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Acting Secretary of State Adee informs German Ambassador Sternburg that he has received Sternburg’s letter regarding Emperor William II’s presentation of busts of Frederick II and Helmuth Moltke to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Adee promises to ensure that the busts are forwarded to their destination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-17
German Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg informs Secretary of State Root that German Emperor William II is presenting the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, with the busts of Frederick II and Helmuth Moltke to show the emperor’s interest in the American Army. Sternburg tells Root that he forwarded the busts through the Consulate General at New York and asks him to ensure they reach their destination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-08
Emperor William II thanks President Roosevelt for a letter which had confirmed William’s assumption that Roosevelt had not believed lies about the Germans which had been told to Andrew Carnegie in London. William states that the rapid rise of Germany and the United States should inevitably cause envy and create enemies among other nations, but that this should bring the two countries closer together. He expresses pleasure that his ambassador to America, Baron Hermann Speck von Sternburg, found favor from the Roosevelt Administration, and expressed his own pleasure with the delegates of America’s recent tariff commission to Germany. He introduces two German officials soon visiting America, and tells Roosevelt that he is sending him a volume of water color paintings of Frederick the Great by German painter Adoph Menzel.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-06
Secretary of State Hay provides a copy of the letter from the American Ambassador at Berlin, which is relative to the photograph of Carl Ro¨chling’s painting that he did of Frederick the Great. It was the wish of the German Emperor that it be given to President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-04
Freiherr Sternburg writes to President Roosevelt that his speech, given at the unveiling of a statue of Frederick the Great in Washington, D.C., was received warmly in Germany.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-09
Richard Watson Gilder praises President Roosevelt on his speech at the unveiling of the statue of Frederick the Great at the War College in Washington, D. C. Gilder hopes Roosevelt will write a biography of Frederick the Great, which The Century would publish.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-20
Elihu Root will be bringing his wife and daughter, Edith, to Washington, D.C., to see the bronze sculpture of Frederick the Great given to President Roosevelt by German Emperor William II. Root would like to meet with Roosevelt to discuss the recent election results.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-11
Frederick Dent Grant sends President Roosevelt congratulations upon his recent birthday, as well as for his “assumed triumph and overwhelming majority” that Grant predicts will be the result of the upcoming election. Grant hopes to pay his respects to Roosevelt during an upcoming trip he will be taking to Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-30
Arnold White writes about the international situation in Europe, addressing first Russia’s desire for a warm water port, and then his impression of Germany’s goals with regards to Europe. Germany, White says, is the only nation with something to gain from a European war, and that the push for war is coming from the Jewish influence in Germany. With President Roosevelt’s election and friendship towards Germany, the United States has been removed as a potential deterrent toward German aggression. White ends with a prediction that if war happens, it will come through German aggression towards the Netherlands moving towards a collision with Great Britain, and he admonishes his reader that Germany must be watched.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-04
William II, German Emperor, pushes a statue of “Frederick the Great” seated on horseback, behind a female figure labeled “‘Cassandra’ Stephens,” who is approaching Uncle Sam sitting on the U.S. Capitol Building. “Cassandra” represents a public personage named Stephens, nicknamed in the cartoon for the Greek goddess with the gift of prophecy.
The statue of Frederick the Great was one of Germany’s gestures associated with the American visit of Prince Henry, the Kaiser’s brother, in 1902. The legendary leader was an ancestor of Kaiser Wilhelm and Prince Henry. The equestrian statue originally was placed in front of Roosevelt Hall at the Army War College in Washington, D.C. Because of sensibilities during two World Wars, as well as the relocation of the War College itself, the statue has also stood at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and its current location at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The figure “Stephens” in Pughe’s cartoon is lost to history.
President Roosevelt informs Baron von Sternburg that, due to the unfinished state of the War College building, he agrees with Emperor William that the erection and dedication of the statue of Frederick the Great should be postponed until spring 1904.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-03-04
President Roosevelt writes to Emperor William II to inform him that the United States is pleased to accept a statue of Frederick the Great to be erected in Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-05-15
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 does not believe William S. Stryker’s quote regarding King of Prussia Frederick II and George Washington is accurate and cautions F. V. Greene against using it unless he is certain of its provenance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-28
Theodore Roosevelt tells Edwin Gordon Lawrence that Empress Catherine, while no model of private behavior, was not nearly as bad as Louis XV and “no worse than Frederick the Great.” Roosevelt believes her contemporary Maria Theresa surpassed them all stating, “the women were ahead of the men!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-11-08
Theodore Roosevelt is saddened that Frederick Courteney Selous has been unable to reach the warfront and believes an exception should be made. Several Rough Riders were considered unsound or too old but they performed above average. Roosevelt understands Selous’s concerns about the war and is unsure if the Russians, whose troops have endurance and are abundant, but inferior, can effectively mount an offensive against Germany. He admires and respects Germans but cannot ignore that Germany has spent fifty years developing a foreign policy that has made them a menace to all their neighbors. Roosevelt abhors German militarism that has created “contempt for international morality and such appalling ruthlessness in war.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-12-04
President Roosevelt was recently reading a volume of John Morley’s work Critical Miscellanies, and wished to write to him about a number of the issues he raises, and critiques several other historians and works of history. Roosevelt pivots to talking about the recent election in the United States as he identifies it as having taken place under circumstances similar to those identified by Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay–with a recent financial panic and a demagogue opposing William H. Taft–but because of the moral superiority of the Republican party, Taft became president-elect. Roosevelt believes that foolish optimism can get in the way of sane optimism, but also believes that there is cause to hope in the future. He would like to see Morley when he visits England in 1910.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-01
President Roosevelt is pleased to hear that Theodore Ayrault Dodge is considering presenting his twelve volumes on the art of war to American military posts. He has read and enjoyed every volume and looks forward to the two forthcoming volumes on Frederick the Great.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-18
President Roosevelt wishes to see President of Harvard Eliot to talk over the “many interesting points” raised in his letter. He discusses General Leonard Wood’s leadership during the Spanish American War, currents attempts to avoid intervention and occupation in Cuba, the conceit of educated men, and dealing with the “negro problem.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-28
President Roosevelt sends his good wishes to the University of Berlin through Professor John William Burgess, and writes about the historically close ties between the United States and Germany.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-12