Your TR Source
President Roosevelt thanks John R. Carter for his letter. He is glad that Viscount James Bryce has been selected as ambassador to the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-01
President Roosevelt tells Ambassador Bryce that he is glad the British government will be sending him to America. Roosevelt looks forward to the arrival of Bryce and his wife Elizabeth.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-21
Ambassador Reid informs President Roosevelt of his travel plans and his intention to deliver a letter to Roosevelt from Sir Edward Grey. Reid sends Roosevelt an editorial and a report published in the London Times on Roosevelt’s message. Reid also mentions that the British government have not yet found someone for the position of Ambassador to the United States. Sir Gerald Lowther is no longer under consideration for the position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-11
John Hay sends Theodore Roosevelt part of a letter from Harry White that gives information about German relations and the Russian Emperor. White says that German Ambassador Metternich asked for his opinion on whether relations between Germany and the United States had improved. White also reports that the King (apparently the British King) said that “the German Emperor does and thinks exactly what the Russian Emperor thinks,” and that “the Russian Emperor’s refusal of all reforms … may very likely cost him his throne.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-10
American diplomat Henry White thanks President Roosevelt for his appointment as Ambassador to Italy. White also discusses the secret negotiations going on with Lord Lansdowne that would lead to British diplomat Cecil Spring Rice being transferred from acting ambassador to Russia to serving as a special representative to Roosevelt. White notes that he has kept these negotiations secret, even from the United States’ Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Joseph Hodges Choate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-07
President Roosevelt was only concerned about the letter he had sent Ambassador Reid because of its nature, but permits him to show any portions he deems proper to King Edward VII of Great Britain or Sir Edward Grey. He also recommends Reid make Roosevelt’s dislike of British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand known, emphasizing that if he had been a man Roosevelt liked, he would have consulted with him more. Roosevelt reflects on the strategies he uses in foreign relations, particularly with the Germans and German Emperor William II, but also with the English and Japanese, which he describes as “to be scrupulously polite, to show a genuine good-will toward her, but to keep our navy in such shape” so as to deter any aggression. He sends his greetings to Reid’s wife, Elisabeth Mills Reid, and remarks that he enjoyed reading about the social news from England.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-27
President Roosevelt plans to appoint American diplomat Henry White as Ambassador to Italy after March 4 and the beginning of Roosevelt’s new term of office. He asks White to petition the British Foreign Office to send Cecil Spring Rice to the United States for a week, as he would like to be able to make his position regarding the Far East clear. He does not feel as open with British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand as he does with Spring Rice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-27
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-04
Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about the people being considered for the position of British Ambassador to the United States after H. Mortimer Durand’s dismissal. It is widely believed that Durand was dismissed due to being too firm in Newfoundland negotiations, and Reid believes the government will allow the public to believe that was the reason. Reid sends Roosevelt articles from the Daily Telegraph about Durand’s dismissal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-27
Ambassador Reid updates President Roosevelt on several diplomatic matters in England. The most pertinent issue is the English government’s desire to retire Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand and to find a suitable replacement for him. Many people have been discussed. Roosevelt’s choice, Cecil Spring Rice, could not be promoted to an Embassy without creating a lot of “ill will.” Reid also sends Roosevelt a news clipping telling of the “fall” that Winston Churchill took out of playwright George Bernard Shaw. Finally, Reid updates Roosevelt on a matter involving Democratic Senator Francis Marion Cockrell’s son.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-24
Acting Secretary of State Adee sends Theodore Roosevelt a dispatch from Ambassador Reid that proposes a modus vivendi for the Newfoundland Fisheries for 1906.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-19
Cecil Spring Rice thanks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt for a book of poems and describes his work in St. Petersburg and the state of Russia at the time.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-04
Acting charge d’affaires to Great Britain Henry White writes to Secretary of State Hay about British political issues, Parliamentary legislation, and Anglo-American concerns which the legation is handling. The Entente Cordiale was signed by France and England to the relief of both countries because neither wanted to be dragged into the Russo-Japanese War on the sides of their respective allies. White describes the financial legislation that is being considered. He then characterizes the negotiation process about the Samoan claim, the Nicaraguan incident, and the Ladd extradition case.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-22
Acting charge d’affaires to Great Britain Henry White writes to President Roosevelt about many topics dealing with Ireland and England. White served in this role because Ambassador Joseph Hodges Choate was on the continent. As a result, he will go to the country estate of Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour for a weekend visit. White will inform Secretary of State John Hay by letter or telegraph of any important information that he learns during that visit. White encloses the book Ireland in the New Century, by Sir Horace Plunkett, which he describes at length. White discusses negotiations between England and France over territories in Africa. White also mentions that Professor S. H. Butcher, who taught Greek at Edinburgh, will be lecturing in the United States and asks if the President would see him. The professor would be a very interesting dinner guest at the White House.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-25
Henry White encloses a letter from Sir George Trevelyan in response to an invitation from President Roosevelt to visit the United States, conveyed by White. Trevelyan would very much like to accept but he is in poor health. Rumors of Sir H. Mortimer Durand being sent to Russia and replaced as the British ambassador to the United States are untrue. A qualified candidate has already been identified for the British ambassadorship at St. Petersburg, but the name cannot yet be released. Cecil Spring Rice’s upcoming marriage may change his career path, as his wife will want to be near her father, who is a widower. The death of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna will ensure unanimity in Roosevelt’s nomination for the presidency. Roosevelt’s efforts to have China remain neutral in the Russo-Japanese conflict are much appreciated in Great Britain.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-20
Draft of a brief speech that Ambassador Herbert intends to give at the presentation of his credentials to President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-11
Assistant Secretary of State Adee sends the proposed remarks that Michael Henry Herbert, the new British ambassador, will make when presenting his credentials, and a draft of President Roosevelt’s reply.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-11
Arthur Hamilton Lee reviews recent events related to Anglo-American relations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-12-17