Your TR Source
A collection of reprinted stories and editorials about Theodore Roosevelt’s successes during his presidency and political career, specifically diplomatic achievements. One editorial calls for Roosevelt’s nomination in the 1916 presidential election.
1916
Pamphlet of a speech given by Warren G. Harding to the Ohio Legislature on January 26, 1919 praising Theodore Roosevelt for his patriotism and Americanism. Harding comments on Roosevelt’s involvement in the Panama Canal, support for American involvement in the First World War, and his radical, yet noble views.
1920
President Roosevelt confides to Senator Lodge that due to the poor health of former Secretary of State John Hay, Roosevelt had to act as his own Secretary of State. Roosevelt also confesses that he had doubts about Hay’s judgment on matters such as dealing with Kaiser William II of Germany. Roosevelt states that he is pleased that Elihu Root accepted his offer to replace Hay, and he provides insight on negotiations with France and Germany regarding the crisis in Morocco.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1905-07-11
Serge Ricard studies the attitude of the United States government to arbitration and disarmament proposals put forward by the First and Second Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. Ricard notes that the United States approved of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, but he stresses that the nation, especially under the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, did not pursue disarmament proposals. Ricard asserts that Roosevelt always favored preparedness over disarmament as the best means to avoid war, and he notes that the United States’ traditional policies of isolationism and non-interference in European affairs made it unlikely the country would embrace international bodies. Ricard notes that Secretary of State Elihu Root managed America’s participation in the Second Hague Peace Conference of 1907.
Six photographs and one illustration accompany the text.
In his review of J. Lee Thompson’s Theodore Roosevelt Abroad, which studies Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 to 1910 journey to Africa and Europe, Robert Wexelblatt highlights Thompson’s discussion of Roosevelt’s hunting ethics, his views on imperialism and race, and his commitment to a strong relationship between the United States and Great Britain. Wexelblatt also focuses on Roosevelt’s interactions with Kaiser William II of Germany. Wexelblatt credits Thompson for pointing out shortcomings in Roosevelt’s thoughts and actions, and he employs several block quotes to highlight passages from Thompson and Roosevelt.
The front cover illustration of the book appears at the center of the second page of the review.
President Roosevelt tells Ambassador Reid that he would like to share more information with him about his relationship with Kaiser William II of Germany. Roosevelt writes that the voyage of the Great White Fleet was not the first time he had employed the navy to bring about a diplomatic resolution. Roosevelt informs Reid that he believes in “the policy of speaking softly and carrying a big stick,” and he hopes that in his upcoming safari to Africa he can avoid official functions and reporters.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1908-12-04
In his review of Henry J. Hendrix’s Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy, William N. Tilchin examines each of the seven chapters of the book, highlighting both the issues where he disagrees with Hendrix and praising him for “a well-crafted narrative account” of diplomatic milestones in Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Tilchin challenges Hendrix on the latter’s account of the Venezuelan crisis of 1902 – 1903, and he takes exception with one of the conclusion’s assertions, but he finds great value in Hendrix’s chapters on the Panama Canal, the Ion Perdicaris affair, the Treaty of Portsmouth, and Roosevelt’s transformation of the United States Navy. Tilchin’s review includes a number of references to prior works on Roosevelt’s diplomacy, highlighting the historiographical debates which have marked issues addressed by Hendrix.
Three photographs of naval commanders under Roosevelt and two illustrations, including the book’s cover, supplement the text. An advertisement for chocolate bars from The Chocolate Lady of Oyster Bay, New York, appears at the end of the review.
In a letter to George Otto Trevelyan, President Roosevelt provides details of some of the negotiations he undertook with regard to various crises during his presidency. Roosevelt relays his experience dealing with Kaiser William II of Germany in three matters, and he discusses the desire of the Japanese to keep secret their asking Roosevelt to mediate the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt underscores the insecure temperament of William II, and he cautions Trevelyan against sharing his letter except with perhaps his sons and Viscount Edward Grey. Roosevelt also discusses a diplomatic dustup with Germany caused by the diplomatic meddling of Andrew Carnegie.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1911-11-09
Tweed Roosevelt lists 100 firsts by Theodore Roosevelt, ranging from the more widely known at number one, that Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Prize, to the obscure at number 100, that Roosevelt was the first American president to have a wife sail on a battleship. In addition to a photograph of the author, the column features ten photographs of Roosevelt, some of which depict his firsts, from riding in a car to flying in an airplane.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2009
Carl Cavanagh Hodge examines Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas and policies regarding naval policy in the context of international relations and a naval arms race in the first decade of the twentieth century. Hodge emphasizes Roosevelt’s reading and use of the ideas of naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, and he compares American naval plans with those of Great Britain and Germany. Hodge frames Roosevelt’s policies within the context of friendly relations with Great Britain, an increasingly assertive Germany, and the rising power of Japan, especially in the wake of the Russo-Japanese War. Hodge highlights the acquisition and construction of the Panama Canal and the voyage of the Great White Fleet as key parts of Roosevelt’s overall naval strategy. He notes Roosevelt’s embrace of the battleship as a means of engaging other nations’ fleets abroad, and he asserts that Roosevelt saw the fleet as an important symbol of American power.
Eight photographs, including those of Roosevelt and Mahan, and one illustration supplement the article. A text with the mission statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appears in the endnotes.
