Turkey

President Roosevelt found the letter that Cecil Spring Rice sent to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about safari dangers to be quite hilarious, as did she, in a morose way. Roosevelt felt it would not be right to stay on as President, and he is glad the Africa trip is ahead. Roosevelt expresses his interest in the complex political situation unfolding in Turkey and the surrounding countries. He hopes Spring Rice can come to England and discuss politics in person.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-17

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Before meeting next Sunday, President Roosevelt asks James Bronson Reynolds to present his regards to Mundji Bey, the Turkish Charge d’Affaires. He feels “the keenest interest in and sympathy with the movement so full of hope for genuine progress which is now taking place in the Turkish Empire.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt has heard that Secretary of State Elihu Root and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar S. Straus believe that the actions of Mary Mills Patrick and her associates in Constantinople are wrong. He has cabled Ambassador John George Alexander Leishman about the matter. The United States will not interfere in internal Turkish matters and will not threaten force unless it intends to use it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Everything possible must be done for Ellen Maria Stone, an American missionary who was kidnapped on the Turkey-Bulgaria border. However, President Roosevelt wishes to stress that the government has no power to pay ransoms as every missionary or traveler to “wild lands” should be aware. It is his personal opinion that women have “no earthly business” going as missionaries to such places.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-10-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Andrew Dickson White tells Vahan Cardashian that he is deeply sympathetic to the issue of Armenians mistreated by Turkey, but at his age of eighty he fears he cannot be too actively involved in Cardashian’s cause. However, he says Cardashian has permission to list White’s name as a member of his committee, if he thinks it will be useful.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-14

Creator(s)

White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918

Vahan Cardashian writes to Andrew D. White expressing his concerns about the persecution Armenians are facing under the Turkish government and his fears the violence will escalate. He hopes White will be one of several other prominent men to form a committee that will weild their power to advocate for Armenian rights.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-12

Creator(s)

Cardashian, Vahan, 1882-1934

Oscar S. Straus sends Theodore Roosevelt a copy of Roosevelt’s editorial with Straus’s notes. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-29

Creator(s)

Straus, Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926

Frances M. Wolcott informs President Roosevelt that she has given a woman a letter of introduction, which may be presented to Roosevelt. The woman is the daughter of an American mother and an Italian father. She is married to an Italian naval officer, and has never been to the United States, but has lived in Turkey and Asia. Wolcott thinks she wishes to write about her impressions of America, and thinks Roosevelt will find her intelligent and interested in understanding the real conditions of the country.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-12

Creator(s)

Wolcott, Frances M. (Frances Metcalfe), 1851-1933

Nicholas Murray Butler writes that the New York City newspapers have published favorable reviews of President Roosevelt’s message. Railroad executives are reacting to statements of pending regulations. It is expected that Roosevelt will discuss the tariff at a later date since he did not include the topic in his speech. Butler includes a lengthy excerpt of a letter from John S. Kennedy. Kennedy writes that Roosevelt backers are being pressured to support F. Marion Crawford for a diplomatic position in Turkey. Kennedy does not think a Catholic appointee would protect the American Protestant missionaries in Turkey. Butler surmises the pressure is being brought to bear by Mrs. Hobson. Butler concludes by reminding Roosevelt he promised to schedule a meal to celebrate the election with old friends, like Joseph Bucklin Bishop and Butler, in New York City.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-07

Creator(s)

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Senator Platt writes that Ambassador Herbert G. Squiers does not want to be reassigned to Brazil. He would prefer to stay in Cuba but would consider Turkey or Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-05

Creator(s)

Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833-1910

Elbert F. Baldwin recommends that President Roosevelt appoint F. Marion Crawford to the Constantinople legation because Crawford has a good understanding of customs and culture in the region and because he is a Roman Catholic. Baldwin discusses Crawford’s qualifications in detail, including mentioning his time in Turkey and India. Baldwin is acquainted with the other men suggested for this mission, but he does not believe they measure up to the same standard as Crawford does.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-25

Creator(s)

Baldwin, Elbert F. (Elbert Francis), 1857-

Article discusses Italian-Turkish war, arbitration, and Oscar Strauss.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1911-10-14

Creator(s)

unknown

The Russian Bear, as a soldier with rifle, has been turned into a scarecrow. A crow labeled “Japan” bites its nose. Another crow labeled “England” is perched on its cap. A crow labeled “Germany” is flying around its head. A crow labeled “Turkey” is on the ground at its feet. A crow labeled “China” is perched on the rifle butt. All these crows, and several others on a fence nearby, are cawing with laughter at the scarecrow.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-31

The Russian Bear eyes a house of cards. Each card is labeled a different country, “England, France, Germany, Japan, U.S., Austria, China, Italy, [and] Turkey”, and the king on each card bears some facial characteristics of the ruler of the country, including Uncle Sam. A dove of “Peace” has landed on top of the cards. The bear’s right paw and claws are touching the “Japan” card.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-01-20

In a classroom, the rulers of several countries are the students. Most are identified by country and showing the attributes of their leaders, including, in the back row, “Russia” (Nicholas II), “Germany” (William II), and England (John Bull), and in the front row, “Austria” (Franz Joseph I), “France” (Emile Loubet), Uncle Sam, Japan (Meiji, Emperor of Japan), and Italy (Victor Emmanuel III). On the far left, sitting on a stool, is “Turkey” wearing a “Dunce” cap. The teacher labeled “Diplomacy,” at the front of the room, points to a blackboard on which is written “If the Boer War cost Great Britain $825,000,000 what would a world’s war cost?” While most of the leaders ponder this question, Russia and Japan glare at each other. There are three wastebaskets filled with weapons.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-11-04

The British Lion, the Russian Bear, a cat labeled Austria, and three dogs labeled “France, Italy, [and] Germany” gather around a table for Thanksgiving dinner. The British Lion is holding a large knife labeled “Dismemberment of Turkey,” but the platter is empty. Looking in from the left is a turkey wearing a fez labeled “Turkey.” Caption: Turkey — Ha! Ha! How disappointed they look! Now I have lots to be thankful for.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-11-25

President Roosevelt chides Governor Guild for being involved with a petition that recently came to Roosevelt’s desk on behalf of Africans in the Congo Free State. Roosevelt receives hundreds of such petitions on a variety of topics based on whatever the current social cause is. If he had absolute power, and the United States were “prepared to embark on a long career of disinterested violence on behalf of all sufferers outside its limits,” then Roosevelt would gladly intervene, but as it stands he does not have any authority to intervene in any of the cases presented to him. Moreover, as the United States would not actually go to war in any of the cases, Roosevelt feels that the government should not “put itself into the ridiculous position of making a fuss which it does not intend to back up.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt agrees with Serbian Minister Michailovitch’s opinion regarding the importance of July 28, 1914, and argues that beyond simply being the day Germany and its ally Austria-Hungary began the great war, July 28 further raised the question of how the world should deal with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Roosevelt feels there can be no peace unless the Austro-Hungarian Empire is broken up and its constituent nationalities are given their own states, and mentions also that the Ottoman empire should be similarly divided. The United States should do what it can to assist in this effort by encouraging the revolt of subject peoples and pledging to protect them. Future peace depends on Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey being soundly defeated, and Roosevelt believes Europe should be remade “on the basis of the principle of nationalities.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1918-07-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary informs D. E. Siramarc that he cannot give Roosevelt’s exact words on the occasion. He urged Christians of all nations to enter the Turkish Army because a good citizen fights for his rights if needed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-08

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt appreciates Vahan Cardashian’s letter about the creation of an American committee to influence the Turkish Government and the treatment of Christians but at the moment he is unable to head such a committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919