PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/31/1916 - HFSID 4498

WOODROW WILSON
The President thanks a Progressive Republican for his support; four years later he appoints him Secretary of State.
Typed Letter Signed: "Woodrow Wilson" as 28th U.S. President, 1p, 7x8¾. The White House, Washington, 1916 August 31. To Hon. Bainbridge Colby, New York City. In full: "Your generous telegram of yesterday gave me the deepest gratification. It is very delightful to have such approval from a man whose judgment I so sincerely respect and believe in." Over the summer of 1916, while he was campaigning for a second term as President, Wilson made two important decisions that may have led to Colby's expression of support. He had issued a Neutrality Proclamation outlining the reasons for the U.S. to stay out of the conflict in Europe and he had intervened in a dispute involving the railroad unions. The Adamson Act was passed on September 3, 1916, just three days after Wilson signed this letter as a result of his influence in settling the railroad dispute. Republicans, including 1916 presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes, denounced his action as surrendering to the unions, but progressive and labor circles applauded his stance. COLBY, a New York State Assemblyman (1901-1902), had been a Progressive candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1914 and was running again in 1916. President Wilson's respect for him was evidenced in March 1920, when he appointed Colby as Secretary of State (1920-1921). Lightly rippled. Shaded at blank margins and horizontal fold.