Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is glad Rear Admiral Evans is writing on the navy. He praises Evans’s career as one of honor, and hopes his book will be widely read for, “it can not but tend in favor of a growing and lofty patriotism.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-17
David P. Barrows argues that fear is the most primal human emotion, and that even children understand the importance of overcoming fear, although adults do not help them do so. He discusses the importance of cultivating courage in people of all ages.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-06
President Roosevelt begins his letter to Cecil Spring Rice discussing the presidential election and how Alton B. Parker and the Democratic Party chose to campaign. Roosevelt mentions his plans to send Ambassador to Italy George von Lengerke Meyer to St. Petersburg, and spends the rest of the letter discussing Japan and Russia. The Japanese government treats Americans well, while Russia has treated the United States, England, and Japan poorly. However, Roosevelt believes the Japanese Army groups all white men together and considers such men inferior to themselves, as evidenced by the experience of American military attachés in Japan. The president opines that Russia is the main enemy of Japan, as long as it focuses on China, Korea, and Manchuria. However, if Japan desires to become a maritime power, it could threaten the United States, England, and the Netherlands. Roosevelt concludes his letter by saying, “[W]e must trust in the Lord and keep our powder dry and our eyes open.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-27
President Roosevelt gives John St. Loe Strachey permission to print his speech and shares a Viking saying, “if you go in close enough your sword will be long enough.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-01
President Roosevelt thanks the British and Foreign Sailors’ Society for the courtesy and kindness they have given to American sailors. Roosevelt extends a cordial greeting to the Society on the centenary of the great Admiral Horatio Nelson’s death.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-15
John St. Loe Strachey, editor of The Spectator, thanks President Roosevelt for the “little speech on socialism,” and asks for permission to publish it. Strachey’s book is circulating, though the socialist publications have a wider audience, a situation he hopes to remedy by switching from a defensive to an offensive strategy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-23
Diplomat John Ridgely Carter informs President Roosevelt that he can expect a bust of Admiral Lord Nelson and plaque commemorating Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar courtesy of the British and Foreign Sailors’ Society.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-15
Thomas James Bowlker regrets that President Roosevelt cannot be present at the celebration of Trafalgar Day, but agrees that it is more important for Roosevelt to welcome peace envoys to Oyster Bay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-09
The article contains text from a speech in which Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts argues in favor of the Republicans, whose policies he says will maintain the United States Navy’s status as the second-best navy in the world.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-12
Thomas James Bowlker thanks President Roosevelt for his note. While A. T. Mahan would be an excellent representative, Bowlker wants Roosevelt to know that he offered Mahan a fee to secure his attendance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-01
Captain Mahan emphasizes to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt that he writes only to suggest thoughts or give information–not to influence action. He calls Roosevelt’s attention to two related factors: a previous article he wrote suggesting that the threat to Hawaii is from Asia, rather than Europe, and a situation in South America which saw the United States worried about not having a battleship in the Pacific Ocean. He suggests that a similar situation could now occur if the Japanese have two battleships while the United States has only one. Mahan feels that it is important that the United States begin to prepare its fleets in order to avert potential conflict, saying “preparedness deters the foe,” and helps maintain peace without actually having to fight.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-06