Letter to Republican Governors Declaring Willingness to Accept the Nomination for the Presidency

New York, February 24, 1912,

Gentlemen: I deeply appreciate your letter, and I realize to the full the heavy responsibility it puts upon me, expressing as It does the carefully considered convictions of the men elected by popular vote to stand as the heads of government in their several States.

I absolutely agree with you that this matter is not one to be decided with any reference to the personal preferences or interests of any man, but purely from the standpoint of the interests of the people as a whole.

I will accept the nomination for President if it is tendered to me, and I will adhere to this decision until the convention has expressed its preference.

One of the chief principles for which I have stood, and for which I now stand, and which I have always endeavored and always shall endeavor to reduce to action, is the genuine rule of the people, and therefore I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance, through direct primaries, to express their preference as to who shall be the nominee of the Republican Presidential Convention.

Very truly yours,

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

The Hon. WILLIAM E. GLASSCOCK, Governor of the State of West Virginia, Charleston, West Va.
The Hon. CHESTER H. ALDRICH, Governor of the State of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
The Hon. ROBERT P. BASS, Governor of the State of New Hampshire, Concord, N.H.
The Hon. JOSEPH M. CARET, Governor of the State of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyo.
The Hon. CHASE S. OSBORN, Governor of the State of Michigan, Lansing, Mich.
The Hon. W. R. STUBBS, Governor of the State of Kansas, Topeka, Kan.
The Hon. HERBERT S. HADLEY, Governor of the State of Missouri, Jefferson, Mo.