England

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt asks Ambassador Reid to give King Edward VII the enclosed letter. He discusses the trouble that Germany is causing at the Algeciras Conference, after Kaiser William II did not honor his promise to instruct the Germans to follow Roosevelt’s instructions. Roosevelt believes that Germany believes that it can defeat both England and France now that Russia is out of the way. Domestically, Roosevelt believes that the railroad rate bill will pass after “mild troubles,” including Senator Nelson W. Aldrich losing “both his head and his temper.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt thanks Edward North Buxton for sending him The Life of Lord Dufferin. He will tell his daughter Alice and her future husband Nicholas Longworth that Buxton has invited them to visit if they travel to England. He wishes Buxton and his daughter luck on their trip up the Nile.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet Estournelles de Constant

President Roosevelt thanks Baron Estournelles de Constant for the “long and interesting letter,” and says that he would rejoice if there could be a Franco-German understanding like there is a Franco-English understanding. Such an understanding would be good for the peace and progress of the world. He also thanks him for the photographs, especially the ones of his children.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Bryce

President Roosevelt was pleased to see that Viscount Bryce is in the Cabinet.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecil Spring Rice

President Roosevelt discusses various aspects of his efforts to make peace between Japan and Russia at length with Cecil Spring Rice. He also discusses the current strained relations between England and Germany, and informs Rice that he does not intend to take on the role of regular peacemaker between other countries. It is necessary for him to focus on the affairs of the United States, rather than trying to keep peace in Europe.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Henry Brent

President Roosevelt praises Bishop Charles Henry Brent’s “admiration of what is honest and upright in the English system,” while acknowledging the negative aspects of that system and avoiding those aspects in regard to the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-04

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt tells Ambassador Reid that he agrees with Robert Harry Munro Ferguson’s recommendation about how to communicate about the treaty between Japan and England. He also discusses the background of the situation currently going on regarding ownership of the Hankow railway in China. At China’s insistence, J. Pierpont Morgan and other American financiers are willing to accept a concession payment and give up their stake in the railway, although Roosevelt told them that the American government was willing to back up their rights to the contract they had signed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt believes that Ambassador Reid should avoid speaking with King Edward VII in any official way, and instead the United States should officially communicate with the Prime Minister or Foreign Office. He laments the poor relations between Germany and England, and urges Reid to bring about better relations between the two if it is possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-19

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

If Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte agrees, President Roosevelt will direct that the British squadron’s visit be postponed until November, and that they visit Annapolis first before going to New York. Roosevelt further instructs Bonaparte to contact British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand accordingly.  

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-04

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecil Spring Rice

President Roosevelt asks that Cecil Spring Rice give his regards to Lord Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice Lansdowne. Roosevelt writes at length about the current state of international affairs and of relationships between different nations. He feels that it is not in Japan’s interest to extend the Russo-Japanese War for another year and explains his actions in pressing for peace negotiations between the two powers. Roosevelt also discusses his efforts urging the United States to interpret the Monroe Doctrine in an active way and remarks upon the recent death of Secretary of State John Hay.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells Kermit Roosevelt about the holiday he had at Pine Knot, Virginia, with Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. The president tells Kermit, “Mother is a great deal more pleased with it than any child with any toy I ever saw.” The president and Edith spent time with Joseph Wilmer and William Nivison Wilmer, who are “the most generous, thoughtful, self-effacing friends.” The president talks about his attempts to cook fried chicken and how Edith “greatly enjoyed” it as well as his attempts to encourage peace negotiations between Russia and Japan. The president looks forward to seeing Kermit at Bishop William Lawrence’s house and appreciates the recommendation of “that piece in Collier’s.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-11

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Hamilton Lee

President Roosevelt hopes Arthur Hamilton Lee can visit this summer and is glad to hear about Prince Louis of Battenberg. If the British fleet is at Annapolis, Maryland, around October 1, Roosevelt will meet it there. Roosevelt tells Lee not to worry about a “possible contest” between England and the United States, as he treats it “as out of the question.” If the fleet is able to come between October 1 and October 18, Roosevelt will be able to receive the officers at the White House.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecil Spring Rice

As requested by German Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg, President Roosevelt asks Sir Cecil Spring Rice where he obtained his information regarding alleged international alliances and hostilities.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Hermann Speck von Sternburg

President Roosevelt tells Ambassador Sternburg that he has received his recent letter, and wishes for Speck to tell German Emperor William II that he now understands the situation. Roosevelt will be surprised if England intends to do what the emperor thinks they will do. Roosevelt agrees with many of the views Emperor William II expressed, and supposes that the the question of the sort of compensation Russia will be entitled to will depend on the military situation at the time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Hodges Choate

President Roosevelt reluctantly accepts Ambassador Choate’s resignation. He believes that no one since John Quincy Adams was Ambassador to England has been as dedicated as Choate. Roosevelt would like Choate to be able to stay in England until he is able to dedicate the memorial window to John Harvard in the St. Saviour’s Church personally, and will have Choate’s resignation take effect shortly after this occurs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells Kermit Roosevelt about seeing James S. White, a “cowpuncher” he knew from North Dakota, and he had him to lunch “with a mixed company of home and foreign nobility.” The president also encourages Kermit to not lose heart about his grades and to “keep pegging away.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Finley Peter Dunne

After inviting Finley Peter Dunne and Margaret Ives Dunne to the White House, President Roosevelt spends the rest of his letter discussing Finley Peter Dunne’s recent article entitled the “Anglo-Saxon Triumph.” Roosevelt takes umbrage with Dunne’s belief that individuals should look down on particular Americans due to their ancestry and specifically references those of Irish and German ancestry. In a postscript, Roosevelt states the current temptation is toward Anglophobia, not Anglomania, and the easiest thing for a politician to do is find fault with England. The president prides himself in getting a greater portion of Irish and Catholic Americans to vote for him than any previous Republican candidate without any significant attack on England.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene A. Philbin

President Roosevelt shares information with Eugene A. Philbin regarding comments made by Secretary of State John Hay about the Congo Free State. Roosevelt also appreciates the information Philbin gave him about Sullivan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-28

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank McQueen

President Roosevelt appreciates Frank McQueen’s gift of an old essay on slavery written by Thomas Clarkson, one of the earliest English anti-slavery advocates.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles H. Tweed

Elihu Root has written to President Roosevelt about appointing a member to the commission that is working out a solution to the Venezuela debt crisis. Secretary of State John Hay has reservations about the proposed arrangement. Roosevelt would like Root, Hay, and himself to discuss Charles H. Tweed’s proposition.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-07