The 95 - short ton Bucyrus steam excavator chug away in the Culebra excision is vast — and complicated . It requires an applied scientist , a craneman , a fireman , and several Sir Isaac Pitman to keep it operating . The machine ’s 5 - three-dimensional - yard pail is capable of moving8 tons of rock or nearly7 tonsof ground in a individual grievous bodily harm , and here , in the massive gash in the Earth that will become the Panama Canal , the machine goes about its caper , scooping and dumping , scooping and dumping , elephant - sized mound of earth into waiting railway system cars .
And currently , President Theodore Roosevelt is behind the controls .
It’sNovember 16 , 1906 , and with this trip to Panama , TR has become the first sitting president to leave the United States . He ’s scrutinise the progression on the duct that will one day connect the Atlantic and Pacific ocean .
When he sees the steam shovel from his railroad train , the chairman — who is a kid at kernel and ca n’t resist a little adventure , or a photo op — instructsthe train to halt , hop down , and strides , in his crisp white suit , into the muddy cut . He hops on board the steam power shovel , and begin a discussion with the technologist .
Later , he’lltellsome assembled actor , “ You are doing the enceinte affair of the variety that has ever been done , and I wanted to see how you are doing it . ” He reports that he ’ll be able to tell people back in the states that he can secure the achiever of the “ mighty work ” the man are doing in Panama , tot , “ It is not an easy employment . Mighty few things that are deserving doing are wanton . ”
The Panama Canal wo n’t open until 1914 , but TR ’s visit allows him to see a dream he had spoken of since 1894 coming to life — and the fact that he had support a revolution with the American Navy to make it happen did n’t trouble him in the least . The canal was being build , and it would appropriate the U.S. Navy to move easily from ocean to sea and to get to America ’s Pacific territories more cursorily — and bully to that .
Roosevelt famously said , “ speak piano and carry a big pin , you will go far . ” To some , TR was an American visionary ; to others , a warmonger . But he was a man just as famed for the battles he fought as he was for the peace treaty he secure . So just how did TR use this Big Stick Energy at home and around the world , and how far did it get him ? We ’re about to find out .
From Mental Floss and iHeartRadio , this isHistory Vs . , a podcast about how your favorite historical figures faced off against their greatest foe . I ’m your horde , Erin McCarthy , and this sequence is TR vs. the World .
It ’s not so surprising that Theodore Roosevelt had a mint of opinions about America ’s topographic point in the mankind . After all , by the time he entered government , Roosevelt hadseena mess of the world . As a nipper , he traveled extensively with his house , touring Europebetween 1869 and 1870 and visiting Egypt and Jerusalem in 1872 and 1873 . After both his first and second marriage , he honeymoon in Europe .
Roosevelt came into the White House on the heels of a number of Civil War veterans occupy the government agency — for them , worldliness was not a prerequisite for the Book of Job . President McKinley splendidly could n’t evenfindthe Philippines on a map when the Spanish - American War began .
Here ’s Geoffrey Wawro , professor and director of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas , mouth at the 2019 Theodore Roosevelt Symposium put on by the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University in North Dakota :
That ’s Clay Jenkinson , beginner of the Theodore Roosevelt Center .
From the moment Roosevelt participate the political domain , his mind was on expansion . After President Grover Cleveland , an anti - imperialistic , decline to annex Hawaii , Roosevelt bemoaned his decision not to exert his power . For TR , taking Hawaii was a necessity for the U.S.—it would help the country make up a military that could compete with Japan ’s might out in the Pacific and expand American influence on the other side of the earth .
In 1895,writinginCentury Magazine , Rooseveltsaid , “ It was a crime against the United States , it was a offence against white civilization , not to annex it two and a half years ago . The delay did harm that was perhaps irreparable ; for it meant that at the critical geological period of the island ’s growing the influx of universe consisted , not of bloodless Americans , but of low - caste laborers draw from the yellow race . ”
So , I just want to pause right here , because of those phrases , white civilizationandyellow races . Roosevelt ’s position on imperialism is tie to , and informed by , his views of race . We ’ll discuss how he develop his view in a late instalment , but the cliff ’s notes reading is that TR ’s elite upbringing , reading habits , Ivy - League education , and travels , along with 18th- and 19th - century ideas about cultural and racial development , all informed his racial theories — ideas that we get laid today are totally improper , and also , totally repugnant .
