into WWI. In part: "The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them…. read more...

HERBERT HOOVER and his PRESIDENTIAL CABINET Posed 13x11 photo on the White House lawn, signed by the President, by Vice President Curtis, and all 10 of his Cabinet officers, matted and framed to 23x20. Photograph signed: "Patrick Hurley", "Charles Curtis", "Herbert Hoover", "He. Stimson", "A. W. Mellon", "R. P. Lamont", "Ray Lyman Wilbur", "Walter F. Brown", "William D. Mitchell", A. M. Hyde", "C. F. Adams" and "W. N. Doak". Sepia, 13x10½. Matted and framed to an overall size of 22½x20¼. Signed in order, front row first, in the lower margin. HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964) had never held elected office before winning landslide election to the Presidency in 1928, but he had a broad background as a mining engineer, the architect of US relief efforts in stricken Europe during and following World War I, and Secretary of Commerce under President Coolidge. Hoover's efforts to combat the Depression were judged inadequate by the electorate, which repudiated him for Democrat Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. He had some opportunity to restore his read more...

RONALD REAGAN Handwritten letter to Lydia "Hup" MacArthur, the widow of Peter MacArthur, who gave Reagan his first job as a 21 year old Sports Announcer in Davenport, Iowa, signed "Dutch". Autograph Letter signed: "Dutch", 1 page, 6½x4¼. No place, 1991 April 2. To "Dear Hup" [Lydia MacArthur] on card printed with his name and Presidential seal. In full: "Thank you for sending the news story. Nancy & I both enjoyed it very much. Yes we would like to have been there but our travels and chores had us elsewhere. By the way if you are writing again sometime how about sending me Myrtles address? I've somehow lost it. Again thanks and out love to you." Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) had two careers: actor and politician. His first movie was Love is on the Air (1937) and his 53rd and last film was The Killers (1964). In 1965, he wrote his autobiography, Where's the Rest of Me?, a line from his role as Drake McHugh in King's Row (1942). read more...

CLARENCE DARROW Lawyer Clarence Darrow wrote about his socialist views - "I am of course a radical as I have always been" - and about his autobiography in this 1933 letter, written on his personalized letterhead. Autograph letter signed "Clarence Darrow.". Black ink notations in bottom left corner in unknown hand. 1 page, 7¼x10½, on Darrow's personal letterhead. Jan. 15, 1933. In full: "My dear Gerson - I am returning the $1.- Of course I am always only sorry that I can't send my best friends books, without their spending money to buy them But really the book is expensive and I have a good many friends (luckily) and I just can't do it. Of course I am glad you liked the book. I am sure that most of it concerns your own ideas. I am of course a radical as I have always been and hoping that our industrial system will be changed. No permanent good can come from the old. If there is any recovery it will last but a short time. I am working some on Technocracy and am glad to see how it is being taken up. If we were not Barbarians no one in the world would be poor. We open talk of you and wish we could see you and [illegible]. You will ever be close to us. read more...

ON HIS LAST DAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE, A REFLECTIVE TRUMAN THANKS A TRUSTED AIDE WHO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN HIS FAMOUS UPSET VICTORY OF 1948. HARRY TRUMAN Typed Letter signed: "Harry Truman", 1p, 7x8¾ with blank integral leaf. Washington, D.C., 1953 January 19. On White House letterhead to Donald S. Dawson, Administrative Assistant to the President, The White House. In full: "I want you to know, before I leave the White House, how grateful I am for your extremely loyal assistance. I remember very well how, in my search for a topnotch personnel advisor in the Government, I found a fellow Missourian in you. You have demonstrated consistently your knowledge and ability in the Government personnel field and deserve the thanks of all of us for your efforts to promote the merit system in the United States Government. You are entitled to pride for your assistance to me in the selection of individuals for Presidential appointments, your efforts to modernize the federal compensation system, especially the Classification Act of 1949 and the Executive Pay Bill, your read more...

