Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt would still like to receive the study of Arthur James Balfour (from Wilfred Ward’s book Ten Personal Studies). Roosevelt also sends his regards to Cardinal James Gibbons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-31
Arthur Hamilton Lee is enjoying his holiday in the Scottish Highlands and feels refreshed after engaging in outdoor recreation. He is glad to hear Theodore Roosevelt is likewise taking pleasure in his leisure. Lee discusses recent British political issues, including debates over Constitutional law and Irish Home Rule. Additionally, he comments on international relations between Morocco, Germany, and France, and the United States’ proposed arbitration treaty with Great Britain. Hopefully, in the near future, he and his wife, Ruth Moore Lee, can travel to the United States and visit the Roosevelt family.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-10
Ambassador to Great Britain Reid updates President Roosevelt on various matters, including poet Algernon Charles Swinburne and his “suppressed” poem, the Newfoundland modus vivendi, and happenings in Parliament. Reid also details how he “warded off…the offer of some brand-new territory and responsibilities” in Nicaragua.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-28
John R. Carter encloses a newspaper clipping relating to the affairs of the Congo. He informs President Roosevelt that Parliament has accomplished little of international interest, because of their focus on Augustine Birrell’s Education Bill. Newspapers have been focusing on James Bryce’s appointment as ambassador to Washington, which Carter supports. Carter notes that Secretary of State Elihu Root’s request for coal supplies on the Potomac was quickly fulfilled.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-21
Cecil Spring Rice congratulates President Roosevelt on the election results. There is tension in Russia. He writes about the North Sea Incident (also known as the Dogger Bank Incident). He was disappointed by Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour’s speech. Having agreed to an international commission to review the actions of the Russian navy and the British fishing boats, Balfour should not have declared that the Russians were guilty. Until the British made naval preparations, the Russians were refusing to investigate. Diplomatic requests are not recognized by the Russians unless backed by force, according to Spring Rice. Spring Rice notes that Germany’s embassy is busy visiting and bringing messages to the Russian government. Germany is aiding Russia in the Far East so as to get leverage in Europe. Spring Rice believes the goal is to bring England into war with Russia. Spring Rice does not believe Robert Sanderson McCormick, the American ambassador, is suited to work in Russia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11
President Roosevelt skates in the shape of “statesmanship” while Uncle Sam, John Bull, and three British politicians look on: Joseph Chamberlain, Leader of the House of Lords Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice Lansdowne, and Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour. Caption: (“If any other feeling is mingled with our admiration of the President’s clear thinking and straight-forward utterance of thought, it is a feeling of regret that these ideas have not animated all our own statesmen.”—London Post.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-25
President Roosevelt is disappointed in Assistant Secretary of State Alvey A. Adee’s replies to the telegrams of congratulations, which pertain to Roosevelt’s escape from a carriage accident. Four examples are enclosed from Emperor Franz Joseph I; Leopold II, King of the Belgians; Arthur James Balfour; and George Sydenham Clarke, Governor of the Australian State of Victoria.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-09
Theodore Roosevelt asks Henry Cabot Lodge if he previously wrote to Lodge in detail about his handling of the Algeciras Conference and the Alaskan Boundary dispute. If this is the case, Roosevelt requests to see the letters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-01-15
If President Roosevelt had known about it in time, he would have advised against The Outlook publishing Philippe Bunau-Varilla’s article. Now he believes there is no reason at all why they should not publish it. Roosevelt is glad that The Outlook will publish his three lectures, and he will send the one about Leo Tolstoy soon. Perhaps he will send an article about the “Japanese question” to be published first.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-16
President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-28
President Roosevelt tells Arthur Hamilton Lee about an interview between German Emperor William II and the American journalist William Bayard Hale, which has been suppressed. In the interview, the Emperor expressed bitterness toward England and said he believed that Japan was preparing for war on the United States. He also stated that war between Germany and England was inevitable. To avoid any bitterness between Germany and the United States, Roosevelt called The New York Times and asked that the interview not be printed. Lee should destroy the letter when he is finished with it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-17
