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President Roosevelt tells William Emlen Roosevelt that his most harassing trouble is figuring out what to do about Minister to Belgium, Lawrence Townsend. Although Townsend understands diplomacy well, he has no claim on retention, “equally true of four fifths of our European ambassadors and ministers.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-29
President Roosevelt shares his concerns about some of the members of the American diplomatic and consular service with Richard Harding Davis. Minister to Belgium Lawrence Townsend and Minister to Spain Arthur Sherburne Hardy are two examples of men who are the “pink-tea type,” hosting dinners instead of doing “hard work.” By contrast, Roosevelt admires Ambassador to Japan Lloyd Carpenter Griscom, Consul General to Egypt John Wallace Riddle, and Henry White. Roosevelt wants Davis to tell him about any men who are not doing their job, as the president wants to remove them when he makes changes on March 4.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-03