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Theodore Roosevelt Advocates American Entry into World War I and Revisits His Foreign Policy Maxim:
“Speak softly and Carry a big stick”
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
Printed proof sheets sent to TR for his approval, of his “Address Delivered to the Illinois State Bar Association,” delivered at the Hotel La Salle in Chicago on April 29, 1916. Returned with more than 42 penciled corrections in his hand and Roosevelt’s Autograph Inscription Signed at top of the first page: “Dear Mr. McCh’ny, [Nathan MacChesney, President of the Illinois Bar Association] Here is the speech, with a few merely verbal corrections, sincerely, Theodore Roosevelt.” 8 pp., 7 x 24 in. The speech, as edited here, was printed in The Proceedings of the Illinois State Bar Association (Chicago Legal News Co., 1916), 761-84.
Roosevelt called for national preparedness considering the world situation, referencing Pancho Villa and Mexico, Germany and the war in Europe, and the sinking of the Lusitania. In this address nearly a year prior to the United States’ entry into World War I, Roosevelt made his opinion clear about the cost of isolationism: “The result of our inaction, of our sloth and timidity, has been that every nation in the world now realizes our weakness and that no nation in the world really believes either in our disinterestedness or our manliness.”
Theodore Roosevelt’s first known use of his “big stick” philosophy was in a January 26, 1900 letter as governor of New York. Writing to Assemblyman Henry L. Sprague, Roosevelt credited the West African proverb as pivotal to his success in New York politics. During his presidency, from 1901-1908, it was a central tenet of his policies. We had the honor of selling the original 1900 letter a few years ago. This 1916 speech is only the second time we’ve seen in the market a Roosevelt signed document with the text of this most famous saying.
Item #24383, $45,000
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French President Poincare Counters Conspiracy Theory by Anti-Semitic Editor Urbain Gohier (Who Later Fabricated the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”)
ANTI-SEMITISM,
RAYMOND POINCARE, Autograph Letter Signed, to Unknown, May 22, 1916. 3 pp., 5⅛ x 8 in.
The President of the Third French Republic tells an unknown friend about a disturbing letter that he just received from right wing journalist and newspaper editor Urbain Gohier, in which Gohier had accused him, the sitting president, of colluding with Jewish and foreign elements.
Item #24843, $1,250
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Harding’s Return to Normalcy – and Isolationism – after World War I
WARREN G. HARDING,
Typed Letter Signed as President, to Senator Joseph Medill McCormick, Washington, D. C., August 29, 1921. With autograph emendations in two different secretarial hands. 8 pp.
Key political circular from the first-year Republican President written to influence off-year elections in New Mexico and other places. Harding justifies, and praises, the rapid postwar dismantling of America’s military by Congress, while backhandedly criticizing the inattention of his predecessor – Woodrow Wilson – to the peacetime transition. “Vast expenditure without proper consideration for results, is the inevitable fruit of war.”
Item #21124, $2,600
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FBI Director Warns Polaroid to Guard against Espionage and Sabotage before American Entry into World War II
J. EDGAR HOOVER,
Typed Letter Signed, to Officers of Polaroid Company, on FBI letterhead, marked “Personal and Confidential,” Washington, October 22, 1940. 1 p., 7¼ x 9¼ in. #23917.01
Typed Letter Signed, to Edwin H. Land, on FBI letterhead, Washington, January 10, 1941. 8 pp., 7¼ x 9¼ in. #23917.02
Book. “Secret” booklet published by the FBI Suggestions for Protection of Industrial Facilities, April, 1941. 50 pp. #23917.03
In these two letters, J. Edgar Hoover offers general and specific advice to the Polaroid Company of Massachusetts to protect it against “foreign espionage and sabotage” as America tries to stay out of the world war ravaging Europe and Asia.
Item #23917, $1,500
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Haim Laskov Writes to His Future Wife during WWII
HAIM LASKOV,
Autograph Letter Signed, to Shulamith Chen. Italy, Nov. 19, 1943. 2 pp. Heading in English, body in Hebrew.
“Night after night I watch (the stars) and read your regards.”
Item #20756, $400
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William K. And Harold Vanderbilt Signed
World War I Veterans Bonus New York State Bond
[WILLIAM K. VANDERBILT],
Partially Printed Document Signed. $50,000 World War Bonus Bond, issued to William K. Vanderbilt, Harold S. Vanderbilt, and Frederick W. Vanderbilt as trustees for Anna H. Vanderbilt, signed by first two. Certificate #64, with engraved vignette of the state seal. October 16, 1944.
Item #23087, $750
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Sterling Silver Sinseollo Dish,
Presented to General Matthew Ridgway
by the Korean Minister of Defense
[MATTHEW B. RIDGWAY],
Traditional Korean dish, engraved around the base with four stars, and the inscription, “General & Mrs. M. B. Ridgway / From Defense Minister & Mrs. Ki Poong Lee / Republic of Korea,” ca. 1952.
Item #22366, $4,250
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