That Tammany Boy: Henry Root Stern, Sr.

Abstract

When Henry Root Stern met Theodore Roosevelt, he was introduced as that Tammany boy—a Democrat associated with the corrupt political machine. Despite that introduction, Stern was fiercely independent and always fond of Roosevelt’s progressive Republicanism. His testimony recalls the few times he met Roosevelt, the president’s commitment to “good government” clubs and merit-based civil service. Stern also entertains some counterfactual scenarios whereby Roosevelt won election in 1912. The temptation to speculate on “what might have been” exemplifies the tendency toward hindsight in the oral history project.