JOHN PAUL JONES The military hero's signature on a 1¾x1 slip of paper. Extremely Rare! Signature: "Jno P Jones" 1¾x1. Scottish-born John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was commissioned a first lieutenant in the new Continental Navy in December 1775. Serving aboard Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred, Jones was the first to hoist the Grand Union flag on a continental warship. Elevated to Captain, Jones commanded the 12-gun sloop Providence during the summer and fall of 1776, capturing and sinking several British ships. In 1779, now commanding the Bonhomme Richard, a ship loaned by France and named in homage to Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, Jones raided English shipping and fought his most famous engagement, a long and bloody duel with the superior British frigate Serapis. Refusing English Captain Pearson's request for his surrender, Jones made his famous retort, "I have not yet begun to fight." The Bonhomme Richard was sunk, but Jones won the battle, transferring his command to the vanquished Serapis. In 1781 Jones returned to the U.S. to supervise the formation of the American Navy. In 1788, he accepted service in the Russian navy under Catherine the Great, engaging in several naval battles against the Ottoman Empire. Then, in 1792 he was appointed U.S. read more...

JOHN F. KENNEDY and THE SUPREME COURT Collection including a handwritten letter from Senator JFK to a former Harvard professor, framed in the Gallery of History style to 46x32, with nine individual items signed by Justices Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, White, Brennan, Stewart and Fortas. Chief Justice Earl Warren has signed a copy of the eulogy he delivered at Kennedy's funeral. Comprises: (1) JOHN F. KENNEDY. Autograph Letter unsigned as U.S. Senator, 2p, 6½x9½ (front and verso). Washington, D.C., no date. To (Arthur) Holcombe, his Professor of Government at Harvard. Numbered "IV" in upper left. In full: "'If the practical business of government consists largely in the adjustment of the conflicts of interest arising among the people & politicians who understand the nature of the peoples (sic) interests and are responsible for their treatment of them to powerful and durable parties, may well be the most serviceable rulers that the people can reasonably expect to obtain.'" On verso: "Politicians personal read more...

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY In this handwritten and signed letter, the writer of the Star-Spangled Banner discusses appearing before the United States Supreme Court Autograph Letter Signed: "F.S. Key", 1p, 8x9½. Geo: Town, 1815 February 20. Integral leaf addressed by Key to: "Mr Thomas Biddle/Philadelphia". Postmarked Georgetown, Feb 22 ("22" handwritten). Docketed above address panel, probably by Biddle: "F.S. Key/Georgetown, Feby 20, 1815". In full: "Your cause will be called I presume in two or three weeks, but if the trial is not pressed by your opponent, it can be continued till the next Term - nor is it likely he would object to the continuance - I observe no Counsel has yet entered an appearance for it. - If it is thus put off till the next Term, it will afford you the means of compromising it, if you think you can do so on advantageous terms. As to your success, I think it as certain as any thing undecided I can conceive of can be. - Not only is it a very plain case in your favour, as I think, but two of the Judges of the Sup Court - Washington & Story have both so adjudged the point on which it chiefly depends. read more...

ROGER B. TANEY The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court signs the verso of a 2½x4 Carte de Visite in which he is shown, an extremely rare piece! Photograph signed: "R.B. Taney" on verso, B/w 2½x4 Carte de Visite. Printed back mark on verso indicates the card is from a negative found in Brady's National Portrait Gallery. President Jackson named Roger B. Taney (1777-1864) Secretary of the Treasury on September 24, 1833, but his nomination was rejected by the Senate on June 24, 1834. Taney was the first Cabinet nominee to be rejected by the Senate. He was nominated for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1835; but the Senate rejected that appointment too. In 1836, Jackson named Taney Chief Justice to succeed John Marshall. A change in the makeup of the Senate resulted in Taney's confirmation; he served until his death. Taney is chiefly remembered for his decision in the Dred Scott case, 1857, which stated that slaves were not citizens and that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in territories. (Ironically, Taney disliked slavery and had freed his own slaves. read more...