According to historiographer Thomas G. Dyer , generator ofTheodore Roosevelt and the Idea of Race , Roosevelt believe that the white , English - speak , American race was superior to other backwash , and he imagine it was America ’s duty to export its lily-white civilisation to other country of the globe .
TRbelievedthat all race and nationalities evolved through the same microscope stage of ontogeny : from disorderly savage ; to brutality , where a airstream ’s organized military virtues are form ; to the next stage , where those military virtues mix with order and racial proliferation ; to the two final stage , which see a society lose its fighting bound and eventually fall into decadency and decease .
He suppose that for a raceway to be successful and rest there , it was necessary to keep what he called its “ barbarian virtues”—basically , you ’ve got to keep fighting to stay on top .
TR knew that conflict would be inevitable in boom America ’s interests around the humanity , and due to his belief in the grandness of keeping those wild virtues , he require it .
In 1897 , he compose that “ I should receive almost any war , for I call up this commonwealth needs one . ” And in an name and address given not long after , he enunciate , “ All the heavy virtuoso races have been fighting race , and the minute that a race miss the hard fighting merit , then , no matter what else it may keep , no matter how skilled in commerce and finance , in skill or artistic creation , it has lost its majestic rightfulness to support as the equal of the best . ”
Do you feel kind of uncomfortable right now , listening to this ? So did I , when I read it . There is so much that ’s problematic here — but before we dig into it , a little more history .
Cleveland was n’t alone in disliking America ’s imperialistic tendencies . This was a catamenia when many elected officials had a general distaste for farm a military and expanding American influence around the Earth . William Jennings Bryan , President McKinley ’s opposite in the 1900 presidential election , and a man who was pretty much the consummate opposite of Roosevelt , lay out the anti - imperialistic viewpoint perfectly , sound out , “ We can not fructify a eminent and honorable example for the emulation of mankind while we rove the universe like beasts of target seeking whom we may devour . ”
Worldwide , though , the tide were turning : Japan and Russia were thrive in the Pacific , and Britain , France , and Germany continued to colonize around the earth .
Roosevelt ’s vision for a mightier , more expansive America would get near to reality when he was appointed assistant secretary of the Navy in 1897 . He was a vocal proponent for war against Spain at the time , in defiance of President McKinley ’s more methodical approach . TR would also be a fundamental figure in grow the U.S. Navy and fix them to go to war at a moment ’s notice . And when the Spanish - American war came in 1898 , it was Roosevelt who personally help lead the explosive charge on the ground in Cuba .
you could see these “ get in the bowl ” paper often in Roosevelt ’s speech , including in " The Strenuous Life , " in which he explicitly linked empire - making with the idea of American maleness :
Roosevelt also reason that in places like Cuba and the Philippines , Americans had a duty to oversee their population until they hand a stage where they could regularize themselves . In " The Strenuous Life , " he said that “ the Philippines offer a yet graver problem . Their universe includes half - caste and native Christians , warlike Moslems , and wild pagans . Many of their people are utterly unsound for self - government , and show no augury of becoming primed . Others may in time become fit but at present can only take part in self - government under a wise supervision , at once firm and philanthropic . We have drive Spanish tyranny from the islands . If we now allow it be replaced by savage anarchy , our employment has been for harm and not for good . ”
In his 1901annual messageto Congress , Roosevelt drop a line that Americans could successfully rule themselves because they had been wreak at it for generations , and said that we could n’t “ look to have another backwash carry out out of bridge player ” what had taken Americans so long to reach , “ especially when heavy share of that subspecies start very far behind the peak which our antecedent had get through even thirty generations ago . ”
He continued , “ In deal with the Filipino people we must show both patience and strength , patience and unshakable result . Our intent is high-pitched . We do not want to do for the islanders merely what has elsewhere been done for tropic people by even the best foreign authorities . We trust to do for them what has never before been done for any people of the tropical zone — to make them fit for ego - regime after the fashion of the really detached nations . ”
In the bookA People ’s History of the United States , Howard Zinnwritesthat , “ Roosevelt was contemptuous of race and nations he considered deficient . ” And according to Wawro , Roosevelt never thought about how weird it was that Americans should be a democratic nation and yet impose their decidedly not - popular will on other nations .
Of course , everything Roosevelt is positing altogether disregards that those state would have hold their right to ego - finding and been just fine if not for the intercession of foreign power .
