Imperial envy

German Emperor William II looks at President Roosevelt. Caption: The Kaiser–And you mean to say that you are permitted to give out an expression of opinion whenever the spirit moves you?

comments and context

Comments and Context

Throughout his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt always handled Wilhelm II, the German kaiser, with deference and skilled diplomacy. Apart from the emperor’s alleged delusions of grandeur (such as when he forced the resignation of the respected Chancellor Otto von Bismarck early in his reign, in 1890), he managed Germany’s dilemma as an emerging world power after other countries had gobbled up colonies and sea lanes. Over trade rights in Morocco, and other issues, Roosevelt the peace-maker intervened and might have averted a European war, for at least several years.

But as the president planned his safari to Africa to subsequent European tour, he set the stage while still president. Writing privately to his son on November 22, Roosevelt called the kaiser a fool over several matters (in the letter he revealed that he was finishing the addresses he would deliver at the Sorbonne and at Oxford University in 1910); but in mid-December Roosevelt wrote to Wilhelm in friendly diplomatic effusion, tossing compliments, chatting about his own plans for another Rough Rider regiment he would raise if there were a European war (“which I hope will never happen”), and commiserating the death of their mutual friend, the German ambassador to the United States, Hermann Speck von Sternberg.

Many diplomats, observers, and cartoonists contrasted and compared the two fervent personalities of their time, President Roosevelt and Kaiser Wilhelm, even a year before they would meet, as they did, in Germany after the African safari.

But the specific inspiration for this cartoon was an international incident of great embarrassment to Germany; and so severe within the country that there were calls for the Emperor’s abdication — the “Daily Telegraph Affair.” Kaiser Wilhelm had given an interview to the London newspaper in 1907 — full of bluster and hyperbole, very undiplomatic, but the naiive and untrained Wilhelm meant as flattering to the British. When it was prepared for publication in 1908, a draft was sent to Germany, and the kaiser handed it off to his Chancellor, Bernhard von Bulow — who never bothered to review it. A row in the Reichstag, offense taken by England, and shock in other world capitals harmed Wilhelm in ways from which he never fully recovered.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-13

Creator(s)

Barclay, McKee

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation