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Tiffany and Company writes to President Roosevelt to ask for permission to design a bronze plaque to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The company has manufactured other commemorative items and they would be proud to create this item as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-08
William L. French tells Theodore Roosevelt about the entertainment he and his committee plan to provide the enlisted men from the vessels of the Atlantic Fleet making port in New York City over the holidays. A program of singers, vaudeville, reception by the mayor or prominent citizens, and refreshments will be provided to an estimated 8,000 enlisted men over 2 nights. French asks Roosevelt to contribute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-12
Senator Lodge writes to President Roosevelt about the career implications for Admiral C. H. Davis should Atlantic Fleet Commander Admiral Robley D. Evans retire. Lodge feels that Davis deserves the position more than Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich and that Evans’ actions in Jamaica after the 1907 earthquake should not be held against him. Lodge adds that his sister-in-law’s health continues to deteriorate and that according to the doctors she should have died several days before.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-09
Admiral George Dewey and President Roosevelt with his “Nobel prize” stand in the vessel, “The Forlorn Hope,” and release a dove that holds “peace notes to South America.”
Frederick Morgan’s cartoon depicts President Roosevelt and Admiral George Dewey, and refers to South American leaders, but a major figure behind the cartoon is not shown: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.
The Roosevelt administration is attempting to end the “nonsensical controversy” surrounding the Battle of Santiago. Admiral Sampson’s request for a hearing was rejected and General Miles was rebuked for publicly criticizing the naval court.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902
Page 1: – Black and white photographs captioned as: The President Addressing the Throng at the Exposition on “President’s Day,” September 5th; The Latest Portrait of the President [McKinley driving to the Temple of Music on September 6]; President’s Day at the Exposition: The President (at Extreme Left) and a Part of His Audience in the Esplanade; The Military Review in the Stadium – “Souvenir Pictures of the President” – Article giving a context for the photos – “A Man of Good Cheer” – Stories about McKinley’s humor and good nature (cont. on page 8)
Page 2: – Black and white photographs captioned: Men Who Worked to Help the President Back to Health: Six of the Attending Physicians, and the President’s Private Secretary [portrait photos]; Mrs. McKinley Listening to the President; The Stricken President: Tents for Military Guard and Reporters, Opposite Milburn Residence; The President, Mrs. McKinley and Mr. Milburn Driving Through the Exposition Grounds, Sept. 5th; President McKinley’s Residence, Canton O.; View on President McKinley’s Farm – “To Guard Our Rulers” – Interview with Jacques Griscelli, guard of Napoleon III – “Esteem for McKinley” – Regard for McKinley in Washington, D.C.
Page 3: – Black and white photographs captioned: Wm. McKinley as 2nd Lieutenant; Old Sparrow House, Poland, O., Where Mr. McKinley Enlisted; William McKinley’s Birthplace at Niles, O., Torn Down in 1895; Schoolhouse Near Poland, O., Where Mr. McKinley Taught; Seminary at Poland, O., Attended by McKinley: Now Torn Down – “In McKinley’s Youth” – McKinley’s early years in Ohio – “Stories of Celebrities” – Anecdotes about President Hayes and Admiral Dewey
Page 4; – Black and white photographs captioned: The President, the Best Portrait of Him Ever Made; Shaking Hands with the President [outside the Government Building on September 5]; The President and Party in the Govt. Building at the Exposition the Day Before He Was Shot; Where the President Was Shot Down in the Temple of Music [including numbers where McKinley and Czolgosz were standing]; The Wounded President Being Taken into the Exposition Hospital, Sept. 6th – “Shooting at Jackson” by Milton T. Adkins – Story of attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson in 1836
Newspaper article discussing three Philippine issues; Admiral Dewey’s testimony before Congress and Senator Carmack, Major Gardner admitting that he cannot supply evidence to support the charges in his report, and an amnesty for political offenders and prisoners.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-30
Cartoon depicting various European leaders learning of Admiral George Dewey’s capture of Manila Bay in the Philippines. It was a crushing victory that destroyed the Spanish fleet with no casualties to the American Navy.
This cartoon originally ran in color in The Bee, a weekly of cartoons and commentary founded by John Campbell Cory, whose run roughly coincided with that of the war. This is a black and white reprint from an unknown publication.
A drawing of the Olympia, Commodore George Dewey’s flagship.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1898
Department of State’s press release on surrender of Manila, Philippines during the Spanish-American War published in the New York World.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1898-08-15
President Roosevelt encloses a memorandum from Admiral Dewey on the general staff which he deems “altogether admirable.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-04
Governor Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews inquiring about what he should wear when leading the militia in the Dewey parade. Roosevelt would also like Andrews to obtain for the occasion a black horse that Roosevelt previously rode.
1899-08-08
Governor Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews that he does not want to ride in a carriage in the Dewey parade and prefers to ride on horseback.
1899-09-12
Governor Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews regarding the upcoming Dewey parade.
1899-09-14
Governor Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews about the upcoming Dewey parade. Roosevelt will be changing his planned dress for the parade after hearing protest from friends.
1899-09-16
Governor Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews regarding the logistics for an upcoming visit with General F. V. Greene, General Wesley Merritt, and Admiral George Dewey.
1899-09-18
Thomas Collier Platt, with his young bride, passes through the gates to the “Oldboys’ Hymeneal Paradise” where they are greeted by a “Reception Committee” of several old men labeled “Depew, Potter, Dewey, Flagler, [and] Woodford” and their young wives.
Cartoonist Ehrhart was not merely commenting on the “May-December” nuptials of the elderly Senator Thomas Collier Platt, and surrounding him with fellow white-haired friends. In a scene where many gray-bearded men are romancing young women, the foreground figures are indeed men who betook younger brides.
The ghost of General Winfield Scott Hancock offers a warning to “presidential aspirants” General Nelson A. Miles, Admiral George Dewey, and Rear Admiral Winfield S. Schley, all about to step off a cliff in an effort to reach the chair of the “Presidency” hovering out of reach.
General Winfield Scott Hancock, the will-o’-the-wisp in this cartoon, was a long-passed caution to military men seeking the presidency. Scott ran a close campaign as a Democrat against James Abram Garfield in 1880; and died in 1886. The thrust of Keppler’s cartoon is somewhat blunted by the reality of military heroes and veterans vis a vis the presidency. After the Civil War, presidents who had served in uniform included Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. Rather, as the immediate political situation addressed by Keppler played out, Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, Admiral George Dewey, and General Nelson A Miles were all spectacularly inept as presidential aspirants.
Admiral George Dewey, pictured as a rooster, crows “I want to be president.” Uncle Sam, in his bed clothes, leans out a window to throw a boot at him.
comments and context
Admiral George Dewey, hero of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War, proved as inept and unappealing a Presidential aspirant as he was a dashing and handsome military icon. After accepting the gift of a house, marrying a widow to whom he transferred the deed, letting a brother-in-law briefly manage his political ambitions,within months Dewey was “damaged merchandise” in Democratic and national politics.
Illustration showing two men escorting Admiral George Dewey down a street, on the left is a man labeled “McLean” and on the right is Joseph Pulitzer. On the left side of the street is the “Democratic Museum” and on the right of the street is the “Republican Museum,” and a sign on the left is directing them to the convention hall.
comments and context
Despite appearing that the men, right and left, might be recommending the saloons to Dewey, they are in fact husting him past them to the Democrat presidential convention. After his adulation in the United States as the hero of Manila Bay — a smashing naval victory in the Spanish-American War — Admiral George Dewey was seduced by the clarion call of politics. Democrats, especially those who feared that another William Jennings Bryan candidacy would lead to defeat again, persuaded him to explore the possibility of running for the presidency in 1900. Two such Democrats were publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who boosted Dewey in his newspapers, including the New York World, and Dewey’s informal political adviser and brother-in-law William R. McLean, publisher of The Washington Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer, and part owner of the Cincinnati Red Stockings baseball team. Dewey embroiled himself in awkward public situations and his putative candidacy never gained traction.