Letter from A. T. Mahan to Theodore Roosevelt
A. T. Mahan is pleased that President Roosevelt has found his books worth re-reading. His source on Michiel De Ruyter was Gerard Brandt’s work from the seventeenth century. Mahan doubts whether full justice will ever be done De Ruyter, who was appreciated more in his own time than since. Mahan comments on the case of Admiral Winfield Schley, asserting that there can be no doubt what the verdict of history will be. He has been amazed that men of intelligence have accepted Schley, even after the Court found his reports “inaccurate and misleading.” Regarding the case of General Nelson Miles, Mahan notes that he knows the facts only superficially, but he agreed entirely with President Roosevelt omitting a word of commendation for Miles on his retirement. Mahan comments that Roosevelt’s administration has accomplished two major successes on the military side: Secretary of War Elihu Root’s reorganization and the Naval General Staff Bill, which he hopes will pass.
