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Theodore Roosevelt may be finally close to announcing, it's a good time to be looking for a job in Washington, and William Jennings Bryan welcomes Arizona into the union. (Click here for an introduction to The 1912 Project; click here for previous installments.)
At The Outlook Offices Again Last night, Theodore Roosevelt continued to do his best to not say anything publicly about his campaign intentions, going to the Plaza Hotel to give a speech on "Civics and Their Relation to Architecture" at the annual dinner for the American Institute of Architects. (The top award went to the East River Homes on 77th Street.) , According to the New York Tribune, "The Colonel consented to deliver [a speech] only on the condition tthat reporters were barred." Roosevelt may be doing his best to remain a cipher, but he has hardly been silent. The big news yesterday was of a Valentine's Day meeting at the offices of The Outlook, where T.R. is associate editor, with a number of Republican power brokers from around the country -- including the California governor, newspaper publishers from Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Chicago -- to go over the text of a speech he's scheduled to give in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 21. "The conference at which Gov. Johnson was present began late in the forenoon, and at 1:30 o'clock the conferrees, headed by Col. Roosevelt, walked to the National Arts Club in Gramercy Square, where they had luncheon," The New York Times reports. They add, "Col. Roosevelt would make no comment on the conference, simply telling the newspapermen that he had not a word to say."
But the stroll to lunch seems to have given reporters a chance to pepper the other attendees about what they had discussed and it is not difficult to read between the lines: "Do I think he will be a candidate?" said William Flinn, a part owner of The Pittsburgh Leader, repeating the reporter's question. "Can't you tell what I think from my attitude? ... I came over a few days ago to find where the Colonel stood, and I have opened Roosevelt headquarters in Pittsburgh, and they will stay open."