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President Roosevelt writes to Henry White that he mourns the death of German Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg, a man he regarded highly. Roosevelt will likely be presented to King Edward VII of Great Britain as a private citizen while he is visiting Oxford, and if requested he will also visit William II, the German Emperor, so as not to offend him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-10
President Roosevelt thanks Ambassador Hill for the write-up of the funeral of his good friend and former German Ambassador, Hermann Speck von Sternburg. In the future Roosevelt may ask Hill to enquire about accommodations for hunting in German East Africa, in case his safari brings him to that region. While he is abroad Roosevelt will likely be presented, as a private citizen, to King Edward VII of Great Britain while visiting Oxford University. Should the German Emperor William II expressly request a visit, he would also visit Berlin.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-10
President Roosevelt tells Nathan Bijur that it is difficult for him to understand how prosecuting “certain criminal rich” would affect stock markets around the world, but understands that he will be responsible for the results, whether he deserves it or not. Roosevelt cannot change his Provincetown speech, but will look for the opportunity to make a statement like the one Bijur suggests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-14
Ambassador Tower informs President Roosevelt that he will need to return to the United States next summer and asks that Roosevelt accept his retirement at that time. Although he has enjoyed his time in diplomatic service, he has considerable interests at home that need to be addressed. Tower has three sons growing up and wants to be able to address their development and proper direction.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-19
Ambassador to Germany Tower informs Edwin Lefevre that he brought Lefevre’s request to have a personal audience with Emperor William II to German Minister for Foreign Affairs Heinrich Leonhard von Tschirschky und Bögendorff, and provided him with copies of Lefevre’s correspondence. The German minister did not reply, except to state that William II does not intend to return to Berlin in the near future. Tschirschky und Bögendorff planned to write Tower in a few days.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-11
Ambassador Charles S. Francis notes that Professor John Williams Burgess attended Ambassador Charlemagne Tower’s recent dinner at the Embassy in Berlin and will be traveling to Vienna. Due to Burgess’s criticism of President Roosevelt, Francis does not want to entertain him, and asks William Loeb’s opinion on the matter. Francis hopes that Roosevelt approved of unofficial efforts to pressure the Austrian Phoenix Insurance Company to reach an agreement with a committee representing the San Francisco earthquake claimants.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-11
John St. Loe Strachey relays to President Roosevelt an account of his trip to France and Germany. He and his wife visited Ambassador Charlemagne Tower and his wife in Berlin as well as Ambassador Robert Sanderson McCormick and his wife in Paris. Strachey believes that Chancellor Bernard Fürst von Bülow will be defeated in his reelection bid and that the Emperor was also held in disfavor by the German people. Strachey is concerned about the warlike nature of the Germans. He relays his thoughts on some of the French politicians and theologians whom he met; he found the French people and politicians generally to be pacifistic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-11
German Emperor William II wrote Ambassador Sternburg that the Russians are sending Friedrich Fromhold Martens to Berlin to discuss the Second Hague Conference. William II would like to make a preliminary agreement with Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-20
Ambassador Reid updates President Roosevelt about his diplomatic activities and assures him that he has been keeping Secretary of State Elihu Root in the loop. Reid suspects that the Russians and Germans are trying to get an American diplomat to make a statement regarding disarmament, so they can better position themselves at the upcoming Peace Conference.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-18
President Roosevelt handled the Bellamy Storer affair exactly as John St. Loe Strachey expected. Strachey hopes that the Americans are able to make a model treaty with the Japanese, as he believes that England may confront similar issues soon. Strachey and his wife are traveling to Berlin to visit friends and he asks for a letter of introduction to Ambassador Charlemagne Tower. Strachey also asks Roosevelt what he thought about his recent article in the Spectator about the proposal to create representative government in India. In a handwritten postscript, Strachey mentions that he received a “capital letter” from General Leonard Wood, and he hopes to meet Wood in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-31
John William Burgess wishes to inform President Roosevelt regarding a misunderstanding during an interview that Burgess gave to a reporter from the New York Tribune. Burgess was not talking about Roosevelt’s opinion of the Monroe Doctrine, but about American politicians in general. In his role as the inaugural Roosevelt Professor at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, Burgess has emphasized the separation of the professorship from “any relation to the diplomacy” between the United States and Germany.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-29
Nicholas Murray Butler writes to ensure that President Roosevelt knows the truth about Professor John William Burgess’ comments about the Monroe Doctrine, which were delivered as part of his inaugural address as Roosevelt Professor at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin. Burgess’ comments have been inaccurately reported in American papers, and Butler encloses two letters from Professor Wilhelm Paszkowski for context on the issue. Butler explains that he has learned of the motivation for the “malice” at the heart of the inaccuracies, and will explain to Roosevelt at their next meeting. He reassures Roosevelt that the Germans understood Burgess completely, and it was only the Americans who have been manipulated by the “lies.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-27
John William Burgess, a prominent American political scientist, reports to President Roosevelt on the success of the Roosevelt Professorship, and the exchange program, at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universita¨t Berlin. Burgess describes the impact of his inaugural address as Roosevelt Professor, that it was pre-approved by both the Prussian Ministry of Education and by Emperor Wilhelm II’s former tutor Georg Hinzpeter, and well-received by the Germans and by the Emperor himself. He says those who objected were Americans and Englishmen who oppose friendship between the United States and Germany. He says this press completely misrepresented what was said through the “journalistic hysteria” that was published in American papers. Burgess reports that the Roosevelt Professorship is now “on a foundation which cannot be shaken.” Burgess also expresses his view the issue of states’ rights and federal treaties, namely that the Constitution gives the president treaty-making powers which the citizens of the states are bound by just as they are to laws of Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-18
Ambassador Meyer writes to Secretary of State Hay concerning a translated article from the Russian newspaper “Novoe Vremya”. Meyer remarks that write ups in this newspaper have been tinged with negativity against the United States, and the newspaper has taken a neutral standpoint concerning Roosevelt’s efforts. Meyer then makes mention of President Roosevelt’s invitation for sending plenipotentiaries and plans for an armistice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-21
Acting Secretary of State Loomis writes to William Loeb with enclosures for President Roosevelt. The enclosures include a copy of a message from Berlin’s American ambassador and a publication detailing Germany and Italy’s commercial treaty.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-17
Ambassador Meyer writes President Roosevelt about the Russo-Japanese War. Meyer describes Stanley Washburn’s report of dwindling American sympathies with the Japanese. Washburn does not believe the Japanese army will ever beat the Russian army in Manchuria. Meyer mentions his interactions with Camille Barrère, the French Ambassador, and his indication that French and German banks are beginning to side with Russia. Meyer also relates an interaction he had with the Japanese minister, in which the minister stated he was interested in Roosevelt’s thoughts on Manchuria and Japan’s control of Port Arthur.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-20
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
William Dudley Foulke tells President Roosevelt that he feels responsible for mass confusion over which consulate John Lewis Griffiths is to be appointed to.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-04
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
A photograph of a Toby jug resembling Theodore Roosevelt that was created in Berlin, Germany, in honor of Roosevelt’s visit there.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910