Germany--Berlin

Letter from Benjamin Ide Wheeler to Theodore Roosevelt

Benjamin Ide Wheeler, returning from a meeting of the Association of State University Presidents, discusses his support for a national public university with President Roosevelt. Wheeler also relays the popularly held belief among “capitalists” in New York that restoring trust in the economy is key to recovering from the current economic crisis and suggests that with Spencer F. Eddy’s promotion to Ambassador to Argentina, John W. Garrett should take over his former position as First Secretary in Berlin.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-24

Letter from Rachel Sherman Thorndike to Theodore Roosevelt

Rachel Sherman Thorndike had recently read about plans to change the heads of consular services abroad and hopes that President Roosevelt will keep her brother-in-law, Consul General to Berlin Alexander M. Thackara, in his current position or promote him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-20

Letter from Albert J. Beveridge to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Beveridge hopes that when President Roosevelt names David Jayne Hill as Ambassador to Germany he will assign Henry Lane Wilson to fill Hill’s vacated position as Ambassador to the Netherlands and name Beveridge’s brother-in-law Spencer F. Eddy as Ambassador to Belgium. Beveridge assures Roosevelt that he will approve of Eddy’s work. Beveridge also notes that Eddy’s mother is in poor health and would likely be heartened by the news of such an appointment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-07

Telegram from Jackson Smith to Theodore Roosevelt

Jackson Smith asks President Roosevelt to direct Secretary of War William H. Taft to postpone his upcoming trip to Berlin by an additional week, as Taft’s work with the Philippine Assembly is of utmost importance and this is a crucial moment for that body.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-31

Telegram from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft telegrams President Roosevelt about the timing of his travel from Manila to Berlin for an audience and dinner with German Emperor William II. Taft needs Roosevelt’s decision at once.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-31

Telegram from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft updates President Roosevelt regarding his planned trip from Manila to Berlin via Vladivostok.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-30

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Reid seeks Theodore Roosevelt’s direction as to whether William H. Taft will stop by London on his way back from the Philippines, seeing as he will already be stopping at St. Petersburg and Berlin. If so, Reid will arrange some visits for Taft with British dignitaries. Reid also encloses some news clippings from British publications discussing American political affairs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-10

Letter from Charlemagne Tower to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-19

Letter from Charlemagne Tower to Edwin Lefevre

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-11

Letter from Albert Gleaves to Theodore Roosevelt

Naval Commander Gleaves details his recent European trip during which he purchased fifty up-to-date torpedoes, which will begin arriving in December. He learned much about mines while observing a field trial conducted off of Marseille, France. Roosevelt’s letters to the various ambassadors made Gleaves’s movements around Europe easier, especially in Berlin where he was permitted to tour the torpedo factory. Unlike England, Gleaves reports a “friendly feeling for the United States” in Germany. Gleaves hopes Roosevelt can tour the Torpedo Station after speaking at Provincetown.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-09

Letter from John Callan O’Laughlin to William Loeb

John Callan O’Laughlin informs William Loeb that his friend Dr. Francis R. Hagner is traveling to London, England, and Berlin, Germany, on Friday. O’Laughlin asks Loeb for letters of introduction for Hagner to present to the United States ambassadors in each country, Whitelaw Reid and Charlemagne Tower.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-08

Letter from Albert Gleaves to Charlemagne Tower

Albert Gleaves describes to Charlemagne Tower, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, the generous reception and accommodation he and others received in Berlin.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-30

Letter from Charles S. Francis to William Loeb

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-11

Letter from John St. Loe Strachey to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-11

Letter from Hermann Speck von Sternburg to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-20

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-18

Letter from John St. Loe Strachey to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-31

Letter from John William Burgess to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-29

Letter from Nicholas Murray Butler to Theodore Roosevelt

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.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-27

Letter from John William Burgess to Theodore Roosevelt

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-18