Taking on Theodore Roosevelt: How One Senator Defied the President on Brownsville and Shook American Politics by Harry Lembeck

Abstract

Reviewed by: Taking on Theodore Roosevelt: How One Senator Defied the President on Brownsville and Shook American Politics by Harry Lembeck David H. Jackson Jr Taking on Theodore Roosevelt: How One Senator Defied the President on Brownsville and Shook American Politics. By Harry Lembeck. (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2015. Pp. 544. $27.00, ISBN 978-1-61614-954-3.) Although President Theodore Roosevelt is viewed as one of America’s greatest presidents, the way he handled the largely forgotten Brownsville affair has left a stain on his record. In Taking on Theodore Roosevelt: How [End Page 199] One Senator Defied the President on Brownsville and Shook American Politics, Harry Lembeck has compiled a fascinating examination of the 1906 Brownsville incident, in which black soldiers from the Twenty-fifth Infantry regiment stationed at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas, were accused of going on a lawless rampage in retaliation for constant harassment, threats, and discrimination by local white and Mexican citizens. Unlike previous scholars, Lembeck focuses on analyzing the struggle that ensued between President Roosevelt and Senator Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio, who took up the cause and pursued justice for the accused soldiers. Lembeck begins by introducing readers to Foraker and then briefly discussing the actual incident in Brownsville, fleshing out different, and very contradictory, eyewitness accounts. None of the soldiers accused of violence confessed, but Roosevelt believed the men were engaged in a conspiracy of silence to protect each other, supposedly a racial trait among blacks. Ultimately, when none of the soldiers confessed or named any of the alleged shooters, Roosevelt, without a hearing or a trial, dishonorably discharged three companies of black men from the military, a total of 167 soldiers. This move strained Roosevelt’s relationships with Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and other prominent black leaders. Taking on Theodore Roosevelt is most brilliant when it addresses the political maneuvering and conflicts between Roosevelt, Foraker, and William Howard Taft over the incident. Chapter 17, one of the more lively chapters, describes a showdown that occurred at a Gridiron Club dinner held at the New Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. Journalists, corporate magnates like J. P. Morgan and H. H. Rogers, and, of course, Roosevelt and Foraker attended the gathering. Similar to a modern-day roast, the journalists started jeering the president with songs, sketches, and searing cartoons. Although the dinner was supposed to be a lighthearted affair, it quickly degenerated into a face-off between the president and Foraker. President Roosevelt spoke first, alluding to differences he had with Foraker and using biting sarcasm and political insults. Breaching normal protocol, Foraker was asked to speak after the president and reciprocated the insults and sarcasm. Foraker received long applause after his comments, much to Roosevelt’s embarrassment. The president never forgot the incident and probably never forgave Foraker. In the end, Roosevelt became determined to ruin Foraker’s career, ensuring that the senior senator from Ohio lost his bid for reelection in 1908. Taking on Theodore Roosevelt is lengthy, but it is easy to read and flows well from beginning to end. The book consists of 544 pages with twenty-seven relatively short chapters including a prologue, epilogue, afterword, and bibliography. The author used newspapers, magazines, government documents, diaries, and personal papers as sources for the book. However, there are some points that seem out of place. For example, Lembeck’s attempt to draw parallels between contemporary times and the Roosevelt/Jim Crow era falls short. Moreover, some of Lembeck’s analysis of Booker T. Washington is platitudinous and does not consider recent scholarship on the Tuskegee Institute leader and the conflict between Washington and Du Bois. Nonetheless, this study is captivating and will be greatly enjoyed by scholars and the public, [End Page 200] particularly those interested in presidential, southern, political, African American, and military history. David H. Jackson Jr Florida A&M University Copyright © 2016 The Southern Historical Association