Hazing

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Fitzhugh Lee

President Roosevelt is glad to hear from Fitzhugh Lee, who is missed as “Master of Horse” and family friend. Roosevelt gives an update on Ted Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt’s career and education, respectively, and on Archie Roosevelt and Quentin Roosevelt’s school lives. Roosevelt is proud of Lee, and looks forward to hearing more from him while he is at the cavalry school.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-30

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Luke E. Wright

President Roosevelt agrees with Secretary of War Wright and directs that cadets William T. Russell and Harry G. Weaver be dismissed from the United States Military Academy for their direct involvement with student hazing. The six other complicit cadets, William W. Prude, George W. Chase, James A. Gillespie, Isaac Spalding, William J. Nalle, and Bryon Q. Jones, are to be suspended for a period. Regarding a separate matter, Roosevelt agrees that Russell T. Hazzard should be forced to retire.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-20

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene Hale

President Roosevelt sends Senator Hale and the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs a draft of a bill authorizing the reappointment of three midshipmen formerly dismissed for hazing. When they were previously court-martialed there was no flexibility in the prescribed punishment, but that has since changed and Roosevelt believes that justice would be better served by their punishment coming in the form of being demoted rather than outright dismissed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Edmund Foss

President Roosevelt sends Representative Foss and the House Committee on Naval Affairs a draft of a bill authorizing the reappointment of three midshipmen formerly dismissed for hazing. When they were previously court-martialed there was no flexibility in the prescribed punishment, but that has since changed. Roosevelt believes that justice would be better served by their punishment coming in the form of being demoted rather than outright dismissed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte that Midshipmen Charles M. James and William T. Boyd will be pardoned, on the condition that they join the class below their present one at the Naval Academy. Bonaparte should have some memoranda showing which of the other midshipmen dismissed in the course of the hazing suit should be reinstated.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-30

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt believes he must have expressed himself poorly to Representative Edward B. Vreeland if Admiral Willard H. Brownson’s feelings were hurt by the letter. He explains to Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte that he was concerned more with the legislation and differentiation between the cases of hazing than he was with what had been done at the Naval Academy in the past. Roosevelt tells Bonaparte that he thinks highly of Brownson, and would like to see him succeed Admiral George Albert Converse in the Bureau of Navigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward B. Vreeland

President Roosevelt congratulates Representative Vreeland and the rest of the subcommittee for their report on hazing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-17

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William S. McNary

President Roosevelt tells Representative McNary that although initially he was in favor of reversing Stephen Decatur’s dismissal from the Naval Academy for hazing, further investigation has shown that the dismissal was justified. It is still possible that Congress could take action to reinstate him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Francis G. Newlands

President Roosevelt tells Senator Newlands that he is unable to pardon Midshipman Trenmor Coffin, who was expelled from the Naval Academy for hazing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-05

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Jacob Wendell

President Roosevelt tells Jacob Wendell that after reviewing the case of Stephen Decatur, a midshipman who was dismissed from the Naval Academy for hazing, he believes that the dismissal was justified. However, Roosevelt acknowledges that it is possible that Congress could take action to reinstate Decatur.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Sparks

President Roosevelt tells Governor Sparks that he is powerless to take any action on the hazing bill until Congress repeals it. Roosevelt does not believe that hazing should lead to an automatic dismissal from the service academies. However, he does not remember the particulars of Trenmor Coffin’s case. It may have been serious enough to warrant dismissal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-20

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt tells Senator Lodge that he cannot do anything in the case of Stephen Decatur, who was dismissed from the Naval Academy for hazing. Roosevelt strongly opposes the law that requires dismissal for all hazing cases and has asked the chairs of the Senate and House Naval Committees to repeal the law, but he can do nothing further.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt is indignant about the ruling regarding the dismissal of Midshipman Richard L. Desaussure from the Naval Academy for hazing. In other institutions, DeSaussure’s actions would merit a reprimand or suspension, rather than dismissal. He believes the same is true in the case of Stephen Decatur.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene Hale

President Roosevelt suggests a small change to Senator Hale’s bill regarding hazing at the naval academy. He believes that cadets should be dismissed for brutality, but believes that it is too harsh a punishment for lesser incidents of hazing such as forcing plebes to stand attention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene Hale

President Roosevelt requests that Senator Hale, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, move forward with legislation to change the process by which midshipmen at the Naval Academy are punished for hazing. Currently they are tried by court-martial and, if found guilty, dismissed without input from other authorities. Although Roosevelt believes that hazing should be punished, he thinks that dismissal is too severe a consequence in most cases. He has pardoned John P. Miller, a midshipman who was recently dismissed for hazing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Edmund Foss

President Roosevelt requests that Representative Foss, as Chairman of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, move forward with legislation to change the process by which midshipmen at the Naval Academy are punished for hazing. Currently they are tried by court-martial and, if found guilty, dismissed without input from other authorities. Although Roosevelt believes that hazing should be punished, he thinks that dismissal is too severe a consequence in most cases. He has pardoned John P. Miller, a midshipman who was recently dismissed for hazing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Paul Morton

President Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Navy Morton to look into the cases of three boys convicted. For one of the boys, Roosevelt believes it is “a grave miscarriage of justice that the boy should be forever barred from being in the United States Navy.” He asks if it would be possible for him to commute the punishment to dropping the boy from the class for a year. If not, Roosevelt believes a new trial with a less excessive punishment is a better option.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-31

Letter from Presley Marion Rixey to Theodore Roosevelt

Presley Marion Rixey has just returned from the Naval Training station in Chicago and the tubercular hospital in Colorado, and thanks President Roosevelt for giving the old fort to the Navy for such a purpose. Rixey has planned a one day fox hunt for Roosevelt and his daughter Ethel Roosevelt and hopes Roosevelt will not say no. Rixey asks Roosevelt to intercede in the case of West Point Cadet William J. Nalle, who was suspended from West Point for hazing, but only to do “what you consistently can.” Rixey wishes he could accompany Roosevelt on his upcoming African Safari, but fears he would be a hindrance.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-30

Letter from James R. Branch to Theodore Roosevelt

James R. Branch writes to President Roosevelt that Minor Meriwether, a Naval Academy cadet who was found guilty of hazing, should be dismissed from the academy. Meriwether was involved in a fight with Branch’s son, which led to Branch’s son’s death.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-09

Letter from Luke E. Wright to Theodore Roosevelt

Luke E. Wright writes to President Roosevelt on behalf of three men. Wright advocates for the re-appointment of George Randolph as district attorney and James J. Jeffreys as surveyor of customs. Also, Wright speaks on behalf of Naval Cadet Minor Meriwether who was tried by court martial for hazing at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-05