White, Henry, 1850-1927

William N. Tilchin organizes, explains, and defends the diplomacy of President Theodore Roosevelt. Tilchin lays out the three guiding principles of Roosevelt’s foreign policy: that the United States needs to engage with the global community; that power must be behind the nation’s diplomacy; and the United States should cultivate a close relationship with Great Britain. Tilchin also examines Roosevelt’s style of diplomacy with an emphasis on his personal direction and informality, and he describes the precepts of “big stick diplomacy.” Tilchin also divides Roosevelt’s foreign policy into three periods during his presidency, and he cites specific examples of Roosevelt’s management of various crises and events from the acquisition of the Panama Canal to the voyage of the Great White Fleet. Tilchin highlights Roosevelt’s careful and continual cultivation of a relationship with Great Britain, and he examines Roosevelt’s legacy by looking at the foreign policy undertaken by succeeding administrations in the twentieth century. 

Photographs of Roosevelt as assistant secretary of the navy, army officer, and president appear in the text as does a photograph of Secretary of State George P. Schultz.

In an excerpt from his book The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill, Hermann Hagedorn examines Theodore Roosevelt’s exercise of personal diplomacy with the representatives of Russia and Japan in his effort to mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Hagedorn details the delicate diplomacy undertaken by Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill and onboard the presidential yacht Mayflower in August 1905 which helped to secure a final peace treaty in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Hagedorn also describes Roosevelt’s descent in the U.S. Navy’s submarine, the Plunger.

A photograph, a political cartoon, and an illustration depict Roosevelt’s interaction with the envoys from Russia and Japan.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Lyle A. McGeoch examines the state of relations between the United States and Great Britain when Lord Lansdowne served as Britain’s foreign secretary from November 1900 to December 1905. He highlights the negotiations concerning the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the settlement of a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States, and a crisis stemming from Venezuela’s debt to Great Britain and Germany. McGeogh also looks at how Lansdowne struggled with the appointment of an ambassador to the United States, his difficulty at times in dealing with the personal style of diplomacy employed by President Theodore Roosevelt, and Lansdowne’s recognition of growing American power in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1979

President Roosevelt thanks Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherford White for her Christmas greetings and a book, and hopes to see her and Ambassador Henry White, her husband, the following year.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-08

Ambassador to Austria Storer informs President Roosevelt that Francis Augustus MacNutt has denied being dismissed from the American diplomatic and consular service. Although MacNutt was dismissed from the Vatican due to his misdemeanors, he wants to be reinstated there. Storer asks Roosevelt to look into the papers concerning MacNutt’s dismissal and wonders if Secretary of State Elihu Root has known about MacNutt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905

Maria Longworth Storer tells President Roosevelt that Francis Augustus MacNutt denies that he was dismissed from diplomatic service at the Vatican and has simply gone back to the United States to “rehabilitate himself.” Ambassador to Italy Henry White is friendly with MacNutt, though Storer hopes that Secretary of State Elihu Root can find proof of his dismissal. She also asks if she and her husband can be special envoys to Spain in the event of the wedding of King Alfonso XIII.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-24

George Otto Trevelyan discusses the books that President Roosevelt sent, and assures him that “trash” is published in England, alongside good old books that are reprinted. He has discovered a newfound love of Cicero. Trevelyan describes his apartment in Rome, and talks about his pleasant experiences with Americans there. He is particularly glad to be near his old friends Ambassador Henry White and his wife.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-01

President Roosevelt writes to Ambassador Reid about ongoing negotiations between France and Germany about Morocco. Beginning with background information about the situation, with Germany wishing to call a conference to reform the government of Morocco—in opposition to France—Roosevelt then includes the text of numerous letters and telegrams in English and French from various parties related to this issue. Roosevelt says he will send copies of this letter to Henry White and George von Lengerke Meyer, and will show it to Secretary of State Elihu Root, as well, but no one else, as it is to be strictly confidential. He closes with some personal remarks to Reid, responding to a previous letter from him, and thanking him for presenting Milla Shonts and her daughters. The envelope appended at the end suggests that this is the copy of the letter which was sent to Meyer.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1906-04-28

Theodore Roosevelt asks Lawrence F. Abbott to pass on thanks for a letter and clippings.  He discusses a matter regarding former Ambassador White and writes a statement praising him.  Roosevelt also mentions that his trip with his sons is going well. 

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1913-07-27

President Roosevelt received a telegram from Ambassador Henry White stating Sir Cecil Spring Rice will sail next Wednesday and requests to stay with Henry Adams and visit Sir Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson. Roosevelt asks Secretary of State Hay to contact Adams and Ferguson on the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-13

President Roosevelt provides Secretary of State Hay with a list of appointments in the diplomatic and consular service after March 4, 1905. Roosevelt includes a handwritten note, “All this is tentative.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-17

President Roosevelt is interested in the conversation with Henry White regarding the Danish Islands. Roosevelt believes that the Dutch and Danish possessions in the Americas will be a constant temptation for Germany until the United States takes possession of them. A strong navy will also deter Germany. Roosevelt enjoyed his time in Yellowstone but is not looking forward to the next six weeks of travel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-22

Craig W. Wadsworth has heard that Henry White is leaving London and, should this create a vacancy, he is interested in a secretary position in London or Paris.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-12

President Roosevelt selfishly hopes that Cecil Spring Rice will be stationed at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. If Spring Rice is sent, Roosevelt would like to show him the maps submitted in the Alaska boundary case which show that the Canadians had no case. Events at the Isthmus of Panama have come to a head. The Colombians were corrupt, incompetent, and impossible to deal with.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-09

Frank Harper encloses a check from ex-Ambassador Henry White.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-09-09

Theodore Roosevelt excoriates John W. Foster, saying that Foster’s statements are knowingly false, and stating that Henry White, former ambassador to France, can corroborate his own statements.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-13

Theodore Roosevelt advises Gardiner Howland Shaw regarding his future plans, as he will graduate from Harvard in just a few months. (Shaw’s father, Henry Russell Shaw, was a Harvard classmate of Roosevelt’s, and died in 1904.) Roosevelt advises against studying law for a year if Shaw does not intend to be a lawyer. He recommends that Shaw meet with Arthur Dehon Hill, who was district attorney in Boston. If Shaw is ultimately interested in politics, Roosevelt suggests an apprenticeship at a newspaper. Shaw should not look for a diplomatic position until he acquires some experience in local politics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-01-27

President Roosevelt appreciates hearing from Sydney Brooks. However, Roosevelt is unable to give Brooks access to official government documents relating to the Portsmouth and Algeciras Conferences and refers him to The Outlook and Ambassador Henry White. Roosevelt apologizes for not being able to fulfill his request.

Comments and Context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

President Roosevelt informs Lyman Abbott of William Howe Tolman’s inappropriate request to Henry White, ambassador to France. Roosevelt notes that Tolman’s request to confer the Legion of Honor award upon William Bailey Howland is improper and requests that Abbott allow Howland and Tolman to see the relevant correspondence.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-19

President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28