Later , while campaigning as the vice - presidential candidate for President McKinley , Roosevelt push for American ascendance of the Philippines . ( Before he signed up to be VP , in fact , he’dwrittento his friend and wise man , Henry Cabot Lodge , that “ the thing I should really wish to do would be to be the first polite regulator general of the Philippines . ” )
Still , there were opponents at home , admit William Howard Taft , who would go on to serve as governor there . One of the most visible opponents — and one of Roosevelt ’s most point-blank critic — was writer Mark Twain . In a 1900 audience that appeared in theNew York World , Twain lamented America ’s insistency on intervening in the Philippine government : “ I have seek hard , and yet I can not for the life of me comprehend how we stimulate into that mess , ” he proclaimed . “ I think we should act as their protector — not essay to get them under our hound … It was not to be a governance according to our ideas , but a governance that play the feeling of the majority of the Filipinos , a government according to Philippine ideas . That would have been a worthy deputation for the United States . But now — why , we have fix into a mess , a quagmire from which each fresh step give the trouble of extrication immensely greater . ”
The long and shockingly savage war would be formally declared over in July 1902 , and TR was the president who made the announcement . Here ’s Michael Cullinane , author ofTheodore Roosevelt ’s Ghost :
In the end , anestimated4200 American troops and 20,000 Philippine troops had been killed in the conflict . But those numbers are a drop in the bucketful equate to the 200,000 Filipino civilian that are think to have died from famine , disease , and military action throughout the campaign .
The year of state of war and bloodbath give America a stronger footing in the Pacific , which TR believe wasincredibly importantfor strategical reasonableness . But for many , this was a potentially horrifying glimpse of a nation that was apparently looking to plunge itself into war after warfare , all for the sake of devour more territories . Here ’s Jenkinson :
This seems like a good seat to take a spry fault . We ’ll be right back .
Roosevelt viewed his role as a “ steward of the people , ” and , as he would afterward pen in his autobiography , “ I did not usurp power , but I did greatly broaden the use of executive superpower . ”
Roosevelt believed his office should be one of action . He wanted to influence policy and enact as much positive change as potential — and he used power aggressively and oftentimes unilaterally . Often , his weapon of choice was an executive order .
Since a president can not make new laws without Congress getting involved , executive orders be as a manner for a president to teach employee in the executive subdivision to interpret existing laws a sure mode [ PDF ] . So TR was n’t creating new laws , but was instead control them how he wanted .
He passed a staggering1081 executive ordersduring his tenure in office to get things done . Roosevelt far outpace his predecessor , William McKinley , whotalliedjust 185 executive orders . Here ’s Cullinane .
Roosevelt ’s use of executive orders helpedquadruplethe amount of protected land in the United States and lowered the age of eligibility for pension for veteran to 62 , for example .
Roosevelt also act one-sidedly when it came to international amour . Historian Kathleen Daltonwritesthat “ in strange policy … TR operate on as a police unto himself . ” He sometimes plow with other heads of state or intervened in external matters without consulting Congress or even his own Cabinet first . These kinds of index moves did not go over well . And whenever someone knock the president for build those moves , well , that did n’t go over well either .
Take , for example , when Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet—16 naval battleships — on a 43,000 mile , 14 - calendar month journeying around the globe in 1907 . This immense showcase of American power was sent off without giving Congress [ PDF ] or the State Department a hazard to approve the deputation , which was an tremendous expense and risk to the land . When one Senator threatened to recoup the money for the trip , Roosevelt is read to have respond that he already had the money , anddaredto the Tenator to “ taste and get it back . ”
That brings us back to the Panama Canal — something TR would take heat for long after he bequeath office .
The melodic theme of a manmade canal across the Isthmus of Panama , a narrow strip of country between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans , had been a far - off dream for politicians , royalty , and engineers from the 16th century . Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is credited as the first world leader to severely consider the idea and ordered a survey of the region in 1534 . Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin would latersupportit , while PresidentsAndrew JacksonandUlysses S. Grantwould go a step further by send surveyor out to see about its feasibility .
But the canal always seemed just out of scope of engineers at the time — until 1869 . That ’s the year theSuez Canalopened , which connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt . It provided the shortest route between Europe and the res publica around the Indian and westerly Pacific ocean . engineer now had a design for tackling Panama — and France stepped up to attempt to make it happen .
The Suez Canal Company had been comprised mainly of French investor and a squad of engineers conduct by Ferdinand de Lesseps . For the Panama project , France again brought in de Lesseps , who take that the project would take 12 years and $ 240 millionto culture .
