Theodore Roosevelt Quotes
The only effective forces against the [Spanish American] war are the forces inspired by greed and fear, and the forces that tell in favor of the war are the belief in national honor and common humanity.
When it came to war and national honor, TR was a super hawk. His usual subtlety of analysis became gross and binary when war was considered. Opposition was greed and cowardice and never considered policy options.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, 26th President of the United States (Republican, NY), Quoted in Bishop, Theodore Roosevelt and His Time
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There were some anti-war forces in Germany in World War I.
The Hapsburgs were the ruling family of the Austrian Empire who wanted to invade Serbia in retaliation for their complicity in the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. This would likely bring Russia in the war in support of Serbia. The editor thought that there was no obligation to support Austria when they were planning a war of choice. What the editor did not know was that the German leadership very much wanted war at the time and supporting Austria was the perfect excuse to fight without them starting the conflict. However, the evidence became clear later than it was German aggression that turned the dispute into a World War.
First woman elected to Congress. Vote against the Declaration of World War I requested by President Woodrow Wilson. The Congresswoman was consistent. When President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan after Pearl Harbor, she cast the only "no" vote. She was therefore the only member of Congress who voted against the declaration of War in both WWI and WWII.
In 1812 the United States covertly set up and supported "revolutionaries" against Spanish rule of East Florida, which later became part of the U. S.:
President Polk and General Zachary Taylor will not He was the last President before Texas became a State. Most of us are surprised that the Texas President opposed the Mexican War.
Soon thereafter the Spanish American War began and when McKinley favored taking the Philippines from Spain, the New York Sun stated, "We are all jingoes now, and the head jingo is the Hon. William McKinley.
This speech was given 5 months before President Georg W, Bush initiated the invasion of Iraq. Politicians either supported the idea of an Iraq War or simply remained silent lest they be labeled unpatriotic. Obama not only opposed the war, but by 2007 most Americans had also come to believe that Bush’s invasion was a “dumb” and “rash” war.
Despite the fact that there were no formal political polls at the time, public opinion was very influential in curtailing what might be a tendency to use of the American military. Starting with the Cold War later, Presidents tended to use American military force regardless of public opinion or would exaggerate or lie (Vietnam and Iraq wars for example) to temporally gain some public support.
German ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had declared war on Serbia. See {642085}. The Russian Czar was under great pressure because a large Roman Catholic Empire was warring against a small Orthodox co-religionist of Russia and Russians of all classes wanted Russia to defend Serbia. The Czar was making a good faith effort to stave off the war. What he did not realize was that Germany had actually planned for war against Russia and France and was using the alliance with Austria as an excuse.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr., often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900 and the 25th vice president of the United States from March to September 1901. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
