The Bully Pulpit

I enjoyed my second term as president thought not nearly as much as first. At the beginning I introduced a progressive federal income tax and a Federal reserve both of which I am happy to say are working out. There was also the creation of a national park service that I am rather fond of that Pinchot helped with. It also early in my second term that the 17th amendment to the constitution, which allows for the popular election of senators, was passed. By the middle of 1914 there were several matters that were pressing the most important of which was what to do in the Middle East. The meeting with the German ambassador while agreeable was in the end unsuccessful. While there were protests in the House of Representatives and Senate about the army and navy bills I was introducing they still passed no matter how slimly.
However the Germans had not attacked us and I had contact the British and French ambassadors about forming an alliance after the meeting with the Germans fell through. They were delighted as was I. we just needed to wait although the French were ready to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine right away. The Germans would wait for the time being thought. I needed to focus on domestic policies as well.
-Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt, Harper/Collins, New York, published posthumously 1921.

Theodore Roosevelt while did a great many things didn’t get going on Women’s Suffrage until August 1914 when he was also considering waging war on Germany. With backing from leading American Suffragettes like Alice Paul, Roosevelt introduced the 18th amendment to the constitution, which gave full voting rights to women. That was does not excuse pretty everything he did to the rich with taxes and the creation of the Federal Reserve which led to fewer jobs being created.
-Interview with former vice president Cassandra “Sandra” Palin-Heath, 1997.

With the midterm elections President Roosevelt knew that the Republicans would win again and this time with more of a majority. Indeed most of the new Republicans were either Progressive or at least moderate in their views. Of course the 18th amendment on Woman’s Suffrage would not pass until October 1915 but it was satisfying. This was the beginning of a new Republican party.
-From The Colonel Rides Again by Ronald W. Reagan. Harper/Collins, New York, 1980.

Canada has supported Mother Britain in all ways and now we must support her again in her pledge to stop the Hun menace in the Middle East. We shall not stand idly by while the Hun does whatever he wants in the world. We must intervene for the Ottoman’s sake.
-speech to the House of Commons by Prime Minister Robert Borden January 5th 1915.

Britain had no intention of intervening for the Ottomans. At least not at that time. However Britain was concerned for the Germans were close to the Suez Canal and did not want that trade route captured. So the decision was made to make try to send troops down there and maybe mediate between the Germans and the Ottomans.
-Diplomacy in the Age of Crisis by former Canadian ambassador to Great Britain Lester B. Pearson, Harper/Collins, Toronto, 1957.

This letter is meant to start a discussion my dear cousin on the fact that Germany is now the belligerent in the Middle East. We must now be ready to stand firm against her. I hope that you will see that.
-Excerpt from a letter by Talbot M. Papineau to Henri Bourassa, January 7th, 1915.

And who will fight this war? English Canadians certainly will answer the call. However the French Canadians will be forced into service alongside them and will be fighting Britain’s war. You have been too far away from Quebec cousin and you do not know much anymore.
-Excerpt from a letter by Henri Bourassa to Talbot M. Papineau, January 9th, 1915.
 

iddt3

Donor
Correspondence


From the office of the Secretary of State


Washington, June 18th 1914

Mr. President,
I feel that this stalemate between the Germans and the Ottomans is the perfect time for us to strike at the Germans. We must act if not now than soon for we do not have much time either way.
Yours faithfully, Henry Cabot Lodge.


White House—Washington


June 19th, 1914

My dear Cabot,
We must wait until the opportune moment. I am with you as is Wood. But we must convince the American people. I will drum up support among the people and you will try to convince the Senate. Meanwhile Wood will start training a new army, and my cousin Franklin will build new ships for the navy.
Yours Faithfully, Theodore Roosevelt.

While the president makes his grand gestures in regards to making unjust war on the Germans I must remind him that there are other things that need his attention as well. We will not be silent forever.
-Alice Paul, New York Times editorial, June 27th, 1914.


