Your TR Source
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt sends C. S. Hammond a pamphlet on American naval policy and a copy of the Bureau of Construction and Repair’s annual report listing all vessels in the Navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-09-20
An excerpt from a letter from President Roosevelt to George Otto Trevelyan is used to establish the date Roosevelt began his efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War. In the letter, Roosevelt tells Trevelyan he advised the Russian government to make peace six weeks before, telling them the Russian navy could not defeat the Japanese.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-09
Representative Hobson of Alabama writes to President Roosevelt that due to the probability of war with Japan, he feels they must maintain permanent control of the Pacific. After attempting to warn others at the Resolutions Committee at Denver, Hobson now asks Roosevelt if he will consider raising the issue in the next message to Congress, to secure the building of additional battle ships and the creation of an emergency fund, and to make his feelings on the matter clear.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-21
Endicott Peabody thanks President Roosevelt for his letter and will speak with Kermit Roosevelt about Princeton, which he feels would provide a good education. He is glad Archie Roosevelt is looking healthy and that things have gone well with Alice Roosevelt Longworth. He is watching the fleet intently and is sure it will display the United States’ great seamanship. Peabody hopes Roosevelt’s success in service to his country brings him satisfaction and peace and wishes the family happy holidays.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-16
Commander Sims writes to President Roosevelt with the results of the long-range firing tests completed by the Atlantic Fleet. After his updates over the years on their great progress in gunnery training, Sims now reports that the battle firing system has proven to be satisfactory. He describes the tests conducted, the control system, and the outcomes for each ship. The fire-control officers, although rattled by stress at first, performed very well by the end.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-08
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Newberry asks William Loeb to file the attached with the confidential comparison of the United States and Japanese navies that Roosevelt sent on October 27. The attachment includes more definite information about various Japanese ships than the memorandum to Roosevelt of October 30 and provides a list of the number and types of ships in the Japanese Navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-02
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry transmits a letter from the President of the General Board and a comparison of the strength of the United States and Japanese navies to President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Ambassador Meyer encloses a translation of a Russian newspaper article concerning the question of peace or war between Russia and Japan. Meyer summarizes other articles concerning the growth of British and German navies.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-10
A newspaper clipping originally published in The Daily Mail and Empire of Toronto gives the reasons that there should be no cause for Japan to be concerned about the visit of the Great White Fleet to the Pacific.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10
Sheet music for “While the Battle-Ships are Sailing,” a march which celebrates the embarkation of the Great White Fleet on its around-the-world cruise.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Sheet music for “Voice of the West,” which celebrates President Roosevelt sending the Great White Fleet on its circumnavigation of the globe. The cover features an illustration of a battleship and the likeliness of President Roosevelt and Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Sheet music with a title referring to an 1899 speech by Theodore Roosevelt in which he said, “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife …” The cover features a large photo of an America warship which was part of the Great White Fleet that circumnavigated the globe from 1907-1909. The music was published during the voyage.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Report on German naval power. Includes a listing of ships with details on their construction year, armor, displacement, and steaming range. The chart also compares Germany’s naval power to several other nations. On the envelope the item was delivered in, there is a note explaining that President Roosevelt requested this chart in a personal interview with Commander Beehler of the United States Navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901
Theodore Roosevelt commends Representative Schall for his patriotic speech on the navy and military readiness. Roosevelt has denounced the “agitators of the German-American alliance” but this makes him want to show his faith in the Americans of German descent. He feels that German blood is a strong addition to the United States but only when it “fuses with the other blood strains into the new American type.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-06-19
Film celebrating Theodore Roosevelt’s achievements as President of the United States. It was produced by the Roosevelt Memorial Association with Caroline Gentry, Director of Films, and Mae V. Manning, Film Editor. Contains a collection of still images and video footage following Theodore Roosevelt from his assumption of the presidency after the assassination of President McKinley through his 1905 inauguration. Includes sections on fighting the trusts, the anthracite coal strike of 1902, Roosevelt’s conservation efforts, the creation of the Roosevelt Dam, the handling of the Russo-Japanese War, and the creation of the Panama canal.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
Unknown
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt left the New York Police Department because there was nothing left for him to accomplish in the “preposterous system.” He has always been interested in the Navy and looks forward to applying some of his “pet theories.” Roosevelt would like to discuss naval and foreign policy with Edwin Lawrence Godkin. Original and copy.
1897-07-24
This newspaper clipping shows Uncle Sam launching a steam vessel named “Pacific Fleet.” A Teddy bear in the lower right corner uses a bellows to power a sailboat.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1907
Commissioner Roosevelt is interested in a “properly vigorous foreign policy,” including seacoast defense and a “first class navy.” He would like American intervention in Cuba and a farsighted policy that would remove European powers from the western hemisphere. He asks how American warships are armed compared to European navies. Upcoming legislation will determine the influence Roosevelt can wield on the Board of Police Commissioners.
1896-04-05
Uncle Sam holds a large magnifying glass labeled “National Vanity” which he is using to examine a battleship flying an American flag labeled “U.S. Navy.” He is also holding papers labeled “Monroe Doctrine.” Caption: Why not look at it with the naked eye?
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1908-05-06
John Davis Long regrets that some of his personal reminisces, which were published in The Outlook, about the beginning of the Spanish-American War and President Roosevelt’s activities as assistant secretary of the Navy have bothered Roosevelt. However, Long defends his statements and suggests that they are generally complimentary towards Roosevelt but perhaps poorly worded.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-14