Work began in 1881 , but Panama could not be moderate like Suez — heavy rains made work sites unnavigable , and boiling heat , ophidian bites , malaria , yellow fever , and variola drink down off many of the men . Others were entomb in mudslides , along with their expensive equipment . The dangerous work environment was responsible for an judge 20,000 end .
The undertaking ’s cost ballooned to $ 287 million — and the channel was nowhere close done . By 1889 , the French had given up ; dreaming of a Panama Canal would seemingly go unfulfilled .
introduce Theodore Roosevelt .
When TR ascend to the presidency in 1901 , he almost right away commence talks of stimulate his long - give dreams of the canal a reality . He was compulsive to pluck up where the French left off , narrate Congress , " No single great material oeuvre which stay to be contract on this continent is of such outcome to the American people . "
That might not be as overblown a statement as you ’d intend . A manmade epithelial duct would prune thousands of nautical mile off trips that had previously required ships to go around the southerly point of the Americas . It would speed up commerce , further connect the globe , and , in the hands of America , help create an conglomerate .
Still , there was debate over the accurate fix of the duct . One school of thought believed in a canal in Nicaragua , while an increasing minority preferred Panama . Though Panama was lose in Congress , a military man named Philippe Bunau - Varilla , a civil engineer and investor who had financial railroad tie to the old Gallic project , successfully help to buttonhole politicians to choose the more politically volatile Panama .
To get to Panama , though , you had to go through Colombia , which had control of the area at the clock time .
So Roosevelt had his writing table of state , John Hay , offer the regime $ 10 million up front and , after nine years , $ 250,000 annually for the right to build the epithelial duct and rent the area . But the Colombian administration did n’t go for it . One rumor reasonableness for the rejection , according to Kathleen Dalton , is that Germany may have undermine the U.S. ’s relationship with Colombia . They allegedly did so by overspread history that Americans back home were prejudiced toward Colombians and routinely referred to them by a particular racial slur , which some claim may have been enough to sour the res publica on dealing with the United States . Dalton also sound out hearsay abounded that Germany was unforced to fund the canal behind the scenes , which would have prey into increasingparanoiaabout German in-migration , especially toBrazil .
Roosevelt could n’t let another European magnate have so much say in Latin America , but Colombia still was n’t stir . Helatertoldauthor William Roscoe Thayer that trying to make an agreement with the rulers of Colombia was like trying to “ nail currant bush jelly to the wall . ”
Roosevelt and other purveyors of American might were none too pleased about Colombia ’s dismissal of the U.S. ’s go . Roosevelt issaidto have notice , “ Those contemptible little wight in Bogota ought to understand how much they are jeopardizing thing and imperiling their own future . ”
In November 1903 , Panama launched a rebellion against Colombia . While Roosevelt did n’t officially support the imminent rebellion , he deployed the USSNashvilleand other craft to the Panama coast toblock offany Colombian reenforcement and all but see that the insurrection would be a success .
On November 18 , 1903 , the Hay - Bunau - Varilla Treaty was signed , and then ratified a few months later , giving the United States self-possession of the Panama Canal Zone for $ 10 million and $ 250,000 yearly commence nine twelvemonth after .
Roosevelt got roasted . Daltonwritesthat “ The Senate … accused him of take over Congress ’s warfare major power . ” ( Though they apparently were n’t angry enough to vote against the pact — itpassedthe Senate 66 - 14 . ) Colorado Senator Henry Teller basically called Roosevelt a stealer , aver , “ You have no right wing to take Colombia ’s body politic in the stake of civilisation . That … is the robber ’s title . … We want it , and therefore we take it . ”
The newspaper publisher also catch in on the action , with theChicago Americancalling Roosevelt ’s actions “ a rough - ride assault upon another republic over the shattered wreckage of outside law and diplomatical usage . ” Even Roosevelt ’s attorney full general , Philander Knox , could n’t resist ribbing Roosevelt a mo , joking that he should n’t “ allow so great an accomplishment suffer from any taint of legality . ”
Roosevelt was unapologetic . He would later say that if Panama had n’t revolted on its own , he would have take Congress to invade . In aspeechat the University of California in 1911 , he continued to fight his scheme for fix the canal , saying , “ If I had followed traditional , conservative methods , I would have submitted a self-respectful Department of State paper of probably two hundred page to Congress , and the debate on it would have been going on yet . But I withdraw the Canal Zone , and let Congress debate , and while the debate goes on , the canal does also ! ”
Roosevelt would preserve to flex U.S. might across Latin America for the remainder of his time in office . By this sentence , he see debt as one of the biggest threat to the U.S. ’s interest in the Americas . And not U.S. debt , but instead debt that Latin and South American countries owe to European powers .
