War

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Leland

Theodore Roosevelt believes that Colonel Leland can do the most good at his current munitions position under Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Roosevelt admires Lloyd George’s work and the recent differences between the United States and Great Britain are that the British have Lloyd George and the United States has no one. He has been surprised at the resilience of the Central Powers and feels that Germany is currently “on the whole victorious.” Roosevelt is pleased that Leland supports conscription and Roosevelt has been working in support of obligatory American military training and service. He believes the British were too harsh on the leaders of the Irish Easter Rising and should not have used capital punishment. Roosevelt is disgusted at the policies of the Wilson administration and has been waging a lonely war in favor of military readiness and against hyphenated Americanism. He does not expect to be a presidential nominee and believes the Republicans will nominate Justice Hughes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-06-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry A. Wise Wood

Theodore Roosevelt was pleased with Henry A. Wise Wood’s statements regarding Roosevelt’s truthfulness. To people who claim that Roosevelt would take the country into war he responds that during his presidency no shots were fired at a foreign foe and no Americans were killed by representatives of foreign governments. However, under President Woodrow Wilson’s tenure, he has begun small wars with Mexico, Haiti, and Santo Domingo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-05-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to B. P. Jordan

Theodore Roosevelt does not believe that this administration can be kicked into a war with Germany.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-05-08

Remarks of President Roosevelt at Arlington Cemetery

President Roosevelt speaks at the reburial of William S. Rosencrans at Arlington National Cemetery. Roosevelt honors veterans of the American Civil War, like Rosencrans, without whom, “the work of Washington would have crumbled into bloody chaos.” Roosevelt asserts that without the work of the soldiers in the Civil War, the accomplishments of soldiers in the Revolutionary War would have meant nothing. Roosevelt also declares that it does not matter what rank one held in the army, as long as he did his duty.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-05-17

Address of President Roosevelt at Fargo, North Dakota, April 7, 1903, The Philippine Islands and the army

Text of President Roosevelt’s speech entitled “The Philippine Islands and the Army.” He discusses the previous remarks of President McKinley and what has been done in the Philippine Islands since McKinley’s speech.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-07

Address of President Roosevelt at the Capitol Grounds, Des Moines, Iowa, April 28, 1903

President Roosevelt greets an audience at the Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa. He speaks of the “invaluable work” done by Congressman Colonel Hull. He also thanks the veterans of the Civil War for their service and his comrades from 1898 and the fifty-first Iowa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-28

The president at the summer White House

Woodrow Wilson, at his summer home Shadow Lawn, is shown being menaced by a number of a shadows, including ones labeled “German American Vote,” “T.R.,” “Wilson’s Mexican Policy,” “Democratic Extravagance,” “R.I.P. Principle of Arbitration,” “Military Impotence,” “Poor Appointments,” “Pork,” “Women’s Vote,” and “Daniels.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1916-09-08

The wars that never come

George F. “Hoar” sits with a broken drum labeled “Hawaiian Bluster,” Henry Cabot “Lodge” holds a broken rifle labeled “Behring Sea War Thunder,” and John T. “Morgan” sits with a bent and beaten-up bugle labeled “Nicaraguan War Blast.” A large female angel of “Peace” stands behind, spreading her wings over them.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-05-29

Address of Theodore Roosevelt on the necessary actions of the United States as an international power

Theodore Roosevelt lays out the duties of the United States as a member of an international community, which include securing the safety and rights of our citizens at home and abroad, guarding the honor and upholding the just influence of our nation, and maintaining the integrity of international law. He insists that the United States should try to maintain peace, but believes there are “higher things which we must keep, if need be at the price of war.” Roosevelt believes military preparedness and a strong sense of nationalism are critical, but notes that patriotism cannot develop in members of a class that is being oppressed. Therefore, the protection of the working class is necessary, as a country “must be worth living in, to be worth dying for.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

