Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898

President Roosevelt writes to George Otto Trevelyan, reflecting on his time as President and his decision to not seek reelection. Roosevelt admits that there are arguments for him to run for another term as president, but believes that the arguments against are stronger. Roosevelt is proud that while in the presidency he has fully used the powers available to him and acted as a strong central executive, and is gratified by the love that the population has for him. Once he leaves the presidency, Roosevelt plans to go on safari in Africa. He would like to visit England and see his friends there if he could do so as a private citizen without being forced to attend to diplomatic affairs, but if this is not possible he might just return to the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt was impressed with what John St. Loe Strachey had to say about Berlin and Paris and discusses his thoughts on the war scare between England and Germany two years prior.  He tells Strachey that there are those who object to “keeping up the Navy” while also persuading him to come to terms with Japan, which he sees as “inviting trouble” and refusing to prepare if conflict with Japan became a reality. Roosevelt believes that the United States will have to adopt a similar policy on Japanese immigration as Australia but is confused as to why a country with a much smaller population and birth-rate adopted such a policy so soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

John Christman shares the prophecy of the International Battle of Flowers with Theodore Roosevelt, which was revealed to him by spirit voices.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-10

Creator(s)

Christman, John, 1864-

Alexander Konta writes of the “scantiness, unreliability and confusion of the records of the past” and modern technologies being used for commercial rather than historical value. He proposes the Modern Historic Records Association be created in an effort to combine efforts at the local, state, and national level to preserve the historic record, including the voices of men of importance. He hopes that Theodore Roosevelt might look kindly on this idea and will consider joining in the planning of such an undertaking.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-14

Creator(s)

Konta, Alexander, 1862-1933

Minnie L. Kohlsdorf thanks Theodore Roosevelt for autographing the photograph of himself that she won at a fair given by the Republican Club. Kohlsdorf believes that Roosevelt is “the greatest diplomat the world has known” and wishes him well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-07

Creator(s)

Kohlsdorf, Minnie L.

British Foreign Secretary Grey informs President Roosevelt that Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand will be replaced, and while he understands Roosevelt’s desire to have Arthur Lee in his place, that is politically impossible. Temporarily, Esmé Howard will be sent to Washington as Councillor to the Embassy. Grey appreciated Roosevelt’s explanation of his telegram to German Emperor William after the Portsmouth Peace. Grey explains that his foreign policy is not anti-German, but to be independent he feels it necessary to strengthen the entente with France and come to an agreement with Russia. Grey believes that his generation has had enough of war, and the British people feel a special bond with the United States. Grey hopes the dispute between Canada and the United States over Newfoundland will soon be settled. He also adds that many in Great Britain are upset over reports of slavery and plunder in the Belgian Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-04

Creator(s)

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, Viscount, 1862-1933

Senator Lodge returns the letter from Frederick Scott Oliver to President Roosevelt and thanks him for sending it. He thought the letter was very interesting.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-19

Creator(s)

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924

Secretary of War Taft writes to President Roosevelt about the events that will later be called the Moroccan Crisis (1904-1906), which worsened German relations with France and England. At the request of Roosevelt, Taft met separately with the German and British Ambassadors to try to deescalate tensions so that a misunderstanding would not lead to increased hostility. Taft writes also of the Loomis-Bowen affair and of a Japanese minister who spoke of negotiating a peace for the Russo-Japanese War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-26

Creator(s)

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Cecil Spring Rice shares matters of foreign affairs regarding Russia, Japan, Germany, and other countries with First Lady Edith Roosevelt. Issues regarding the resolution of the Russo-Japanese War and terms for peace – as well as the situation within Russia, which Spring Rice says borders on anarchy – make up the bulk of the letter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-29

Creator(s)

Spring Rice, Cecil, Sir, 1859-1918

John A. Gable describes in detail the life and work of Hermann Hagedorn, historian, biographer, and long-time Director of the Roosevelt Memorial Association and its successor, the Theodore Roosevelt Association. Gable covers Hagedorn’s life as a child of German immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, his education and teaching at Harvard, and his early career as a writer and poet. He notes Hagedorn’s difficulties as a German-American during World War I and the start of his friendship with Theodore Roosevelt that would define his career. Gable traces Hagedorn’s leadership of the Roosevelt Memorial Association over nearly four decades, discusses his many publications on Roosevelt, and looks at his other writings, including a number of biographies and many works of poetry.

