Roosevelt Theodore - Theodore Roosevelt abroad: nature, empire, and the journey of an American president

Previous Books by J. Lee Thompson A Wider Patriotism: Alfred Milner and the British Empire (2007)
Forgotten Patriot: A Life of Alfred, Viscount Milner of St James and Cape Town (2006)
Northcliffe: Press Baron in Politics, 18651922 (2000)
Politicians, the Press and Propaganda: Lord Northcliffe and the Great War, 19141919 (1999) THEODORE ROOSEVELT ABROAD Copyright J. Lee Thompson, 2010.
All rights reserved.

First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
in the United Statesa division of St. Martins Press LLC,
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ISBN: 9780230102774
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thompson, J. Lee, 1951
Theodore Roosevelt abroad : nature, empire, and the journey of an

American president / by J. Lee Thompson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0230102778 (alk. paper)

1. Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919TravelAfrica. 2. Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919TravelEurope. 3. AfricaDescription and travel. 4. EuropeDescription and travel. 5. Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919 Political and social views. 6. Nature conservationAfricaHistory20th century. 7. ImperialismHistory20th century. 8. United StatesForeign relations19091913. 9. United StatesPolitics and government 19091913. 10. Ex-presidentsUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.

E757.T47 2010
973.91 1092dc22 2009039961

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: April 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.

To Raymond Ulrich Preface and Acknowledgments ix Prologue xiii

Selected Bibliography 205

A century ago, the journalist John Callan OLaughlin published From the Jungle through Europe with Roosevelt (1910). Outside TRs own African Game Trails that same year OLaughlins work has until now remained the only other separate book-length study to seriously chronicle even part of Roosevelts fifteen-month post-presidential

o d y s s e y .1 The reasons for this neglect are many. First, hunting has not been a popular subject for contemporary historians, who also have been in the main loath to admit the key role played by gentlemen hunters such as Roosevelt in the founding and preservation of the American conservation movement.2 In such natural pursuits TR had a long history, back to his boyhood studies of birds and other wildlife in New York, further stimulated at Harvard and in his brief, yet formative, Cowboy period in the Dakotas.

The most dynamic president the United States has ever had, TR was also the first, and sadly only, environmentalist head of state. Roosevelts most lasting domestic legacy as president came in the conservation of vast tracts of wilderness for the future use and enjoyment of the nation. When he left the presidency in 1909, TR was well aware that many African species were already endangered, and he was careful to mount what was considered at the time a cutting-edge scientific safari. Stories of bloody Rooseveltian carnage have abounded ever since, yet out of hundreds of African big game trophies, the number taken for his personal collection was tiny, with almost all of the specimens going to the Smithsonian and other collections, where they are still studied by scientists today.

Another reason TRs tour has been given relatively little attention is simply that it represents a calm between the relative storms of his preceding presidency and the soon to follow 1912 Bull Moose campaign. Roosevelt attempted to leave politics behind in 1909, and

xP REFACE AND A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

wanted to allow his anointed successor and friend William Howard Taft to plow his own furrow. However, even in Africa, he could not escape the fight that soon developed at home between President Taft, who had promised to carry on the Roosevelt policies unchanged, and a band of insurgent Republicans who picked up TRs fallen progressive banner. This work argues that the impetus to make the 1912 Bull Moose fight against Taft, which for all practical purposes handed the presidency to Woodrow Wilson, was firmly established before Roosevelt ever returned to Americas shores in June 1910.

Another theme in the following has to do with Roosevelts postexpansionist imperialism, or as he would have preferred to call it, Democratic Nationalism. The great majority of his 19091910 journey was spent in Britains African Empire, and then ended in its seat, London. This affords an opportunity for a comparative glimpse of American and British imperialism as it was in the period just before World War I. As president, Roosevelt charted a new imperial and great power course for America. He also believed deeply in the destiny of what he called the English-Speaking peoples as a positive and civilizing force in the world. He both laid the foundation and solidified AngloAmerican amity in a threatening new century.

The final major thread followed in this book is the little noticed peace mission Roosevelt carried out in Europe in 1910, in speeches and unofficial diplomacy, most importantly with his doppelganger Wilhelm II, Emperor of the quasi-autocratic German Empire.3 Both men practiced a personal brand of diplomacy and interacted with each other through crises in Venezuela, Morocco, and the Far East, before they ever met in 1910. TR was famous for his foreign policy creed, borrowed from a West African proverb: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. Wilhelms motto might have been: Speak loudly; and you will scare ancient enemies into each others arms for this is exactly what he did with England, France, and Russia in the years before World War I. Wilhelm and his brethren in Europe fully expected that Roosevelt would once again be president of the United States, as did he in his heart of hearts, whatever protestations he made at the time.

The following work reveals Roosevelts post-presidential journey largely through his words, in his letters and speeches, which remain eloquent and compelling today, and in the words of those who wrote to and about him, without overwhelming authorial prodding and

P REFACE AND A CKNOWLEDGMENTS xi

comment. Luckily for the historian and biographer, TR carried on an immense private and public correspondence. The great majority of Roosevelts papers and diaries are in two locations: the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Washington, and The Theodore Roosevelt Collection at the Houghton Library, Harvard. In addition to these, research for this work was undertaken at the Smithsonian Institution Archives; the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History; the Parliamentary Archives, London; The Courtauld Institute, London; the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge; and the Cambridge University Library. In addition to the various Roosevelt collections, the papers of numerous contemporaries were also consulted for this work, which has been based, in part, on evidence not previously published.

* * *

I must express my thanks to the following individuals and institutions who made materials available to me, gave assistance or permissions without which this study could not have been completed: Mr. Wallace Finley Dailey, Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University; Jennifer Brathovde, The Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division; The Smithsonian Institution Archives; Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, Associate Director for Research and Collections, Linda Gordon, James Dean, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History; The Clerk of the Records of the Parliamentary Archives, on behalf of the Beaverbrook Foundation; The Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge; The British Library Board; The Courtauld Institute of Art; The National Army Museum; Fauna and Flora International; and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Library. If I have unwittingly infringed on the copyright of any persons or institutions, I hope they will accept my sincerest apologies and notify me of the oversight. This work was supported by a Lamar University Research Enhancement Grant and much of the research was carried out while I was a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge University.