John B Hattendorf - Forging the Trident: Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy

FORGING
the
TRIDENT

Titles in the Series

Progressives in Navy Blue: Maritime Strategy, American Empire,
and the Transformation of U.S. Naval Identity, 18731898

Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine
in the U.S. Navy, 18981945

Victory without Peace: The United States Navy
in European Waters, 19191924

Admiral John S. McCain and the Triumph of Naval Air Power

Churchills Phoney War: A Study in Folly and Frustration

COSSAC: Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Morgan and
the Genesis of Operation OVERLORD

The Emergence of American Amphibious Warfare, 18981945

U-Boat Commander Oskar Kusch: Anatomy of
a Nazi-Era Betrayal and Judicial Murder

Studies in Naval History and Sea Power

Christopher M. Bell and James C. Bradford, editors

Studies in Naval History and Sea Power advances our understanding of sea power and its role in global security by publishing significant new scholarship on navies and naval affairs. The series presents specialists in naval history, as well as students of sea power, with works that cover the role of the worlds naval powers, from the ancient world to the navies and coast guards of today. The works in Studies in Naval History and Sea Power examine all aspects of navies and conflict at sea, including naval operations, strategy, and tactics, as well as the intersections of sea power and diplomacy, navies and technology, sea services and civilian societies, and the financing and administration of seagoing military forces.

FORGING
the
TRIDENT

THEODORE ROOSEVELT
AND
THE UNITED STATES NAVY

Edited by

John B. Hattendorf and William P. Leeman

Naval Institute Press

Annapolis, Maryland

Naval Institute Press

291 Wood Road

Annapolis, MD 21402

2020 by John B. Hattendorf and William P. Leeman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hattendorf, John B, editor. | Leeman, William P, editor.

Title: Forging the trident : Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy / edited by John B. Hattendorf and William P. Leeman

Other titles: Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy

Description: Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2020] | Series: Studies in Naval History and Sea Power | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020022992 (print) | LCCN 2020022993 (ebook) | ISBN 9781682475348 (hardback) | ISBN 9781682475560 (ebook) | ISBN 9781682475560 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919. | United StatesHistory, Naval20th century. | United StatesPolitics and government19331945. | United States. NavyHistory20th century. | Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919Influence.

Classification: LCC E757 .F67 2020 (print) | LCC E757 (ebook) | DDC 359.00973/09041dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022992

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022993

Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).

Printed in the United States of America.

28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 209 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First printing

CONTENTS

John B. Hattendorf

Sarah Goldberger

Kevin D. McCranie

Edward J. Marolda

William P. Leeman

Jon Scott Logel

Matthew Oyos

David Kohnen

Branden Little

James R. Holmes

Jason W. Smith

Craig L. Symonds

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Battleships served a power-projection role for the United States during Theodore Roosevelts presidency. Today aircraft carriers perform that power-projection role; they include the Nimitz-class supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1986 to honor the twenty-sixth president of the United States. Few people have had as profound and multifaceted an impact on the U.S. Navy as Theodore Roosevelt did during his time as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and as commander in chief. An accomplished naval historian before embarking on a political career, Roosevelt used naval history and heritage as a way to capture the interest and secure the support of the public, the press, and his fellow politicians for an expanded and mightier American fleet. Roosevelts appropriation and glorification of Americas naval past to educate his fellow Americans and enhance U.S. naval power in his own time forms the central theme of this book. Drawing inspiration from FDR and the U.S. Navy (New York: St. Martins Press, 1998), an excellent collection of scholarly essays edited by Edward J. Marolda that examines Franklin D. Roosevelts lifelong interaction with the Navy, we decided to produce a similar book focusing on Theodore Roosevelt, FDRs distant cousin and idol.

This volume is a cooperative effort between faculty members in the Department of History at Salve Regina University and the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research at the Naval War College, both in Newport, Rhode Island. A key element in the development of the book was a conference workshop held at Salve Regina Universitys Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy on 26 January 2019. At Salve Regina University, Jim Ludes, the executive director of the Pell Center, supported this project from its beginning and generously provided the venue for the workshop, while Teresa Haas, the office and events manager at the Pell Center, expertly handled the logistics. Special thanks go to Sally McGinty and the rest of the McGinty family for their generous financial support of the Department of Historys activities through the John E. McGinty Fund in History, which provided funding for the workshop. At the Hattendorf Center, David Kohnen, the director, arranged funding support for travel to the workshop, and Mark Fiorey, the deputy director, handled the travel arrangements. At the Naval Institute Press, Glenn Griffith expressed immediate interest in publishing this volume and gave valuable advice as the manuscript moved toward publication.

William Leeman would like to thank Salve Regina University for awarding him a semester-long sabbatical to complete work on the book. His student Makenzie Sadler helped with the preparation of the book manuscript during the final stages. His Department of History colleagues Timothy Neary and John Quinn have offered advice, support, enthusiasm, and encouragement for this project since its inception. His parents, Barbara and William Leeman, have provided unwavering support and encouragement for this book, as they have for all of his previous historical endeavors.