William N. Tilchin examines the foreign policy of President Theodore Roosevelt. Tilchin asserts that Roosevelt was not interested in practicing coercive, economic diplomacy, and he identifies the nations that Roosevelt saw as friendly, such as Great Britain, and those he treated cautiously, Germany and Japan. Tilchin looks at how Roosevelt undertook his diplomacy, identifying five elements of “big stick diplomacy,” such as strengthening the United States Navy. Tilchin identifies discrete episodes or crises in Roosevelt’s presidency, and he describes how Roosevelt resolved them, including the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, Germany’s attempt to bully Venezuela, and the revolt in Panama. He highlights Roosevelt’s dispatch of the Great White Fleet, his reluctance to invoke the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and his diplomacy during Morocco’s dispute with Germany.
A photograph of Roosevelt with Emperor William II of Germany, and pictures of the Great White Fleet and Secretary of State Elihu Root supplement the text, as does a political cartoon of Roosevelt.
Stefan H. Rinke explores the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Hermann Speck von Sternburg, the German ambassador to the United States from 1903 to 1908. Rinke notes that the two became friends in the 1880s, and that they shared mutual interests in the outdoors, hunting, and the study of war. Rinke says that Roosevelt’s friendship for Sternburg led to the President’s lobbying the German government to have Sternburg appointed ambassador, but he believes that Sternburg could not significantly improve the relationship between Germany and the United States because Roosevelt was so partial to Great Britain and France.
Photographs of Sternburg and Rinke appear in the article as do two text boxes. One has a listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the other notes that this issue of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal is dedicated to Captain Charles S. Abott and the men of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
William N. Tilchin surveys the major works on President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy from 1956 to 1986, looking at nine books and one article. Tilchin provides detailed reviews of eight of the books, and highlights the discussion of diplomacy in the ninth. In doing so, Tilchin addresses the historiography of Roosevelt and his foreign policy, and he demonstrates how Roosevelt’s reputation as a diplomat grew from the low point it reached with Henry F. Pringle’s biography of 1931. Tilchin touches on the major international crises and issues of Roosevelt’s presidency, including the Philippine American War, the creation of the Panama Canal, and the voyage of the Great White Fleet. The essay is supported by 183 endnotes and includes a listing of publications about Roosevelt’s diplomacy not addressed in the text.
The article also contains three text boxes: one lists the leadership of the Theodore Roosevelt Association; another, “About the Author,” notes Tilchin’s work as a teacher and historian; and a third says that this issue of the journal “is dedicated to the people of the State of North Dakota.” A portrait of Roosevelt and a photograph of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt with elements of her air wing illustrate the article.
Edmund Morris examines in great detail the negotiations that led to the resolution of the Venezuelan debt and blockade crisis of 1902 between the United States and Germany. Morris agrees with historian Frederick W. Marks that much of the correspondence and records of the negotiations have been destroyed, and he provides five pages of tables to show the different versions of the negotiations as remembered by Theodore Roosevelt and recorded by various journalists, historians, and biographers. Morris argues that Roosevelt saw Germany as a threat to American interests and the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine, and he asserts that Roosevelt behaved like a gentleman who was keen to prevent the humiliation of Emperor William II. Morris demonstrates that Roosevelt acted in keeping with his belief of speaking softly while deploying American naval assets under the command of Admiral George Dewey. Morris asserts that this combination of deft diplomacy and the employment of military power led to a successful resolution of the crisis.
A photograph of Roosevelt standing next to a large globe and another showing him on horseback with Emperor William II of Germany appear in the article. A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of its executive committee also appears in the article.
Barbara W. Tuchman examines Theodore Roosevelt’s thoughts on, and conduct of, foreign policy during the Spanish-American War and during his presidency. She shows both the belligerent and diplomatic sides of his nature by looking at his handling of the Perdicaris-Raisuli affair in 1904 and his relationship with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Tuchman also compares Roosevelt’s views with those of the long-time president of Harvard, Charles W. Eliot.
The invitation to the symposium at Harvard featuring Tuchman is reproduced on the second page of her article.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
John A. Gable begins the “Book Notes” column with a review of Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady. In doing so, he provides a shorter, but still complete examination of Roosevelt’s life, and highlights the research Morris did utilizing letters, Roosevelt’s diary, and interviews.
Three pictures of Edith Roosevelt are included in the review: one considered the favorite of her husband, Theodore Roosevelt; a drawing by John Singer Sargent; and a third of Edith Roosevelt with Lou Henry Hoover, the wife of Herbert Hoover.
In Gable’s following review of Frederick W. Mark’s Velvet on Iron: The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt, Gable places the work in the context of other studies of Roosevelt and argues that it represents a further step in an ongoing reappraisal of Roosevelt. He quotes extensively from Marks and from Edmund Morris’s review of the work.
A picture of Roosevelt at his desk at Sagamore Hill accompanies the review.
Notice about the dedication of the Richards-Theodore Roosevelt Room at the Mugar Memorial Library at Boston University in May 1978. The room will house an extensive Theodore Roosevelt Collection donated by Paul C. Richards. The notice lists the speakers and gives a brief synopsis of their remarks. It provides background on Richards, describes the contents of the collection, and quotes from Richards’s remarks.
Photographs of the six speakers at the dedication services and of the display cases housing the collection accompany the notice.
Theodor Körner expresses his support of Theodore Roosevelt and reminds him that he was his military attaché the previous May. Körner sends military literature to Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-14
In his will, Karuna Chandra Chowdhuri, who believes himself to be the rightful king of the United Kingdom, bequeaths his “possessions or lauded properties” to the “great personage” who tried to help him, Theodore Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-10
A poem by Reverend Stubenvoll that refers to Theodore Roosevelt as “teddy bear” and recounts his accomplishments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-07