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President Woodrow Wilson White House Letter To Noted Political Cartoonist W. A Rogers

 Framed 1917 War Date Letter With Wilson Portrait Concerns Album of Anti-German Editorial Cartoons

       
"album" President Wilson Refers to in Letter and its author W. A. Rogers

The most difficult decision of Woodrow Wilson's Presidency was whether to join the war on the European continent and the White House letter offered here was written in the momentous year of 1917 when Wilson and Congress declared war on Germany. The letter is written to W. A. Rogers, the editorial cartoonist for the New York Tribune who had gained fame previously as the political cartoonist and illustrator for Harper's Weekly.  W. A. Rogers in 1917 published a book of his largely anti-German editorial cartoons from the New York Tribune entitled "America's Black and White Book: One Hundred Pictured Reasons Why We Are At War" and sent complimentary copies to Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and others. In Wilson's letter shown above he thanks Rogers for sending him a copy of "your attractive album" which refers to the Rogers book with 100 cartoon plates. I also owned the letter Theodore Roosevelt sent to Rogers on October 25, 1917 in response to the receipt of the same Rogers book which was more effusive in praise, especially for clearly blaming the Germans for World War I, and that sold at R & R Auctions for $2,000 in April, 2005.

President Wilson was far more reluctant about going to war than Theodore Roosevelt. World War I started in 1914 and Germany sunk many vessels with American citizens, including, most famously, the Lusitania in 1915. But it was only after the Germans declared a policy of unbridled submarine warfare in January 1917, including those of neutral countries such as the United States, that President Wilson went before a joint session of Congress on the evening of April 2, 1917 and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." On April 4, Congress granted Wilson's request. Below is the picture of Wilson with facsimile autograph that is framed with the authentic White House letter to Rogers.

The framed White House letter and portrait make a nice impression. The letter itself is captured well by the detailed photograph above, with the horizontal fold and some darkening at the fold and top. Wilson's signature is a bit light but completely visible. It is a wonderful memento of President Wilson, World War I and the correspondence of Presidents with members of the Press.

Price: SOLD