Unknown

Remarks at laying corner stone of War College

Theodore Roosevelt describes how the U.S. has reached the stage where its people must play a great role in the larger world. Roosevelt also emphasizes that the U.S. Army and Navy must be prepared well in peace in order to perform in times of war.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leslie J. Tarlton

Theodore Roosevelt was relieved that the report of R. J. Cuninghame’s death was false. He has been reluctant to write due to the terrible tragedy of the war, through which he feels totally out of sympathy with the actions of the Wilson administration. Roosevelt completed a trip down an unknown South American river, the River of Doubt, earlier in 1914. There was not much shooting and he became very sick but made it through. Kermit Roosevelt has married and works at a bank in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Richard Derby are running a hospital in Paris, France.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-11-28

Speech of Colonel Roosevelt at Portland, Maine (press release)

Theodore Roosevelt appeals to the Republicans of Maine to fight against Germany in the Great War. Roosevelt draws from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to appeal to the people to remain strong and patriotic to their country and in the fight against Germany.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1918-03-28

“The storm”

Eros (or Cupid) labeled “Arbitration” and Psyche labeled “Peace” cover their heads with a cloth labeled “Peace Congress” and flee from a storm labeled “War.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-11-22

War frivolities

At center, a brawl is underway among reserve soldiers anxious for action. Surrounding vignettes depict war-related shortages and other problems at home, such as “printing the baseball news on the tenth page now” and “no more Paris fashions.” At top, boxer Jack Johnson approaches a French soldier playing “Aux Armes Citoyens” on the trumpet. At bottom is “Our valiant correspondent at the front” locked in a safe labeled “The Daily Howl” in the middle of a battlefield.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1914-09-05

The old and the new year

Father Time presents the new year labeled “1886” to Puck standing in the foreground, holding his lithographic pencil. Behind him are scenes of events from 1885, such as President Cleveland’s inauguration on March 4, Fredinand Ward’s conviction and William Mahone’s defeat, publication of Pope Leo XIII’s “Encyclical” Immortale Dei, Louis Pasteur’s anti-rabies vaccine, Chinese attacked in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Tacoma, Washington Territory, and the Grim Reaper strikes down Ulysses S. Grant, Alfonso XII of Spain, William H. Vanderbilt, composer Leopold Damrosch, Cardinal McCloskey, Thomas Hendricks, and Victor Hugo. Fighting continues in Bulgaria, Sudan, Tonquin, and Spain.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-12-30

Battle of San Juan Hill print

A battle scene from the Battle of San Juan Hill depicting Theodore Roosevelt and troopers of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry advancing, on foot, up a small hill towards a fort.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

Creation Date

Unknown

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Woodville Rockhill

President Roosevelt writes to William Woodville Rockhill, ambassador to China, to ask that Rockhill and his wife take care of Alice Roosevelt on her upcoming venture to the Orient. Roosevelt also asks for information on the “smashing overthrow” of the Russian naval fleet, specifically what military arms were used to execute the mission.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1905-05-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Woodville Rockhill

President Roosevelt confirms receipt of William Woodville Rockhill’s recent letter and agrees with his opinion. Roosevelt states that he does not have “much hope for peace” between Japan and Russia since the Russians are “such fools”.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1905-08-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Bradley T. Johnson

Governor Roosevelt describes his busy work schedule to General Johnson and his desire to take a holiday. Roosevelt also inquires if Johnson has a copy of Roosevelt’s book, Rough Riders, and if not he wishes to send him one. Roosevelt also discusses Generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and the memory of the Civil War.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1899-07-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Bradley T. Johnson

Governor Roosevelt addresses General Johnson’s inquiry regarding fraud and the canals of New York, and defends himself of criticism he has received by Democrats and for his association with Senator Thomas Collier Platt. Roosevelt feels that his previous two years of public service speak for themselves, but that he is unsure of his political future other than the only position he absolutely does not desire is the Vice Presidency. Lastly, Roosevelt comments on the Boer War and the British handling of the situation.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1900-02-26