Your TR Source
President Roosevelt approves of the letter to Assistant Secretary of State Loomis, which has been sent. He was delighted with the cable from China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-17
President Roosevelt reflects on the combatants and potential outcome of the Russo-Japanese War. He likes the Russians but they have shown “stupendous mendacity” regarding Manchuria and cannot take their proper place until they “gain a measure of civil liberty and self government.” Roosevelt has a higher opinion of the Japanese and is impressed with their rise in becoming a “great civilized nation.” The Japanese have told Roosevelt that their goal is to remove Russia from Manchuria and to turn the territory over to China. However, Roosevelt is also wary of continued Japanese aggression and sees the potential for this aggression to clash with American interests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-13
Theodore Roosevelt sends his thanks to John Gilbert Reid for the letters and the book Wild Life in China. Roosevelt looks forward to reading it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-29
Theodore Roosevelt introduces Minister to China William J. Calhoun to Charles P. Stewart, who is visiting China on behalf of the United Press and the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Stewart wants to meet with Wu Tingfang, the former Chinese Minister. Roosevelt asks Calhoun to help Stewart.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-28
Theodore Roosevelt appreciates receiving Professor Ross’s book and is in agreement with Ross’s views on Chinese and Asian exclusion. Roosevelt even quoted Ross in a speech.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-31
While Theodore Roosevelt believes in China’s development and “bringing her more in touch with the modern movement,” he cannot give specific advice in the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-14
Theodore Roosevelt writes William Sidney Rossiter that he would be glad to see the memorandum published but cautions Rossiter to review it carefully so as not to “convey a false impression.” Roosevelt suggests Rossiter “emphasize that there are different conditions in different countries” in regard to limiting of population and points to China, France, and Germany as examples.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-28
Theodore Roosevelt found Professor Ross’s article on China to be interesting and important. With France dying due to excessive limits on population and China because rational limits will not be set, Roosevelt favors a middle course. He does not recommend enormous families but believes that if the average American family does not have three or four children the “American blood would die out.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-11
Theodore Roosevelt will see F. V. Greene when he returns. He admires Greene’s enclosures but has two suggestions, which he discusses at length. First, Greene only needs to state that King of Prussia Frederick II’s approbation of George Washington seems to be a myth, as he never showed interest in Washington or the American Struggle. Roosevelt comments on Helmuth Moltke’s opinion of the Civil War and how France could have implemented similar cavalry tactics. His second suggestion is that it is incorrect to say that America’s action in the peace settlement of the Russo-Japanese War did not produce the current hostile relationships with Russia and Japan. He discusses the other factors involved.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-07
Theodore Roosevelt is waiting for Warner’s report to arrive and will write him again once it does. He is not surprised by what Warner has told him about the Germans. As a descendant of Germans and the Southern States, Roosevelt compares the Germans to the antebellum South as a fine stock that deteriorated because of their leaders. If Roosevelt is given the opportunity to raise his “Legion,” he will make sure Warner is a member but he doubts President Wilson will enter the war and compares him to a bull who refused to participate in a bullfight. In a postscript, Roosevelt says he has read and received the report. He agrees that the most important archaeological work is to be done in China and is impressed with Warner’s work and collaboration with his international counterparts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-07-02
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Henry Lane Wilson for the article on China, but believes that the United States must make up its mind on the direction Woodrow Wilson is taking the country.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-06-16
Theodore Roosevelt compares the international situation to the environment of some western communities thirty years ago. People who showed themselves helpless and unable to provide their own defense were inevitably taken advantage of. China has been in this position and because China could not fight effectively they have “had to fight again and again.” The Wilson administration has failed to show that the United States will defend itself and is being taken advantage of at sea and in Mexico. Roosevelt believes an aggressive foreign policy would have been much more likely to avoid a future war and that the country would be better off if he were president. Roosevelt compares President Wilson’s response to Germany to a man responding to his wife being slapped by writing notes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-04-06
Theodore Roosevelt responds to Byron B. Goldsmith’s letter regarding Danish explorer Frits Holm. Roosevelt notes that he is not qualified to speak on Holm’s capacity as an explorer, but he has heard on good authority that Holm’s Nestorian Chinese exploration had “wholly satisfactory” results.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-30
Theodore Roosevelt informs Professor J. W. Jenke of Cornell University that he cannot give the expression of opinion regarding the Chinese Republic that Jenke requests nor does he have influence with the current Administration. Roosevelt feels that “a policy of words unbacked by deeds is considerably worse than useless.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-15
Theodore Roosevelt tells Progressive National Committee Member Pearl Wight that he agrees that the American people are apathetic, especially on the issue of American interest and honor in Mexico, making them more to blame than President Wilson and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan for the situation. Roosevelt recalls a speech by former Vermont Senator Redfield Proctor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-13
Theodore Roosevelt cannot do as Philip V. Holm asked, because he does not write letters to people he does not know. However if Mr. Solismith will write Roosevelt himself and ask, Roosevelt would be happy to attest to Holm’s previous good work in China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-18
Theodore Roosevelt congratulates Oscar K. Davis on his upcoming trip to China and declares that with Davis making the trip, “we will know just what the actual facts are there.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-05
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Dr. George Emerson Brewer. Roosevelt returns a manuscript report given to him by Alexander Lambert. Roosevelt expresses his discomfort about the events described in the report. The report most likely discusses events from WWI. He refers to a speech by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-02-18
Theodore Roosevelt sends Rudyard Kipling a copy of his, America and the World War. Roosevelt kept silent as long as he could, but there is no chance of President Wilson creating worthwhile policy. Roosevelt wants it known that he was not part of the route the country has chosen.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-16
Theodore Roosevelt is glad that Edward S. Van Zile is writing in support of preparedness for war. The United States “will be as impotent as China” if preparedness is not followed. The U.S. should help to create the “Peace of Righteousness.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-08