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Mark Sullivan asks President Roosevelt if Frederick Palmer, a Collier’s journalist, can be assigned to the ward room on his trip accompanying president-elect William H. Taft to Panama. Sullivan notes that Palmer previously stayed in the ward room on his trip with the Great White Fleet around South America.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-14
President-Elect Taft thanks President Roosevelt for the letter informing him of the action he took about the fleet. He also thanks Roosevelt for the warning about Cecile de Wentworth.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-24
Otohiko Matsukata remembers President Roosevelt’s anxiety over the strained relationship between the United States and Japan, and reports that the Great White Fleet was cordially received in Japan. A group of representatives from American chambers of commerce was visiting Japan at the time, and saw the fleet’s warm welcome. Matsukata encloses a speech that his brother, Kōjirō Matsukata, gave to the group which shows how the Japanese feel about the United States. He updates Roosevelt on his career and sends regards from his father Masayoshi Matsukata, a former prime minister of Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-18
John Callan O’Laughlin reports to President Roosevelt on his recently-finished trip to Japan. In particular, he recounted conversations with Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Komura Jutarō and Russian military attache W. K. Samoiloff. Japan intends to declare Manchuria a “zone of special interest.” O’Laughlin’s overall impression is that, while Roosevelt’s and Secretary of State Elihu Root’s efforts to improve relations with Japan have helped, Japan, and not China, represents the United States’s biggest problems in the region. O’Laughlin summarizes twelve conclusions from his trip about the current state of international relations with Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-20
Arthur James Sage tells President Roosevelt about the success of the Atlantic Fleet’s recent visit to Australia. Sage has built a new house, which he named Sagamore Hill without remembering that it was the name of Roosevelt’s house. He is also jealous of Roosevelt’s upcoming hunting trip to Africa, and invites him to visit him in Australia after his safari. In a handwritten postscript, Sage congratulates Roosevelt on William H. Taft’s election victory.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-26
Assistant Secretary of State O’Laughlin writes to President Roosevelt with observations on the social conditions and attitudes in Honolulu. O’Laughlin discusses the effects of immigration on the Hawaiians, and shares his views on the Japanese and Chinese races, especially in regards to labor. Although there was a strong sentiment of Japanese sovereignty, O’Laughlin feels the visit of the fleet and the limiting of Japanese immigration have led to a feeling of desire for American assimilation. This would have been better taken advantage of if there was the option to achieve naturalization. American nationalism and continued peace must be enforced through the use of the Navy, and O’Laughlin agrees with Roosevelt’s actions thus far.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-30
British Ambassador Bryce thanks President Roosevelt for sharing Ambassador William Woodville Rockhill’s letter regarding the Dali Lama. As permitted, he shared it with Foreign Secretary Earl Grey, Secretary of India John Morley, and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. Bryce includes Grey’s and Morley’s responses. The Atlantic Fleet’s reception in Australia delights Bryce. In a postscript, Bryce shares in Roosevelt’s grief over the death of Ambassador Herman Speck von Sternburg.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-29
Ambassador Reid informs President Roosevelt that to create international goodwill, he contacted the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Jutaro Komura, telling him how much President Roosevelt appreciated his message. Additionally, Reid shared Roosevelt’s kind words concerning the outcries against the Olympic games with William Henry Grenfell, president of the British Olympic Council. The Honorable Berkeley Cole offers to accompany Roosevelt on his safari, but Reid took care of the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-08
Frank Ross McCoy reports on activities in Yosemite National Park, hoping to remind President Roosevelt of the “fine work and sport of the summertime.” John Muir, Joseph N. LeConte, and other members of the Sierra Club have said that the change in the valley has been very positive since it became part of the national park this year. The superintendent, Harry Coupland Benson, knows the park well and is popular with the Sierra Club. McCoy describes the park rangers and some encounters with grizzly bears, noting he found the instinct to shoot very strong but felt “stern duty’s restraining hand.” McCoy says Interior Secretary James R. Garfield came and went in a flurry, mentioning that he finds Roosevelt’s cabinet officers showing up everywhere to be “inspiring,” now that he has experienced it in the Philippines, Cuba, and the United States. McCoy offers his thoughts on race relations between the Californians and Japanese, as well as the attitudes of people on the West Coast regarding the Great White Fleet. McCoy regrets he cannot conduct Roosevelt and his family personally through the park.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-07
German Ambassador Sternburg thanks President Roosevelt for his letters. He has been gravely ill but hopes to return to his duties in October. He is upset over the accusation that poor information from him to Emperor William II caused the incident with Ambassador David Jayne Hill. Sternburg asks Roosevelt not to say anything about his illness. He congratulates Roosevelt on the Great White Fleet’s accomplishments, which are “unique in the history of the world’s navies.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-16
