THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN THE EYES OF THE ALLIES

Michael Patrick Cullinane

doi:10.1017/s1537781415000559

Abstract

As Woodrow Wilson traveled across the Atlantic to negotiate the peace after World War I, Theodore Roosevelt died in Long Island. His passing launched a wave of commemoration in the United States that did not go unrivaled in Europe. Favorable tributes inundated the European press and coursed through the rhetoric of political speeches. This article examines the sentiment of Allied nations toward Roosevelt and argues that his posthumous image came to symbolize American intervention in the war and, subsequently, the reservations with the Treaty of Versailles, both endearing positions to the Allies that fueled tributes. Historians have long depicted Woodrow Wilson's arrival in Europe as the most celebrated reception of an American visitor, but Roosevelt's death and memory shared equal pomp in 1919 and endured long after Wilson departed. Observing this epochal moment in world history from the unique perspective of Roosevelt's passing extends the already intricate view of transnational relations.

Highlights

As Woodrow Wilson traveled across the Atlantic to negotiate the peace after World War I, Theodore Roosevelt died in Long Island
Outpourings of remembrance erupted across the United States, some stoked by personal memories and others organized as collective acts of commemoration
“His Americanism reached into the marrow of his bones,” one conservationist friend decreed

Summary

THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN THE EYES OF THE ALLIES

As Woodrow Wilson traveled across the Atlantic to negotiate the peace after World War I, Theodore Roosevelt died in Long Island. Favorable tributes inundated the European press and coursed through the rhetoric of political speeches. This article examines the sentiment of Allied nations toward Roosevelt and argues that his posthumous image came to symbolize American intervention in the war and, subsequently, the reservations with the Treaty of Versailles, both endearing positions to the Allies that fueled tributes. Historians have long depicted Woodrow Wilson’s arrival in Europe as the most celebrated reception of an American visitor, but Roosevelt’s death and memory shared equal pomp in 1919 and endured long after Wilson departed. Observing this epochal moment in world history from the unique perspective of Roosevelt’s passing extends the already intricate view of transnational relations

Concerning brave Captains Our age hath made known

SUPPORT AND SACRIFICE

EUROPEAN PILGRIMS TO OYSTER BAY