President Roosevelt asks Arthur Hamilton Lee to thank Arthur James Balfour for the book that he sent. Roosevelt has recently received a letter from Sir Wilfred Laurier, which he thinks expressed the attitude that Canada, Australia, and the United States should take towards Japan. Just as Japan does not wish to be inundated by English-speakers, Roosevelt believes English speaking countries are within their rights to protect themselves from an influx of immigrants from Asia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-07
Responding to a letter from Arthur Hamilton Lee, President Roosevelt notes that A. Maurice Low was blacklisted from access to the White House or other governmental agencies after he printed slanderous material. Roosevelt is surprised that Fabian Ware keeps Low on the staff of London’s Morning Post. Roosevelt agrees to have Fülöp László paint his portrait. Roosevelt also informs Lee about international relations between the United States and Canada, particularly with reference to immigration from Japan. He recounts discussions he has had with William Lyon Mackenzie King on this subject, and what the position of the United States is on the matter–namely, that working class Japanese immigrants should be kept out of English-speaking countries, and that working class immigrants from English-speaking countries should be kept out of Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-02
President Roosevelt sends his sympathy to George Otto Trevelyan upon the death of his sister, Viscountess Margaret Jean Trevelyan Knutsford. He thanks him for clarifying why many Englishmen distrust former Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour and discusses corruption and military armament. The foreign affairs regarding Newfoundland fishery regulations and civil unrest in Cuba prove frustrating. Roosevelt shares these frustrations with Trevelyan for “the fact that I have to blow off steam.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-09
President Roosevelt remarks that the recent sessions of the national legislatures of the United States, Great Britain, and France have all been very interesting. Roosevelt comments particularly on a speech by Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France. Looking at his own career, Roosevelt expects “the swinging of the pendulum” to occur soon, as he has been president for five years already. While there may be increasing resistance from Congress, however, he believes the past five years have been extremely productive and is proud of what he has accomplished. Roosevelt is interested in the proceedings of the upcoming Hague conference, and tells George Otto Trevelyan that there is a narrow path to walk between reducing armaments among European nations, and in going too far and “having the free peoples rendered helpless in the faces of the various military despotism and barbarisms of the world.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-18
President Roosevelt thanks John St. Loe Strachey for remembering the upcoming wedding of his daughter Alice to Congressman Nicholas Longworth. Roosevelt is pleased with Longworth and hopes that he will have a successful career in politics. He reflects at length about politics in both Great Britain and the United States. In particular, Roosevelt discusses the function and manner of the United States Senate, and envies that a labor man is in Great Britain’s Cabinet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-12
President Roosevelt believes that Ambassador Reid should avoid speaking with King Edward VII in any official way, and instead the United States should officially communicate with the Prime Minister or Foreign Office. He laments the poor relations between Germany and England, and urges Reid to bring about better relations between the two if it is possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-19
President Roosevelt hopes F. V. Greene’s wife will enjoy her brief trip to Europe and wishes Walter W. Warwick will travel to Manila soon. Roosevelt discusses his efforts in bringing about the peace conference to end the Russo-Japanese War and says that although it is a great success and he is being broadly praised, he is sure that by next year, new issues will have arisen, and he will be attacked in the press.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-05
President Roosevelt asks that Cecil Spring Rice give his regards to Lord Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice Lansdowne. Roosevelt writes at length about the current state of international affairs and of relationships between different nations. He feels that it is not in Japan’s interest to extend the Russo-Japanese War for another year and explains his actions in pressing for peace negotiations between the two powers. Roosevelt also discusses his efforts urging the United States to interpret the Monroe Doctrine in an active way and remarks upon the recent death of Secretary of State John Hay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-24
George Otto Trevelyan takes great pleasure in Theodore Roosevelt’s letters and prizes each one he receives. He comments on current politics in Great Britain. Recently, he and his wife, Caroline Philips Trevelyan, vacationed in the Swiss Alps and delighted in the landscape. His son George Macaulay Trevelyan’s new volume will be published in September, and his Parliamentarian son, Charles Philips Trevelyan, will be glad to hear from Roosevelt. Trevelyan sends his regards to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and the family.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-03