Foreign debts could be used as a pretext for invasion . Roosevelt feared that too much economic upheaval could lead to military treatment and colonialization of the indebted countries to a European king like the UK , France , and Germany .
He felt that things got perilously faithful during a debt crisis in Venezuela in 1902 and ’ 03 , which extend to a encirclement of the country by the United Kingdom , Germany , and Italy . While there was no gaining control of the state , Roosevelt was on alert — he was n’t about to let Europe have any influence on his side of the globe . His solution was to lay down the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine .
The Monroe Doctrine was a policy adopted in 1823 that moil down to this : The United States would intervene in any European endeavour at colonizing an independent state of matter in North or South America .
The corollary was declared by Roosevelt to Congress in 1904 . It stated that not only could the U.S. step in in any colonialization attempt from Europe , but it could also step in when a nation ’s “ wrongdoing or impotence ” had “ invited extraneous aggressiveness to the detriment of the total dead body of American nations . ” In inwardness , the United States would prevent European treatment by intervening before there even was a crisis . In his autobiography , Rooseveltsaidthat “ nine - tenth part of wisdom is to be wise in time ; and at the right time , ” excuse that the entirety of his foreign policy was based on “ healthy forethought and … decisive legal action ” before any crisis could start up , which he said would “ make it tall that we would run into serious trouble . ”
So , afterwards , when rumors were swirling that Europeans were pop off to collect on their debt in the Dominican Republic through the use of military military group , Roosevelt sent naval ships to the body politic and took control of the usance house . There , the U.S. government lead off collecting tax to requite what was owed — hold open 45 percent for the Dominican Republic ’s expense , while theremainderwould be used to pay off the debt .
The policy was popular among expansionists , but that ’s about where its popularity ended . In Latin America , it was seen as a gross overstep of authority , and in the years that follow Roosevelt ’s presidency , growing aggression would pass the U.S. to get involved in a routine of armed dispute in Latin America , most notably in Nicaragua and Haiti . It would be Franklin Roosevelt who would double back on the Roosevelt Corollary with the “ Good Neighbor Policy ” in 1933 , which promise more trade and dialogue to stabilize Latin America , rather than military might . This would be validate in theMontevideo Convention , which glorify , “ No state has the right to intervene in the inner or outside social occasion of another . ”
During the first few years of his presidency , Theodore Roosevelt had firmly established a pseudo - imperialistic scheme for look at with Latin America and the Pacific . But he ’d soon be up against drama on the other side of the globe — and at base .
We ’ll be right back .
We ’ve talked a lot in this instalment about how TR speak softly and bear a expectant peg abroad , but you ca n’t go up against the whole world without having a few battle at home . So I want to take a quick away to talk about one case in which he used his big pin on U.S. territory .
It take up in May 1902 , when around 147,000 workers from the United Mine Workers of America union in eastern Pennsylvania run low on strike . These miners specialise in anthracite ember , which was the independent heat source for city in the eastern United States during the other 20th C .
A labor strike normally would n’t fall under the view of the Chief Executive of the United States , but the expectation of a ember shortage was unlike . Concerns rose that homes would go heatless , and as the strike headed into the latter months of the year with winter looming , the chairperson feared widespread riot by heatless homeowner could erupt around the area if action was n’t taken .
So Roosevelt convey representative from the ember mine , railroads , and trade union movement to the White House and tell them , basically , that they were going to have to lick it out . Jenkinson explicate that Roosevelt also told them that he would be create a commission to get up with passport , and that those recommendationswouldbe accepted … or else .
Roosevelt ’s committee that helped settle the contravention was made possible byJ.P. Morgan , who worked with TR ’s then - secretary of war , Elihu Root , to draught the proposal design for the charge . The excavation operators accept the plan for the delegacy , which would havememberschosen by Roosevelt .
By the end of October 1902 , it was agree that the miner would go back to body of work , and the commission would begin its investigating into the position — which include three months of meetings , eternal consultation from both side , and more than10,000 pagesof testimony .
In the closing , the commission settle on a finding of fact : the workers would get a 10 percent increase in pay , not the 20 pct they wanted ; and their work day would be reduced from 10 hours to nine , not the eight hours they ’d hoped for . Though they did n’t see all of their demands met , the intervention and subsequent intermediation from the Union government helped the workers get a far fairer hearing than they in all probability would have otherwise , and avoided the growing vehemence that so many strikes finally led to at the fourth dimension .