Two photographs accompany this article. One is a formal portrait of Hagedorn and the other shows Hagedorn with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the dedication of Sagamore Hill in June 1953.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

The writer describes a trip he took to Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, onboard a German ship. He had heard about the high quality of German passenger lines, and he reports his experience onboard very favorably. The writer also comments about the strained relations between the English and the Germans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-16

Creator(s)

Unknown

German Emperor William II has accepted David Jayne Hill, President Roosevelt’s nominee for the American Embassy in Berlin, thereby ending a recent embarrassing incident involving the posting. Part of the Emperor’s reservation in accepting Hill’s posting in Berlin was due to Hill being less wealthy than Charlemagne Tower, the outgoing American ambassador. The author of the article praises Hill’s qualifications, and agrees with Roosevelt’s insistence “that merit must go before millions,” but notes that in practice this can sometimes result in uncomfortable positions and suggests that states provide their ambassadors with ample means if they are not already independently wealthy in order that they are able to present themselves with the appropriate dignity and gravitas.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-01

Creator(s)

Unknown

After a long break, poet Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote a new piece titled “Memorial Verses on the Death of Karl Blind.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-27

Creator(s)

Unknown

Otto von Bismarck and William E. Gladstone stand on a “Political Stage.” Bismarck is wearing a suit of armor and Gladstone has an axe hanging from a rope around his neck. There are bouquets of flowers for each on the stage from their respective German and English “admirers.” Caption: It seems that those popular stars, the “Iron Chancellor” and the “Grand Old Man,” will have to respond to another encore.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-02-20

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

German Emperor William II, wearing a large robe and carrying a large sword, walks arm in arm with a tall female figure labeled “Germania.” Behind him, the robe is carried by “Italy,” “Austria,” and others. Standing on a balcony, looking down, is Otto von Bismarck. In the lower right foreground, a female figure labeled “France” walks arm in arm with “Russia” who leads her away from the pageantry. She holds a treaty tightly in her right hand, as she casts a stern glance back over her shoulder at William II. At the head of the procession are three men blowing horns labeled “Press.” Caption: The proudest moment in Willy Hohenzollern’s life – He celebrates the 25th anniversary of the glorious victory of Sedan.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-09-04

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

Pope Leo XIII sits between bust sculptures of William E. Gladstone labeled “Gladstone, the Great Commoner, 1809-1898,” and Otto von Bismarck labeled “Bismarck, The Man of Blood and Iron, 1815-1898.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-08-24

Creator(s)

Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905

Theodore Roosevelt says that because World War I is a war for democracy, it is essentially the working man’s war. The United States went to war with Germany because of its killing of innocent American civilians. He recognizes the sermons of Newell Dwight Hillis of Brooklyn, who has witnessed the “atrocities” of the German military firsthand. He says not only must America help countries in Europe, but it must also strengthen its military for the future.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-09-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt speaks on the nature of conscientious objectors during World War I. He says that the majority of objectors are either lazy or pro-German and gives arguments for why religious groups like the Society of Friends should participate in the war. He says that true objectors can still serve in other capacities. He calls for more representation of working men and farmers in Washington and for universal military service.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-09-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

“Germania” and “Columbia” hold hands above and behind a child-like Otto von Bismarck who is tearing papers labeled “Lasker Resolution” while sitting on the floor. Around Bismarck are torn papers labeled “German Emigration” and “French Lampoon,” and a broken pull-toy of a pig labeled “American Pork” into which he has driven nails with a hammer labeled “Bad Temper.” Caption: Germania to Columbia – “We shall still remain friends, in spite of this foolish old man!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-02-27

Creator(s)

Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913

A perplexed Uncle Sam stands in front of a store labeled “Notice – No Reciprocity in Trade Here” that is well-stocked with items available for international trade. A man labeled “Trade” is asleep at the counter. Across the narrow street of the marketplace sits Otto von Bismarck selling maps, and in the background are Nicholas II, holding a piece of paper that states, “Let us have Truce,” and John Bull shaking hands in front of their trade houses. A sign on the English shop states “Reciprocity in Trade.” A small dog, wearing a fez, stands in the middle of the street. Caption: Uncle Sam – “Darned if I ain’t left again! I’m overstocked, I’ve got all the blessings of a high tariff, and here these fellows won’t fight and give me a chance to sell my goods.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-05-20

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896