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President Roosevelt is pleased to hear that Felix Adler is going to Berlin, Germany. Roosevelt believes that Adler is helping to strengthen goodwill between the United States and Germany. He asks Adler to send his regards to Emperor William II if he sees him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-08
President Roosevelt informs Yale University President Hadley that he did not give Professor William Henry Schofield a personal letter for Emperor William II of Germany. Rather, he asked Schofield to convey his regards. He notes that he did write personal letters of congratulation to Professors Francis Greenwood Peabody and John William Burgess, and apologizes for not writing Hadley a personal letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-08
President Roosevelt comments to Whitelaw Reid, the Ambassador to Great Britain, about an incident involving the publication of letters. Roosevelt is sorry about Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman and the trouble of the Liberal majority. Roosevelt provides a brief update to Reid about the planned journey of the United States Naval Fleet, saying that it has been invited to stop by Japan on its trip. Roosevelt had hoped that this would not be necessary, as he is nervous that “some desperado [will do] something that will have very bad effects.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-20
President Roosevelt asks Ambassador Tower to thank German Emperor William II for the message. Roosevelt was already aware of the presence of Japanese in Mexico, and comments that many Japanese do not remain in Mexico, but attempt to enter the United States. Roosevelt comments about Japanese seeking to enter the United States from Canada as well, and suggests that the reason that many of these immigrants are soldiers is not due to plans by the Japanese emperor, but because they have trouble readjusting to life in Japan after having served in Manchuria. Roosevelt is pleased by William II’s approval of what he did with the fleet in the Pacific.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-12
The political cartoon Ambassador Reid sent greatly amuses President Roosevelt. He inquires if he can obtain the original, in addition to other Punch cartoons, including one depicting him and Emperor William II, which was banned in Berlin. Unsurprisingly, people have responded negatively to the financial crisis. Roosevelt remembers a similar reaction during the Spanish-American War. He has a better understanding of what Abraham Lincoln faced and what future presidents will experience in the case of a great national crisis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-14
President Roosevelt is impressed with Ambassador Tower’s report on the relationship between the U.S. and Japan. Roosevelt does not believe Japan plans to launch an attack, but acknowledges rising tensions and cites the movement of the Great White Fleet as part of his efforts to be prepared. Roosevelt also asks Tower to thank the German officials and especially Emperor William II for their help and agrees that the U.S. should maintain the Open Door Policy with China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-19
President Roosevelt asks Ambassador Sternburg to thank German Emperor William II for inviting Secretary of War William H. Taft to visit him on the Isle of Wight in light of the fact that he will not be in Berlin at the same time as Taft. Roosevelt is not sure if Taft plans to return to the United States through Europe.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
If Secretary of War William H. Taft returns to the United States via Europe he will need to stop at the Isle of Wight to meet with German Emperor William II in addition to his already planned stops in St. Petersburg, Berlin, Paris, and London.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
President Roosevelt thanks Ambassador Tower for his handling of the situation with Edwin Lefevre, a journalist that German Emperor William II did not want to receive. Roosevelt agrees that it is time for Tower to leave Germany and praises his record in the diplomatic service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-09
President Roosevelt tells Henry Howard of the Eastern Yacht Club that he welcomes international competitions when they are as cordial as last year’s German-American races. Roosevelt would like to see such competitions with Spain, Russia, or other international powers. Roosevelt extends his good wishes to the American team, as well as to German Emperor William II and Prince Henry.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-18
President Roosevelt thanks Andrew Carnegie for a clipping of Carnegie’s interview. Roosevelt appreciates Carnegie defending him against George Brinton McClellan Harvey, who recently attacked Roosevelt in the European press, but believes Carnegie attaches more importance to Harvey than Roosevelt does. Roosevelt is more concerned about keeping peace with Japan than with the International Peace Conference underway at The Hague.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-15
President Roosevelt sends photographs of him and his son Ted jumping horses to German Ambassador to the United States Sternburg. Roosevelt asks Sternburg to give them to German Emperor William II.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-16
President Roosevelt writes to Ambassador Tower to see if Tower can arrange a meeting between Edwin Lefevre and German Emperor William II.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-25
President Roosevelt believes Arthur Hamilton Lee handled the “Swettenham matter” efficiently, calling the matter itself a “cosmic incident” and citing others like Swettenham in American Government, most notably General James Harrison Wilson. He was amused by the opinions of John William Burgess, who was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt professorship in at the University of Berlin. While Roosevelt admires some of Burgess’s scholarly accomplishments, he considers Burgess “hopefully wrong-headed” and criticizes his first lecture denouncing the Monroe Doctrine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-08
President Roosevelt writes that the ambassador in question is a close friend of Kaiser William II and the Kaiser does not want the ambassador removed. Roosevelt asks for whatever information Nicholas Murray Butler may have.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-26
President Roosevelt asks German Ambassador Sternburg to give his thanks to German Emperor William II. The statistics given to Roosevelt match those of the United States’, and he assume that means they are correct. He remarks on a new battleship, calling it “formidable.” In a handwritten postscript, he tells Sternburg that he shot a wild turkey.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-06
President Roosevelt sends Ambassador White a letter detailing some of his thoughts on reductions of armaments with the caveat that while White may use the letter when speaking with officials, he must realize that what Roosevelt writes is “tentative and suggestive,” and neither binding Roosevelt nor the United States to any official position. While Roosevelt agrees with British Secretary of War R. B. Haldane that it would be good to put limits on the growth of militaries, he does not think the United States can reduce its army or navy because of their already small size. He clarifies his relations with German Emperor William II, explaining that contrary to Haldane’s assumption his influence over him is very limited, and he does not know if he would be able to convince him of anything. Roosevelt is additionally hesitant about a policy of disarmament coming soon, and believes that while it may be possible to someday reduce armies and navies, he thinks that at present it would be “a great misfortune for the free peoples to disarm and leave the various military despotisms and military barbarians armed.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-14
President Roosevelt wishes the United States did not have the custom forbidding the President from going abroad, as he believes he could be of help at the Hague conference mediating between Kaiser William II of Germany and the authorities of France and England. Roosevelt tells Andrew Carnegie that he hopes to see progress from the peace conference, including a stop or a slowing of the current arms race. He comments, however, that without a real system of international police countries are not able to entirely demilitarize. Rosevelt has been disappointed by the lack of support from the American peace movement for the passage of arbitration treaties. The Pan-American Conference has gone well, and Roosevelt hopes the Senate will ratify the Santo Domingo treaty.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-06
President Roosevelt was glad to hear Ambassador Reid’s news that the British Government is likely to take the same stance as the United States at the Hague Conference. Referencing a letter he received from Andrew Carnegie, Roosevelt remarks that he does not want the Liberal Government “to go to any maudlin extremes at the Hague Conference,” and that while it is good to minimize the chance of war, nations should not put themselves at a disadvantage compared to militaristic nations. Roosevelt comments on several United States politicians, particularly John Sharp Williams, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-07
President Roosevelt asks German Ambassador Sternburg to pass along his thanks to German Emperor William II, Empress Auguste Viktoria, Crown Prince August Wilhelm, and Crown Princess Cecilie for the messages they sent him, and for the courtesy they showed to Roosevelt’s daughter and son-in-law Alice Longworth and Representative Nicholas Longworth during their recent European honeymoon. Roosevelt also appreciated the Emperor’s courtesy towards American Special Ambassador Frederick W. Whitridge in granting him an interview.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-21