A Presidential Coincidence in Walla Walla
A local G.A.R. commander surprises Theodore Roosevelt by presenting a letter the President had written to him twenty years prior.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
An incident took place at Fort Walla Walla during President Roosevelt's visit there, between the president and the late Commander B. C. Bedell of the G. A. R., which has never been explained and which excited the curiosity of everyone who witnessed it. When it came Mr. Bedell's turn to meet the president, the former said, 'Mr. President, I already have your card,' at the same time displaying a letter folded so as to show the president's signature at the bottom. The president took the proffered letter and asked, 'May I read it?' Mr. Bedell said, 'Yes, sir,' and the president proceeded to read a letter written by himself many years before. After which he glanced curiously at Mr. Bedell and said, 'Are you this Mr. Bedell?' tapping the letter. 'Yes, sir,' replied the commander. 'Well! Well!' said the president, 'this is certainly a queer co-incidence.' The explanation is that during the latter part of Grover Cleveland's first term as president, Theodore Roosevelt was chairman of the civil service commission, while Bedell was a deputy internal revenue collector in Michigan and secretary of a local board of civil service examiners. Bedell had turned down a couple of applicants who possessed influence; they appealed to the commission, which upheld the local board. This letter from Roosevelt informed the secretary of the board of this fact. Mr. Bedell kept this letter; twenty years later the two met in the far-off state of Washington.
“Well! Well! This is certainly a queer co-incidence.”
The visit of Theodore Roosevelt to Walla Walla remains a significant historical footnote. This story captures the 'small world' nature of political bureaucracy and how professional records from a previous century could resurface in the most unexpected ways.
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