Charles Mifflin Hammond thanks President Roosevelt for his letter of introduction to the captains and admirals of the battle fleet, who let him go anywhere he wants. He expects to have the time of his life. Hammond also indicates that California is looking forward to the arrival of the Great White Fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-31
Secretary of War Taft returns a letter from General Leonard Wood to President Roosevelt. He comments on some aspects of Wood’s character that he feels that the letter illustrates, as well as some of Wood’s observations about the state of the Philippines. Taft thinks that Wood is correct regarding the necessity of completing fortifications in the Philippines, and agrees with the desirability in keeping the United States’ fleet in the Pacific, but realizes that it may be impractical. He thinks that Wood is perhaps overly suspicious of the Japanese.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-10
Regarding the central bank question, Ambassador White informs President Roosevelt that he has spoken to Luigi Luzzatti, an Italian financier. He believes that sooner or later, the United States will need to move to a central banking system, and that the men in the country are capable of rising to the challenge. Luzzatti provided several examples of banking systems in other countries and noted that Italy modeled their bank after Germany’s. Currently Luzzatti is working to establish an international conference on banking and would like the United States’s cooperation. White briefly congratulates Roosevelt on the progress of the Great White Fleet. White also updates Roosevelt on the progress of the embassy in France, which will finally be able to host the official reception for newly arrived ambassadors and officials. The record includes a handwritten letter and a typed transcription.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-31
Ambassador White updates President Roosevelt on rumors of a plot to damage the Atlantic Fleet as it travels along the South American coast. Brazilian officials will take precautions to prevent the plot. He has recently seen the Japanese Ambassador, who commented on rumors of Japanese designs of a warlike character against the United States. Further, White comments on what he has read about the possibility of establishing a central bank in the United States. He does not believe that it will be successful at present.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-03
Anna Roosevelt Cowles forwards President Roosevelt the note he requested from Joesph W. Alsop as a reminder about the case since the “Solicitor of the State Department” that was in charge of the case has returned. She hopes she can spare some time to see Roosevelt when she comes to visit Washington, D.C., on December 11, and if not she will see him when he sends off the Great White Fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-09
Representative Fassett is concerned about the presence of Japanese workers onboard the battleships of the Great White Fleet, suggesting that they are probably “expert naval people” who are a danger to the officers on the ships. He suggests that there might be damaging “accidents.” Fassett believes that the officers can do without helpers on the ship.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-09
Rear Admiral Cowles requests that a representative from the New York Herald be included on the list of correspondents for the movement of the Great White Fleet in light of the newspaper’s scope and history of reporting on the Navy. Cowles notes that Henry S. Brown, an executive of the Herald, is particularly incensed over the inclusion of a correspondent from a newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst, and intends to meet with William Loeb personally to discuss adding a correspondent from the Herald.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-20
Ambassador Tower reports to President Roosevelt what he has heard about the situation between Japan and the United States in Germany. Tower describes a conversation he had with an unnamed, very important German official who could speak for the Germany Navy accurately, and whose opinion represents that of Emperor William II. The Japanese aspire to achieve supremacy in the Pacific Ocean, and are arming themselves accordingly. They are intent on taking the Philippines and the Sandwich Islands before the completion of the Panama Canal. Germany has also considered the matter of sending the Great White Fleet to the Pacific and feels it is the appropriate action.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-02
John Callan O’Laughlin, of the Chicago Tribune, describes an interview he had with the Japanese Ambassador Shūzō Aoki to President Roosevelt. Aoki said the Japanese government declined to exchange assurances with the United States about the situation in the Pacific unless the question of allowing Japanese workers into Hawaii and the United States mainland were settled at the same time. This attitude caused Aoki to consider resigning, but O’Laughlin urged Aoki not to resign and suggested that perhaps by refusing to negotiate, Hayashi wanted to restore Japanese prestige after the Great White Fleet was sent to the Pacific. O’Laughlin tells Roosevelt that it is obvious sending the Great White Fleet to the Pacific was the right thing to do, but asks why Japan would make assurances to France, Russia, and Germany that are not dependent on allowing the immigration and naturalization of Japanese workers, while assurances to the United States would require such an agreement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-04
Senator Lodge discusses several items of concern with President Roosevelt. Lodge does not believe that Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte and Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf are applying the act of 1904 as Congress originally intended, particularly as Bonaparte is basing part of his argument on an English law of dubious applicability and potentially dangerous implications for the United States. Lodge is also concerned about the fact that the Great White Fleet is relying on British ships to supply coal, which could be a dangerous liability in wartime, and commends Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou’s handling of the current financial crisis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-28