SOLVING TEDDY ROOSEVELT’S NEGOTIATION PROBLEM
SOLVING TEDDY ROOSEVELT’S NEGOTIATION PROBLEM
Theodore Roosevelt, nearing the end of a hard-fought presidential election campaign in 1912, scheduled a final whistle-stop journey. At each stop, Roosevelt planned to clinch the crowd’s votes by distributing an elegant pamphlet with a stern presidential portrait on the cover and a stirring speech,“Confession of Faith,”inside. Some three million copies had been printed when a campaign worker noticed a small line under the photograph on each
brochure that read,“Moffett Studios, Chicago.” Since Moffett held the copyright, the unauthorized use of the photo could cost the campaign one dollar per reproduction. With no time to reprint the brochure, what was the campaign to do?
Not using the pamphlets at all would damage Roosevelt’s election prospects. Yet, if they went ahead, a scandal could easily erupt very close to the election, and the campaign could be liable for an unaffordable sum. Campaign workers quickly realized they would have to negotiate with Moffett. But research by their Chicago operatives turned up bad news: although early in his career as a photographer, Moffett had been taken with the potential of this new artistic medium, he had received little recognition. Now, Moffett was financially hard up and bitterly approaching retirement with a single-minded focus on money.
Dispirited, the campaign workers approached campaign manager George Perkins, a former partner of J.P. Morgan. Perkins lost no time summoning his stenographer to dispatch the following cable to Moffett Studios: “We are planning to distribute millions of pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours? Respond immediately.” Shortly, Moffett replied: “We’ve never done this before, but under the circumstances we’d be pleased to offer you $250.”Reportedly, Perkins accepted – without dickering for more.