Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873

President Roosevelt thanks Louis Madelin for Le Rome de Napoleon, his book on Roman history.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-29

President Roosevelt was very touched by the letter from Grafton D. Cushing, and feels just as he does. Many people in Roosevelt and Cushing’s social circles do not realize the fervor with which many Americans demand a change in the social order. If progress is not made under reasonable leadership, there is a risk of approaching revolution or tyranny, as occurred in France during the French Revolution. Likewise, if leadership is given to radicals like William Jennings Bryan or Eugene V. Debs, Roosevelt thinks that they will try to enact impossible programs and fail, leading once again to revolution. Roosevelt agrees with Cushing’s statement that the government must be concerned with the primacy of justice and the equality of opportunity.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-27

William G. Taylor posits the theory that France’s low birthrate is due to the Napoleonic Wars’ effect on the population.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-12

Howell calls Theodore Roosevelt’s attention to John Kenneth Turner’s article “Barbarous Mexico,” describing the “most horrible conditions of slavery” in the “so called Republic.” He argues that if the United States was morally right to interfere on behalf of the oppressed Cubans, there is a greater imperative to intercede in Mexico.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-21

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.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Postcard showing the front of the Palais Garnier, the opera house in Paris, France. Many people can be seen walking and standing in front of the building. Charles C. Myers describes the cost and dimensions of the building and comments on the social impacts of attending the opera.

Comments and Context

In Charles C. Myers’s own words, “The Grand Opera House of Paris is said to be the finest opera building in the world and also the largest. It covers an area of three acres of ground and cost about six million dollars. The interior is finished exclusively in marble of many colors. This building was erected according to Napoleons ideas and wishes but not until later years, being commenced in 1861 and finished in 1874. The stage is 180 ft wide and 82 ft deep.

The auditorium of this building is not extra large as it has a seating of only 21 hundred people. On the outside of the auditorium is a wide promenade extending clear around the building and it is here that you may see a show that is more amusing than the performance on the stage. The swell set of Paris–as well as all other countries, are there exhibiting themselves and the latest fashions invented, which seem to be here on trial exebition [sic] before being sent abroad and elsewhere to the fashionable world.”

Poultney Bigelow compares the challenges Ferdinand de Lesseps faced constructing the Suez Canal to those of the Panama Canal. He argues that real-estate ownership among canal officials is responsible for the crowded, unsanitary conditions of Colon and that the government has failed in its administration of the canal zone.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09

Handwritten draft of Theodore Roosevelt’s lecture at Princeton. Roosevelt compares the ethics of a nation to ethics on an individual level. He calls for a balance between taking care of oneself (or nation) and paying one’s duty to others (at an international level). He points to Germany’s actions during the first World War as an extreme example of caring only for the individual. Roosevelt discusses the current state of the American military and the war with Germany, including reports from the government and newspapers. He presents a list of America’s shortcomings in not being prepared for the war and advises the young university men to learn from the lessons of the past and become leaders in the future.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-11-16

In his lecture at Princeton, Theodore Roosevelt compares the ethics of a nation to ethics on an individual level. He calls for a balance between taking care of oneself (or nation) and paying one’s duty to others (at an international level). He points to Germany’s actions during the first World War as an extreme example of caring only for the individual. Roosevelt discusses the current state of the American military and the war with Germany, including reports from the government and newspapers. He presents a list of America’s shortcomings in not being prepared for the war and advises the young university men to learn from the lessons of the past and become leaders in the future.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-11-16