The John Sherman Letters are a collection of 64 outgoing items which reflect the statesman's public career as a U.S. Congressional Representative from Ohio (1855-1861), U.S. Senator (1861-1877, 1881-1897), U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1877-1881), and U.S. Secretary of State (1897-1898).

The letters include discussions concerning Sherman's support for various pieces of legislation, his recommendations for governmental appointments, and miscellaneous issues raised by his constituents as well as other public officials. A number of letters are responses to invitations to appear at ceremonial functions. Responding to the receipt of Charles E. Lester's book, The Glory and Shame of England, Sherman writes (07 Feb 1869):

I have twice visited that country and could not but feel that we have here imported by our ancestors the best elements of England - her laws and liberal institutions - and have left behind in the old country the elements of her decay - her intolerance, oligarchy and unequal distribution of wealth.

The Sherman letters also contain discussions of some of the leading issues facing 19th century America: the national debt, the politics of Reconstruction, and the doctrine of manifest destiny. In the aftermath of bitterness following the Civil War, Sherman writes (19 Apr 1866):

I wish earnestly to prevent a break between Congress & the President for I see no occasion for it. There is real danger that the chill arising from the difference of opinion in the Civil rights & other bills may settle into downright enmity. Both united can control the politics of the country which each has proven enough to destroy our party. I do think the stubborn will of the President & the dogmatic ultraism of a few men in Congress will break us up. Perhaps in standing between I may lose the good opinion of both but at least I will do what is right.

And regarding the doctrine of manifest destiny, Sherman states (08 Dec 1890):

...I am against the acquisition of any more territory except Canada whenever it is ready to fall into our lap.

A forty-year veteran of public life in the nation's capital, Sherman was not above this display of partisanship in a letter to Ernest Ackerman (Feb 1894):

You will perceive that the McKinley bill largely reduced the amount of taxes while the revenues from imported goods steadily increased until the election of the Democratic President, when the panic commenced.