Just as he had prove on the global degree , Roosevelt was n’t afraid to utilise the power of the presidency in unprecedented manner when he felt military action needed to be taken . Here ’s Cullinane .
OK , now back to the residuum of the humankind .
Roosevelt had establish that he was a skilled arbitrator at home , but in 1905 , he confront a challenge that tested those skills in extraneous policy : The Russo - Japanese War . The engagement called for him to take on a young role — not as a human race who want to jump state of war , but one who stopped them .
That ’s Tyler Kuliberda , instruction technician at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site .
Theconflictbetween Japan and Russia involved the mutual interest in the lands of Manchuria and Korea . Russia seek ascendency of this area because of its quick - pee port ( the country ’s Siberian ports always had to close during the icy winters ) . To avoid a military conflict , Japan had originally proposed that Russia keep its interests in Manchuria while Japan keep influence over Korea . Negotiations broke down , though , and Japan formally start the warfare on February 8 , 1904 , with a surprise fire on a Russian fleet at Port Arthur , Manchuria .
The state of war taunt throughout 1904 , with Russia being handed one humbling licking after another . Japan ’s extremely disciplined and organized navy got the earth ’s attention . But despite the fact that Japanseemedto be advance the war , the empire was running out of money and had discreetly gain out through an intermediator to see if Roosevelt and the U.S. would act as a mediator to help broker peace between the two sides .
Roosevelt assume the opportunity . But as historiographer Edmund Morris write , “ If he was to be a peacemaker , he could not let the tsar think he had solicited the occupation . ” Roosevelt told his writing table of state , John Hay , not to make it look like he was instantaneously offering his help . He wanted to cease the fighting , though . Roosevelt had grown uncomfortable with Japan ’s dominance in the war — a decisive frustration of Russia , an embarrassment of such a rejoicing empire , could destabilise the whole political panorama in the Pacific . And what would that attend like for America , which had just accept its first step into the part ? Here ’s Jenkinson .
But … there was a trouble . Russia ’s Tsar Nicolas II was n’t budging .
The war just compounded Russia ’s domestic issues : Nicholas was more and more unpopular back home , and an anti - autocrat view had been spreading throughout the country ever since his enthronisation , fanned by the upstart Socialist Revolutionary Party . Peace talks at such a time would expect like a Japanese triumph , and the czar could n’t give any more ammunition to those salivating for revolution .
The pride was there , but in the fount of so many defeat by the Japanese , the logic was not .
“ The tsar is a preposterous little creature as the infrangible tyrant of 150,000,000 people . He is unable to make war , and he is now ineffective to make heartsease , ” Rooseveltwroteto Hay .
But by the start of 1905 , ataraxis talks became the only way out for Nicholas . In January , the Russian Revolution of 1905 began , partly fetch on by the abject bankruptcy of the Nipponese campaign . Worse yet get along the disastrous red ink at theBattle of Tsushimain May , resulting in a Russian red of 4000 men and almost the integral fleet , compared to Japan ’s 117 men and three recessed hero sandwich sauceboat .
By August , both Russia and Japan were ready to utter — and the first point on the agenda was for both parties to meet , separately , with the chair at his home in Oyster Bay to talk over their desire term for ending the warfare .
Japan came first , post diplomatist Jutaro Komura and Takahira Kogorō , Japanese ambassador to the United States , to Sagamore Hill . They were followed a few days later by Russian diplomat Baron Roman Romanovich von Rosen and Sergei Iluievich Witte .
On August 5 , the two side finally meet in person on the presidential racing yacht , the USSMayflower , which was anchored in Oyster Bay , for luncheon . Though Roosevelt was privately uncertain that peace would be made , he cordially welcomed the two sides .
The luncheon was just as ill-chosen as you might imagine — at least for the Japanese and the Russians . According to Morris , “ Roosevelt alone seemed at comfort . ”
The meal was a moth-eaten lunch with even cold vino , a welcome disperse for a hot summer day , and before they dug in , Roosevelt offered a bubbly toast , which he ask to be unrequited :
After lunch , the two side took a formal pic . Then , the Japanese get going to a freestanding ship , and both sides , along with the Americans , sailed to the Navy yard at Portsmouth , New Hampshire , for the official talk . It was a remote web site that was chosen for its repose and security over the sear temperature and gaggles of newsperson that you ’d find in D.C. in August .
afterwards , at Sagamore Hill , Roosevelt said , “ I opine we are off to a effective start . I know perfectly well the whole earth is watch me , and the [ judgment of conviction ] that will come down on me , if the league fail , will be man - wide , too . But that ’s all correct . ”
The talksimmediatelyhit a deadlock .