Jerusalem, July 4th 1914

We were all on leave in one of the Brauhauses that was set up for the troops. It was hot and maybe that was why Hitler came in with us. At least that was what I thought. Then some of the local populace came in and Hitler started to scream at them. Tensions are already high between our troops and the local populace so we tried to calm him down. Why they came in is a mystery to me although I had heard that the local populace would deliberately start fights with our troops. They don’t like us being on their land I guess. I don’t know what happened next but the next thing I know Hitler is on the ground his throat slit open and the Turks were running out the door. We tried getting Hitler to a hospital but it was too late.
-Hans Mend, 6th Bavarian Reserve division.
This seems unlikely and extremely out of character for the US of the era, what does the US gain from helping the Germans? Especially if it comes with British enmity it's not worth it.
 
While I have TR briefly consider an alliance with Germany you are right. That is why have them swithing sides in the entry you quote.
 
Roosevelt is reaching out to the British and the French to stop the Germans. Thought how effective that will be I haven't decided yet.
 
Roosevelt is reaching out to the British and the French to stop the Germans. Thought how effective that will be I haven't decided yet.

I don't see how he can expect to get most Americans to go along with a war with a country that has not attacked.
 
On second thought the war is going well for the Germans so it will end shortly. How much territory should the Germans get? Should they get money? All rights to the Berlin to Baghdad railroad? Anything else? How will this effect the Middle East? Should the Russians invade Persia at this point? I don't know much about the history of the Middle East especially in this period so any help is appreciated.
 
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While the British, the French, the Russians and the Americans were looking on and the Austrians were consolidating in Serbia the Germans were invading in the actual Turkish mainland on January 25th, 1915. The Ottomans were starting to collapse. On February 6th seeing that the time for intervention had passed Theodore Roosevelt extended a hand of mediation to both the Germans and the Ottomans. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Sultan Mehmet V agreed. On February 15th, 1915 an armistice was officially called. From there the peace treaty was hammered out. The Germans would get all the territory it had conquered except the Turkish homeland of Anatolia and all rights to the Berlin to Baghdad railroad. The Russians meanwhile were eyeing Persia.
-We are Alone: A History of the Middle East by Golda Meyerson, Random House, London, 1971.


One of the biggest questions is: why didn’t Russia attack Persia while the Germans were at war with the Ottomans? Tsar Nicholas II was willing to go to war but the Duma was uneasy when it came to the tsar and military matters. There was much debate for the duration of the German-Ottoman war as it is now called. In the end there was an agreement: the tsar would reinstate the Duma and the replacement of his ministers with a new Ministry of National Confidence to be led by prince Georgy Lvov of the once opposition Kadet party. With the new government in place Tsar Nicholas asked again for permission to invade and take over Persia the Duma reluctantly gave it on August 1st, 1915.
The invasion of Persia began on August 15th 1915. With no real reason for the invasion the action was condemned by the British (who had interests in the area), the French, the Americans, the Austrians and the Germans (even though those last two invaded countries for little reason themselves).
-House of Cards: A History of Russia by Anya Rosenbaum, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.


While Russia was invading Persia Britain and Ireland had reached a crucial point. After three years of negotiations on the original home rule bill in parliament the Irish were willing to rebel to get what they wanted. However there was a breakthrough in mid-August 1915 Arthur Griffith, the third president of the Sinn Fein party, put forward the idea of dual Anglo-Irish monarchy much to the consternation of the younger members of the party led by Eamon de Valera, who wanted a republic. With this dissention in the ranks the Sinn Fein agreed to have a republic initially and then let the people decide whether they want a monarchy or a republic provided that no member of the British royal family seek the Irish throne. This caused Griffith to resign and was replaced as head of the Sinn Fein by de Valera.
With this deal on the table talks moved forward and on August 26th, 1915 Ireland was made a free republic with Eamon de Valera as its first president. This was received with mixed reactions from the Irish public as the Catholic south rejoiced at being free from Protestant England. The Protestant north, especially in Ulster, were angered to be abandoned by their Protestant brethren. However what was done was done and Ireland was Irish not English now and forever.
-The History of Ireland by Fiona Mulroney, Cork University Press, Boston, 1991.

