Your TR Source
Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from October 1858 to December 1870. Notable events include the Roosevelt family’s involvement in the American Civil War, Theodore Roosevelt meeting John Hay as a child, and the Roosevelt family’s first European trip.
Theodore Roosevelt Association
1985
This newspaper includes two different German cartoons about Americans. In the first cartoon, President Roosevelt gestures wildly. In the second cartoon, Uncle Sam is riding down the streets of Berlin, Germany, on a golden calf. Caption: What we may expect in the year of grace 1920! (The streets of Berlin are no longer cleared for empty court carriages, but for Uncle Sam, who rides through them on his golden calf!)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-02
Rachael Sherman Thorndike thanks President Roosevelt for the news that he can send her brother-in-law, Alexander M. Thackara, to Berlin as a consul. She informed her sister, Eleanor S. Thackara, so that they can make arrangements.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-11
German Emperor William II wants several representative American ecclesiastics to attend the inauguration of a new cathedral in Berlin on February 27. He asked that President Roosevelt nominate the delegates. Secretary of State Hay explained the American separation of church and state. Instead of referring the matter to Roosevelt, he suggested the German Embassy communicate with the leading American religious bodies. There is adequate time for Roosevelt to take up the matter if he so chooses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-28
Although appointments in the American consular service are not supposed to be announced until March, this newspaper article reports that someone has blundered in the matter of discussing John Lewis Griffiths’s selection for the consul generalship in Berlin, Germany.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-04
German Ambassador Sternburg is not certain that incoming United States Ambassador to Germany David Jayne Hill was in Berlin during the dinner given by outgoing Ambassador Charlemagne Tower.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-03
German Emperor William II, referred to as “Windy Bill,” did not want David Jayne Hill to be appointed as Ambassador Charlemagne Tower’s successor, but later made a gesture at accepting Hill by giving him a small gold snuff-box with the initial “H” for Hohenzollern, a German royal dynasty. The magazine sees it as “another cheap advertisement.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-04
Major McIntyre forwards William Loeb a cablegram addressed to President Roosevelt from Secretary of War William H. Taft. Taft states his visit to Berlin is only required if the German Emperor William II is also visiting the city. Additionally, unless Roosevelt thinks otherwise, he feels travel to Paris and the Isle of Wight are no longer necessary. Such changes will enable an earlier departure.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-08
Theodore Roosevelt offers advice to Anna Roosevelt Cowles about opportunities for her son, William Sheffield Cowles, Jr., to learn to ride horses. Roosevelt suggests that the Cowles’ upcoming trip to Europe provides an ideal chance to arrange riding lessons at reputable riding schools in major cities, including Paris, Berlin, and Rome. He is knowledgeable about the subject and outlines goals for Cowles, Jr., recommending that riding be approached with the discipline required of any other study. Finally, Roosevelt jokes that Will and Joe were probably amused by the quiet dissolution of Governor Baldwin’s proposed libel suit.
1911-01-29
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
Theodore Roosevelt looks forward to receiving William W. Wotherspoon’s paper on airplanes, and hopes that they can meet again in person soon. Roosevelt also hopes that Wotherspoon recieved his other letter and was able to give Emperor Wilhelm II his message.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-29
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Theodor Korner for the two books he sent and his kind letter. Roosevelt appreciated Korner’s service as his “military guide” while in Europe, and he was particularly pleased to meet Emperor William II. Roosevelt encloses an article he wrote on arbitration, which he believes to be unwise.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-02
Theodore Roosevelt suggests consulting New York newspaper files from the days after the sinking of the Lusitania, and there David Wallenstein will find the date on which the statement appeared in the Berlin Lokal Anseiger.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-10-11
Theodore Roosevelt does not understand C. Grant La Farge’s question, but suggests that Henry Adams’s History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and History of the United States During the Administrations of James Madison will give the most detailed account of the matter. Concerning Napoleon’s account, Roosevelt urges La Farge to “discriminate between the real and make-believe facts.” Roosevelt believes that Great Britain was worse to the United States than France.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-05
Theodore Roosevelt writes a letter of introduction for Lafayette Young to Ambassador Gerard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-15
President Roosevelt writes to Ambassador Gerard, sending the letter via Gerald Morgan whom the president calls “one of the best fellows.” Although Roosevelt supported the Progressive Party in the election of 1912, he found Gerard to be the man he held in highest regard on the Democratic and Republican tickets. He praises Gerard’s handling of diplomatic issues in Berlin, Germany.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-12-31
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Major Menzel, commander of the Boys Militia of Berlin, Germany, for his letter. Roosevelt believes in the boy scout organizations and is honored that the Berlin boy scouts admire him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-11-26
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 is pleased to hear that Felix Adler is going to Berlin, Germany. Roosevelt believes that Adler is helping to strengthen goodwill between the United States and Germany. He asks Adler to send his regards to Emperor William II if he sees him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-08