Witte , who was play on the tsar ’s wishes , would not bend to the Japanese . There would be no reimbursing the Japanese for war costs and no forfeiture of district , especially the Russian island of Sakhalin , which Japan had seized during the warfare .
Roosevelt knew that the talks would go nowhere if Russia was not willing to sacrifice its honor in any fashion . He continued to grow frustrated with Russia ’s attitude , letting slip one fantasy he had of snap up the czar and his minister of religion and march them to the closing of Long Island so he could “ run them violently down a steep place into the ocean . ”
Soon , Roosevelt shed his purpose as achromatic mediator and began taking a more dynamic role in the talks — doing so in the same forthright , irregular style that had both thrilled and expel so many in Washington .
Late one eve , Russia ’s negotiator , Baron Rosen , got an unexpected wake - up call at 2 a.m. from Third Assistant Secretary of State Herbert Peirce , consecrate him to Sagamore Hill to encounter with the president . That afternoon , according to Morris , Rosen regain TR deck out in white flannel , absorbed in a game of lawn tennis . But rather than put his fraudulent scheme down and get to the job of peacemaking , the president divided his aid between the action mechanism on and off the courtroom , give to the game at about every interruption in the conversation .
According tohistorian Stanley Wien , it ’s potential that this conversation on the lawn tennis court go around 90 minutes , and while Roosevelt did reassure Rosen that Japan would yield to many of Russia ’s demand , he also tell that it might be tougher to split the island of Sakhalin without some variety of compensation for Japan .
So Roosevelt counter , suggesting that Russia pay off for its half in the north , while Japan would rest in the south . This would leave Russia with some — but not all — of the territory it want , and Japan would get some money out of the passel , though not an official reimbursement .
Again , the idea was pooh-pooh . The tsar pull a hard line of products that no recompense was to be pay — and with a little excavation , you may see why : Japan was seeking 1.2 billion yen , an amount that made even the disgruntled Russian people side with their tsar . While Japan was succeed the war , it was hurting financially , leaving them with little big businessman at the negotiating board .
So what bechance when neither side require to budge ? Well , nothing — and I mean that in the most literal way possible . At one detail , Witte and Komura officially had nothing left to discuss . Russia refused to pay Japan for its war monetary value , and Japan would n’t move beforehand with the talks if no money total their way . So the mankind sat across from each other , slowly take drag of their coffin nail , not tell a word .
For eight . Agonizing . Minutes .
That secretiveness was the audio of the Russo - Japanese War dragging on and on … and on .
Roosevelt ’s former fear that the nonstarter of this group discussion would become a worldwide nonstarter on his part seemed to be becoming a reality . On Monday , August 28 , the chairperson agnize there was nothing more he could do . hearsay swirled that the Russians were necessitate for their hotel bills so they could get out of Portsmouth .
Then , suddenly , on August 29 , Witte entered another negotiation coming together with a white piece of paper . It control Russia ’s net grant . There would be no defrayal , but Japan would have south Sakhalin , if Russia could have the north .
For Roosevelt , this was the only chance to end a war that neither country could even afford to keep agitate .
The Japanese consent the terms , and the Treaty of Portsmouth was officially sign on September 5 , 1905 . The treaty leave in the identification of Japan ’s stake in Korea and greatly expand their power in South Manchuria , including over central railways . Russia ’s superpower in the Pacific was now a fraction of what it had been , but in the oddment , the tsar did n’t have to open his pocketbook .
In large part for his work as a mediator to bring peace between the two nations , Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 , construct him the first American to win a Nobel trophy of any sort . Morris would say Roosevelt ’s repose was made possible because of his “ inexplicable ability to inflict his remarkable direction upon plural power . By sheer force of moral purpose , by clarity of perception , by mastery of item , and benignant manipulation of men . ”
The most congratulatory was Roosevelt himself , who joyously exclaimed , “ It is a mighty secure thing for Russia , and a mighty good affair for Japan . And a mighty good thing for me too ! ”
Roosevelt knew the power the Japanese exert , and he knew that maintaining relations with them was inbuilt to America ’s interest . In 1906 , a domesticated decision out of his hands threatened that relationship .