Father was going through such highs at the time. While the situation in Persia was not to his liking he understood that the Russians were an empire and that they may have signed their death warrant. However the move towards a constitutional monarchy, no matter how small surprised him somewhat and gave him hope that there would be hope for Russia.
Ireland made him happy as well as there was democracy there. However the peace treaty between the Germans and the Ottomans was one the things that brought him great joy during that period (the other being the passage of the 18th amendment). The one part of the treaty that was the sticking point was the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine called Israel. The Germans did not want it but father convinced them to create it as a symbol of good will towards the people of the region. This was one of Father’s accomplishments that he didn’t live to see fully play out.
-My Father the Bull Moose by Quentin Roosevelt, Harper’s Monthly v. 180 Jan. 1940.
 
As 1915 wore on Roosevelt became more aware of his mortality. On October 27th, his 57th birthday, he announced that while he would be running for another term he would not do it with Philander Knox. Instead he would run with Senator William E. Borah of Idaho. This took those in attendance by surprise. Though those in attendance knew that Roosevelt would run again, they had an inkling that he would choose another running mate but had assumed that he would either run with Knox again or choose someone like Governor Hiram Johnson of California. While Roosevelt and Borah differed on things like foreign policy and some domestic issues they vowed to work together for the good of the country.
-From The Colonel Rides Again by Ronald W. Reagan. Harper/Collins, New York, 1980.

Dropping Knox from the ticket was not a smart move in my opinion. This is what led the republicans and the left to becoming more radicalized. And the radicalization of the left and the republicans is what led to some disasters for America.
-Interview with former vice president Cassandra “Sandra” Palin-Heath, 1997.

The former vice president is exaggerating. Progressivism is not radical any more than environmentalism. if not for President Theodore Roosevelt she wouldn’t have been able to hold any sort of office let alone the office of vice president.
-Interview with Senator Nelson Rockefeller, Jr. (R) New York, 1997.

By February of 1916 there were several contenders for the Democratic nomination. After his defeat in the last election Woodrow Wilson had decided not to run again seeing what he believed in was being done by the president already (mostly anyway though there wasn’t enough to convince Wilson to run again). With the Bryan wing of the party beginning to lose influence the Democrats started to move to the right. The first to declare on December 14th, 1915 was freshman congressman from West Virginia, John Davis. Then on January 2nd, 1916 Speaker of the House James “Champ” Clark declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. The last candidate was William McCombs the chairman of the Democratic National Committee who declared on January 22nd. With that the Democratic field was set.
-Amazing Races: Presidential Elections through the ages by Kristina Buehler. Ballantine Books, New York, 2003.

The invasion of Persia by the Russians was moral boost both for the Russian people and the Russian Duma. The people were relieved that the defeat at the hands of the Japanese was a fluke and the Duma was able to use this as leverage with the tsar to pass some much needed reforms which would make life easier for the peasants and bring Russia into the 20th Century (among other things these new reforms included the right to own property and switching from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar). By March 18th, 1916 the tsar’s forces had reached the Persian Gulf. Although the British did protest this move of their ally into what was considered their portion of Persia (that is to say the portion south of the town of Birjand), they were happy that it went no further than that.

The Germans and the Turks were rightly nervous about this turn of events but there was little they could do. The Turks were seeing the beginnings of the revolution that would bring Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to power and the Germans were more interested in consolidating their own power in the region. There were still problems of course. The Bolsheviks while having declined in popularity were still a problem. But with their leaders either in hiding, in exile or in jail they were not going to be a threat any time soon.
-House of Cards: A History of Russia by Anya Rosenbaum, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.

Canada would always have supported Britain in her endeavours. I had not even been elected to parliament yet but I know were my allegiances lay. My cousin Henri was a bit bull-headed about these matters and I respect him for it but we must support her in times of crisis. Fortunately it did not turn into a crisis.
-My Life: a memoir by former Canadian Prime Minister Talbot Papineau, McGill University Press, Montreal, 1963.

P.S. Could someone please comment.
 
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