Belgium

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Raymond Robins

Theodore Roosevelt would be pleased to have Raymond Robins in his proposed division to be raised if the United States enters the war. Robins could raise troops and then serve as a lieutenant colonel or captain. Roosevelt uses Belgium as an example of the importance of national security. Roosevelt supports Robins’s decision to refuse the support of the Knights of Luther and Guardians of Liberty and encloses an article he wrote on the public school question. He hopes the Republicans nominate a presidential candidate the progressives can support. If not, the Progressive Party will have to have their own candidate and progressives will need to cast a conscience vote.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edmund von Mach

Theodore Roosevelt was pleased to receive the book but was pained by Edmund von Mach’s inscription. Roosevelt has judged Germany by the facts surrounding the “subjugation of Belgium” and the killing of American citizens at sea. On these points there is no defense of German actions or of American inaction.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Baron Rosen

Theodore Roosevelt wishes he were president in order to intervene in Mexico and “interfere in the world war on the side of justice and honesty.” He does not believe in “neutrality between right and wrong.” Roosevelt sympathizes with the allies against Germany and would have taken action after the invasion of Belgium. However, he is currently a political outsider and is ashamed at the inaction of the United States and its leadership.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lawrence Godkin

Theodore Roosevelt has read Frederick Scott Oliver’s book and agrees that Oliver’s description of English politicians is equally relevant to American politicians. William H. Taft has been “floundering around in the professional pacifist mudpuddle” and President Wilson has failed to prepare the country for war. Roosevelt wishes that more public men had advocated on behalf of Belgium and military readiness.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. M. Sprague

Theodore Roosevelt approves of F. M. Sprague’s manuscript so “heartily” that he would like to write a short preface for it. Roosevelt suggests one correction, stating that the United States should have intervened for Belgium in the war even if the Hague Convention had not demanded it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Oliver Bainbridge

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Oliver Bainbridge for his letter. Roosevelt comments on his opinion that professional pacifists should understand there is iniquity in a peace that does not address the wrongs of Belgium.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-20

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Scott Oliver

Theodore Roosevelt has not received copies of Frederick Scott Oliver’s book yet, but he believes he will be in agreement with it. He bemoans the inaction of President Woodrow Wilson in response to Germany’s invasion of Belgium. He comments on the movement for universal disarmament and a League of Peace, which he believes wrong-headed and ineffective.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-06-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert H. Thompson

Theodore Roosevelt is sorry he will not be able to speak at Long Island. Roosevelt believes that sea-power is playing an important role in the current war, and the United States must build up the navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-06-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Scott Oliver

Theodore Roosevelt compliments Frederick Scott Oliver’s book, Alexander Hamilton. If the United States enters the war, Roosevelt hopes to raise a cavalry regiment similar to the Rough Riders and serve with his four sons. He argues that Great Britain would probably not have entered the war if Germany had respected Belgian neutrality and is distressed at his own country’s failures to defend international rights. Roosevelt has been annoyed at the activity of pacifists. English pacifists should be concerned about defeating Germany and American pacifists should be demanding that the United States follow through on the country’s international obligations. Pacifists are “playing Germany’s game” by demanding peace without regard to the terms of peace. Roosevelt believes a nation must be strong to preserve friendships and respect. He would like the United States and Great Britain to have a “peculiarly close degree of friendship.” Roosevelt is currently out of sympathy with the American public and commands little support.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-07-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Bound Hall

Theodore Roosevelt comments on an editorial written by Kansas Governor Arthur Capper. He refutes Capper’s arguments against military readiness and recent American foreign policy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-01-28

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alfred Massart

Theodore Roosevelt appreciates Alfred Massart’s note and remembers their meeting, as well as the respect shown by all of the Belgian representatives. Roosevelt praises the Belgians’ war efforts in defense of their country and expresses regret that the United States has not been more helpful in the war.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-02-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Emilio Frers

Theodore Roosevelt discusses with Argentine politician Emilio Frers the actions that the United States should have taken in the early days of World War I regarding Belgian neutrality, German submarine warfare, and British treatment of neutral vessels. Roosevelt feels it would be “a shameful thing” to ignore major offenses but raise a fuss about minor ones.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-02-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Edward Redmond

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Irish nationalist politician, John Edward Redmond, about Redmond’s turning down of a position on Prime Minister Herbert Asquith’s Coalition Cabinet. Redmond’s rival, Unionist Sir Edward Carson, was also offered a place in the cabinet. Roosevelt has been reading William Edward Hartpole Lecky’s Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-06-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Scott Oliver

It is difficult to “chasten” your own side during a crisis as it will lead to accusations of assisting the enemy. Theodore Roosevelt has had to speak unpleasantly about his countrymen and much of what Frederick Scott Oliver has been writing about the British also applies to Americans. Roosevelt has been distressed by the reaction of American intellectuals and disgusted by the pacifists calling for international leagues but not standing up for Belgium. He wants the United States to keep its promises and international obligations. Roosevelt wishes there was a better candidate to run against President Wilson. There has been a movement to nominate him but as a pioneer against Wilson his current reputation is too “battered and splattered.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-04-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Estanislao Severo Zeballos

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Estanislao Severo Zeballos for his letter. In response, Roosevelt notes that actions of Great Britain against American merchandise shipments are of “insignificant importance” compared to the aggression that Germany displayed in the invasion of Belgium and the murder of innocent civilians during their attacks on passenger ships.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-02-04

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Stevenson-Hamilton

Theodore Roosevelt responds to a letter from James Stevenson-Hamilton, noting that it came when he was discussing Stevenson-Hamilton’s book with Carl Ethan Akeley and Charles Sheldon. They all agree it “is one of the very best books” they know. Roosevelt does not believe that the United States ought to be pardoned for failing to defend Belgium against Germany. If he had been president, Roosevelt would have taken action regarding Belgium and believes the public would have supported war after the sinking of the Lusitania. His book, Fear God and Take Your Own Part, will soon be published and will cover his views on the war. The conduct of the Turks towards Armenians has been dreadful but, unlike the Germans, the Turks can behave “in civilized fashion in a war with the antagonists they respect.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-02-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cornelia Bryce Pinchot

The public is not in sympathy with the political views of Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. Roosevelt has no problem with Pinchot temporarily staying away from politics. He was also disgusted by reports of tourists visiting the war’s front lines and describes their conduct as the “highest note of levity, vulgarity, and callousness.” Roosevelt has been disappointed in American pacifists, such as Jane Addams. They denounce war in terms that equate Belgian resistance with German oppression. He thinks the pacifists have lost sight of “real morality” and that their views are based primarily on “unworthy timidity.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-05-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ladislas Puslouske

Theodore Roosevelt replies to a letter about the conditions in Poland to Countess Ladislas Puslouske. He considers the conditions in Poland to be worse than those in Belgium, and the conditions and suffering of the people of Slovenia are worse than Poland. Unfortunately, Roosevelt is uncertain what more can be done.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-04-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank Finn

Theodore Roosevelt is happy to receive Mr. Finn’s book Wild Animals of Yesterday and Today. He would also like to have a copy of the Zoologist. Theodore hopes that the war will be over soon, but adds that before their lives will go back to normal, something has to be done to compensate the heavy losses that Belgium has suffered.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-04-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Hodges Choate

Theodore Roosevelt agrees with Joseph Choate that Germany should pay for its action about Louvain. This will be impossible under the neutrality of the Wilson administration. Roosevelt mentions that Jane Addams and her committee would like to forbid the export of arms to those involved in World War I, but Roosevelt believes those fighting Germany should have access to weapons.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-04-10