Sailors

Henry Cunningham sends Theodore Roosevelt a copy of a the song he wrote in an effort to combat the growing problem of sailors being insulted by hotel keepers while in uniform. Cunningham believes the resulting resentment and indignation felt by sailors is leading to more and more desertions. Any suggestions Roosevelt has regarding the song will be much appreciated by Cunningham.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-16

President Roosevelt thanks Charles E. Labady for naming a launch after Roosevelt’s son. The president also mentions that another son, Archibald B. Roosevelt, has become quite a sailor and is fond of fishing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-16

Governor Swettenham thanks Admiral Davis for his offer of assistance to Jamaica after the earthquake, but asks that he reembark all sailors and soldiers that he had landed in an effort to provide relief. Swettenham believes that the situation is no longer a question of humanity, but of convenience, and thinks that the present police force in Kingston will be enough to maintain the peace.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-18

Ambassador Meyer describes to William Loeb revolutionary events such as strikes, disturbances, and a mutiny taking place in Lodz, Libau, and Odessa, Russia. Meyer cannot foretell what would happen if Japan does not agree to an armistice and conquers the Russian Army.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-03

President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to say his travel plans to Harvard and Groton have leaked out, and mentions an article he read. Roosevelt also describes going for horseback rides through the snow, as well as a gift some sailors from the Louisiana gave to Mother. He adds that San Francisco mayor Eugene Schmitz and the school board have arrived to discuss letting Japanese children into their schools. Kermit appears to have taken notes on the back of the envelope.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-02-09

Marcus Alonzo Hanna, in a small sailboat with sail labeled “Under no circumstances will I consent to become a candidate,” sails past a rocky coastline. Two female sirens with the lower torso of chickens, one playing a lyre labeled “Wall Street Interests” and the other holding a paper labeled “Trust Influence,” try to lure him onto the rocks.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Marcus Alonzo Hanna, as an old sailor sitting on a box on the dock, smokes a pipe and watches a ship labeled “Ship of State” sail out to sea. Caption: “Smash m’ gaff! Who’d ‘a’ thought the old ship could sail like that, without me?”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna (R-OH) also served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1903 — honors, enough, perhaps, for many men. But Hanna, an industrialist who entered politics as the virtual amanuensis of William McKinley, his sites had been set higher. For one thing, history (largely through cartoons by Opper, Davenport, et al., depicting “Dollar Mark” as the power behind the throne of McKinley) has distorted Hanna’s role in Republican politics. He was an organizer and financier, and well positioned to run McKinley’s two presidential campaigns.

President Roosevelt aboard a flagship, addressing the eagerly listening sailors and officers

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-06-21

President Roosevelt and Secretary of the Navy Charles J. Bonaparte on the bridge, as sailors on the deck look on.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1906-09-28

President Roosevelt standing on the bridge of the Mayflower, as a battleship sails in the distance.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1906-09-28

President Roosevelt acknowledging the ranks of sailors passing in front of the reviewing stand

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-05-14

Ranks of midshipmen marching in the Inaugural Parade

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-03-24

Ranks of sailors marching in the Inaugural Parade, headed by standard-bearers

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-03-24

Illustration showing two men escorting Admiral George Dewey down a street, on the left is a man labeled “McLean” and on the right is Joseph Pulitzer. On the left side of the street is the “Democratic Museum” and on the right of the street is the “Republican Museum,” and a sign on the left is directing them to the convention hall.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Despite appearing that the men, right and left, might be recommending the saloons to Dewey, they are in fact husting him past them to the Democrat presidential convention. After his adulation in the United States as the hero of Manila Bay — a smashing naval victory in the Spanish-American War — Admiral George Dewey was seduced by the clarion call of politics. Democrats, especially those who feared that another William Jennings Bryan candidacy would lead to defeat again, persuaded him to explore the possibility of running for the presidency in 1900. Two such Democrats were publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who boosted Dewey in his newspapers, including the New York World, and Dewey’s informal political adviser and brother-in-law William R. McLean, publisher of The Washington Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer, and part owner of the Cincinnati Red Stockings baseball team. Dewey embroiled himself in awkward public situations and his putative candidacy never gained traction.

President Roosevelt delivering his second Inaugural Address at the front of the Capitol

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905

A humorous certificate, usually issued when sailors cross the Equator for the first time, names Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt “one of our trusty shellbacks” and an honorary member of the Ancient Order of the Deep.

Comments and Context

The U.S.S. Louisiana, a Connecticut-class battleship, was sailing south around South America to reach the west coast of the United States as part of the first leg of the Great White Fleet’s journey around the world.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Theodore Roosevelt thanks C. R. McNabb for sending the photograph of McNabb with Comrade Hauser. Roosevelt reiterates the interest he holds in the enlisted men of the United States Army and Navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-10

Theodore Roosevelt thanks L. A. Ketterer for his letter and writes that he is proud of the goodwill of the enlisted men of the Army and Navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-13

Theodore Roosevelt believes in the legislation for the sailor. Roosevelt wants to secure “everything proper” for the American sailor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-12-14

President Roosevelt was glad to receive Commander Long’s interesting letter, and was pleased to read about the Great White Fleet’s visits to Japan and China. Roosevelt says it “is simply extraordinary that there should not have been one instance of trouble with so many thousands of our men ashore.” He promises to bring up the subject of granting sailors leave to visit their homes soon after their return with the Navy Department.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-07