Swettenham, James Alexander, 1846-1933

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

Language

English

President Roosevelt believes Arthur Hamilton Lee handled the “Swettenham matter” efficiently, calling the matter itself a “cosmic incident” and citing others like Swettenham in American Government, most notably General James Harrison Wilson. He was amused by the opinions of John William Burgess, who was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt professorship in at the University of Berlin. While Roosevelt admires some of Burgess’s scholarly accomplishments, he considers Burgess “hopefully wrong-headed” and criticizes his first lecture denouncing the Monroe Doctrine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt expresses to Senator Lodge that something in a letter Sir Edward Grey sent him, about the Swettenham incident, annoyed him. Roosevelt wrote a frank letter in return stating his appreciation of Sir James Alexander Swettenham.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt enjoyed his visit with Viscount James Bryce and reminisces about when Bryce stayed at the White House several years prior. Roosevelt believes the question of disarmament is “full of difficulties” and wants to avoid raising “high anticipation as will ensure disappointment” with the upcoming National Arbitration and Peace Congress. He wasn’t impressed with Jamaica Governor James Alexander Swettenham’s message and compares his dealings with him to that of Henry Wolcott Bowen, former Ambassador of Venezuela. Roosevelt is pleased that the Santo Domingo treaty was ratified by Congress and is overall satisfied with the number of other legislative measures he managed to pass.    

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt hopes that Arthur Hamilton Lee is not worrying about the incident between Governor of Jamaica James Alexander Swettenham and Rear Admiral C. H. Davis in the aftermath of the Kingston Earthquake. Roosevelt assures Lee that he has dealt with worse characters than Swettenham, including several former American diplomats.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt confides to Sir George Otto Trevelyan the contents of several letters and reports regarding the diplomatic aftermath of the earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica. Trouble has arisen after Governor of Jamaica James Alexander Swettenham asked Rear-Admiral C. H. Davis to remove the marines he had ordered to assist with the relief effort. Roosevelt compares Swettenham to American diplomates Herbert Wolcott Bowen, B. Storer, and Maria Longworth Storer who had caused him trouble in the past.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt describes his trip to Panama and Puerto Rico. He comments on the uniqueness of Panama and the canal project. He praises William Crawford Gorgas’s work regarding the health of the Americans working on the canal. Black workers from Jamaica have not been as healthy, and Roosevelt feels as though they may need to get Chinese laborers as Jamaican Governor James Alexander Swettenham has been disagreeable to work with. He describes the trip and some reading he has done, saying about John Milton, “What a radical republican, and what a stanch partisan, and what an intense protestant the fine old fellow was!” He plans to read more Greek and Roman literature.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt discusses various Anglo-American diplomats and the current state of affairs between the two countries. He also mentions diplomacy with other countries such as Canada and Jamaica.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

William Loeb acknowledges President Roosevelt’s receipt of Outram Bangs’s letter, and encloses a letter from Roosevelt to Governor of Jamaica James Alexander Swettenham.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-12

Creator(s)

Loeb, William, 1866-1937

William N. Tilchin argues that President Theodore Roosevelt understood the importance of maintaining a friendly diplomatic relationship with Great Britain, and he further recognized that British naval power did not threaten American power or interests. Tilchin asserts that by maintaining cordial relations with Great Britain, the United States did not have to match or exceed British naval strength and that if the two nations interests were aligned, American naval power could complement the British fleet. Tilchin closely examines a diplomatic row that occurred between Great Britain and the United States after a devastating earthquake in Jamaica in early 1907. Tilchin says that Roosevelt’s handling of this incident, which could have upset relations between the two nations, demonstrated his deft diplomacy and underscored the realignment of naval power in the western hemisphere. 

 

Two photographs of Roosevelt onboard the presidential yacht USS Mayflower and a photograph of Tilchin appear in the text. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

President Roosevelt finds he was misinformed about the contents of articles written by Senator Beveridge and William Jennings Bryan, and informs Beveridge that he had been asked whether Beveridge’s article had been written to represent Roosevelt’s views, in opposition to Bryan’s.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919