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President Roosevelt will ask the naval authorities if the writer Ralph Delahaye Paine will be able to travel with them. He believes that Paine will be able to get good material if he can travel with the fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-12
President Roosevelt addresses Chase S. Osborn’s question on international relations. Roosevelt informs him that the two best policies are to avoid conflict and to maintain a strong navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-13
President Roosevelt discusses with Secretary of State Root his anxiety over rising Japanese immigration into the United States. In a meeting with Shūzō Aoki and Admiral Gonnohyōe Yamamoto, Roosevelt insisted on the nation’s right to restrict the immigration of Japanese laborers, but he was not sure he convinced Yamamoto. The navy’s planned cruise around the world should have a pacific effect in the relationship with Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-13
President Roosevelt and First Lady Roosevelt inform Rear Admiral Evans that they are shocked to hear about the disastrous news in Hampton Roads.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-12
President Roosevelt tells Benjamin Ide Wheeler that it is not important if the navy fleet is in the Pacific or Atlantic ocean, but rather that it keeps being built up. Roosevelt says that if he had not been able to overcome the opposition of Congress to improving the fleet, the West Coast would have “been in danger of bombardment.” Roosevelt is pleased Wheeler will continue on in San Francisco. He did not know anything about the industrial peace conference Wheeler mentioned, but will support it an any way he can. Roosevelt has asked Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon for a report about John W. Garrett.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-21
President Roosevelt sends Robert W. De Forest a letter of introduction for his colleague Senator George Peabody Wetmore. Wetmore is interested in expanding the YMCA for sailors.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-08
President Roosevelt sends Helen Miller Gould Shepard a letter of introduction for Senator George Peabody Wetmore. Roosevelt knows that they are both interested in the YMCA movement for sailors.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-08
President Roosevelt would like to do as Admiral Evans desires in the matter of Captain William Swift’s court-martial. However, in speaking with naval officials and thinking over the matter, he cannot pardon Swift without also pardoning Captain Perry Garst. Pardoning both captains would set a bad precedent regarding accidents in which ships run aground.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-04
President Roosevelt congratulates Commander Sims and the Navy. He asks if he can send a letter of acknowledgement for what the Charleston has done.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-06
President Roosevelt read and enjoyed Captain Gleaves’s book Life of Lawrence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-29
President Roosevelt is surprised by Henry Cabot Lodge’s claim that the Naval Board supported Rear-Admiral Harry H. Rousseau succeeding Admiral Robley D. Evans. He asks if Admiral George Dewey had told him this, as Dewey had told him that Rear Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich should succeed Rousseau. After meeting with the Naval Board, Roosevelt concludes that Evans and those under his command have done their work well and that the Dewey camp are “entirely in error” to rally against Evans and Rousseau.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-10
President Roosevelt informs Congressman Raines that he reviewed Clements’ case with Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf. They agree that Clements’ punishment was excessive, and while he should be punished, his infraction did not merit his discharge.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-19
President Roosevelt asks Rear Admiral Converse if it would be possible for younger men–at minimum the commanders–to take part in battle exercises. He would also like Cameron McRae Winslow to receive command of a separate squadron.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-27
President Roosevelt accepts Harry H. Rousseau’s letter of resignation as chief of the Bureau of Yards and Decks for the Navy. His resignation will be effective on the date he qualifies as a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-15
President Roosevelt appreciates Governor Glenn’s invitation for an event honoring Ensign Worth Bagley, but it is impossible for Roosevelt to attend.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-21
President Roosevelt was impressed with what John St. Loe Strachey had to say about Berlin and Paris and discusses his thoughts on the war scare between England and Germany two years prior. He tells Strachey that there are those who object to “keeping up the Navy” while also persuading him to come to terms with Japan, which he sees as “inviting trouble” and refusing to prepare if conflict with Japan became a reality. Roosevelt believes that the United States will have to adopt a similar policy on Japanese immigration as Australia but is confused as to why a country with a much smaller population and birth-rate adopted such a policy so soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-22
President Roosevelt asks Endicott Peabody, rector of Groton School, if he would admit Archibald B. Roosevelt on the recommendation of Thomas W. Sidwell, rather than requiring him to take the normal Groton entrance exams. Peabody arranged for Kermit Roosevelt to be admitted this way, and although Roosevelt does not think Archie will do as well at Groton as his older brother, he still believes he “will succeed.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-12
President Roosevelt pens his son Kermit Roosevelt with updates about the family’s activities over the previous weekend, including rides on the presidential yacht and hikes with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. He is especially gushing about his wife, and Kermit’s mother, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s aptitude for physical activity and general intelligence. Roosevelt goes on to describe his trouble responding to the San Francisco Board of Eduction’s attempt to remove Japanese students from schools. He believes that the general distain for the Japanese among Americans on the Pacific Coast, stemming from labor disputes and racism, is to blame. Congress’ refusal to fund new fortifications in Hawaii and the Philippines has added to Roosevelt’s woes in the region.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-04
President Roosevelt informs Louise Holmes Vanderbilt that he has given the last hundred dollars of the money she sent him to a charity in Washington that houses soldiers and sailors when they are on leave.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-06
President Roosevelt urgently asks Representative Foss to meet the following morning. For reasons Roosevelt cannot reveal by mail, the Navy is in desperate need of ammunition, which Foss’ House Committee on Naval Affairs must provide. Roosevelt believes five million dollars should be dedicated to ammunition as a start.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-08