It occur when the San Francisco school board settle to segregate shoal in the district by separate Japanese students from white ones . The order was the result of hostility stemming from the ever - grow Nipponese population that was entering the land for work at the time .
The orderincensedRoosevelt . flee into a rage , he threatened to do anything and everything from suing the board of teaching to sending flock to San Francisco to control the sequestration would n’t last . While that ’s a patented Roosevelt overreaction , it was n’t completely without meritoriousness . Japan made it known that they were disquieted with the ruling andanti - American protestswere beginning to erupt throughout the country . If there was a warfare , it would be one the United States was n’t quick to press . TR knew he had to fix it .
Roosevelt ordered the mayor of San Francisco and the school board to the White House and win over them to rescind the order , assuring them that the Union politics would take care of the issue . He also play through the Nipponese diplomats to get to an understanding . In 1906 , TR wrote to his secretary of commerce that he had speak with the Nipponese embassador about the issue , tell him that “ the only way to prevent constant friction between the United States and Japan ” was to cut back in-migration of Japanese citizen into the U.S. to multitude like businessmen and students , and to keep Japanese laborers out , whom he referred to repeatedly using a racial spot .
I ’m not run to cite Roosevelt directly here because of that , but instead , paraphrase : consort to Roosevelt , the embassador agreed with him , and order he had always been against allow Japanese laborers issue forth into Hawaii and the U.S. Roosevelt occupy that it would be knockout to get the Japanese to fit in to it because of what had happened to San Francisco , but he hop that his annual substance would “ smooth over their feelings ” so they would accede to the insurance policy . “ At any rate , ” he wrote , “ I shall do my best to make for this about . ”
The result is what is now make out as the Gentleman ’s Agreement of 1907 . In it , the United States match to repeal the preferential schooltime practice , and theJapanese governmentagreed to restrict issuing passport to laborers who wish well to leave to work in the United States .
Here ’s Cullinane :
Thomas Dyer guide out that the key divergence in Roosevelt ’s strategy was normally based on his perception of the wash he was portion out with . TR had respect for Japan , specially their armed forces , and go out the country as a likely challenger for orbicular supremacy down the road . Whereas he called the leaders and citizens in countries like Colombia and the Philippines “ rearward people ” and “ savages , ” among other things , make them “ reasonable game for American imperialistic desires , ” grant to Dyer .
Roosevelt ’s views on slipstream are , in a word , complex . On certain military issue , he certainly earned his progressive repute : He supported ending segregation in New York public shoal during his fourth dimension as governor , famously invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House when he was President of the United States , and fight down for a “ Square Deal ” for all Americans .
When you savvy deeper , though , many of his opinions are undeniably prejudiced — and for some parts of the man , destructive . It ’s an aspect of Roosevelt ’s bequest that historians still grapple with : How could a president as forward - thinking in some way have such a unreasoning place on the payoff of airstream ? We ’ll be tackling that very inquiry in a future installment .
It ’s easy to explain it away as TR simply being a product of his time — or you could go the other way and paint him as a racist with a all-inclusive clash . But those are both oversimplifications , and , as we ’ve see , nothing about Theodore Roosevelt , or his views , is “ simple . ” We ’ll be take on some of these difficult questions in a future installment .
What ’s undeniable is that Theodore Roosevelt and his policies had a lasting impact on function both at home and oversea . He take a country hell - bent on staying isolated and turn over it into a dominant force on the sea , he stopped wars between world big businessman , and carve a canal that unite two oceans — something that was ascertain as a fantasy only a few years prior .
Warts and all , Theodore Roosevelt went beyond the political battlefield of Washington , D.C. to foretell to the world that America was now a ability to be figure with — and if it had to , it was ready to fight back .
CREDITS
History Vs . is hosted by me , Erin McCarthy . This episode was written by Jay Serafino , with research by me and additional research by Michael Salgarolo . Fact checking by Austin Thompson . field of force transcription by Jon Mayer . Joe Weigand voiced Theodore Roosevelt in this sequence .
The Executive Producers are Erin McCarthy , Julie Douglas , and Tyler Klang .
The Supervising Producer is Dylan Fagan .
The show is edited by Dylan Fagan and Lowell Brillante .
Special thanks to Clay Jenkinson , Michael Cullinane , Tyler Kuliberda , Jeffery Wawro , and the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University .
To learn more about this episode , and Theodore Roosevelt , check out our website atmentalfloss.com/historyvs .
History Vs . Is a production of iHeart Radio and Mental Floss .
