TLS, one page, 8 x 10.5, Navy Department letterhead, April 20, 1898. Short letter to Mrs. Marion Longfellow O'Donoghue. In full: "I thank you much for your courtesy in writing me, as well as for the interest you have always shown. It has been a very hard matter for me to decide. I want you to know that I am trying to act conscientiously." Intersecting folds (horizontal fold passing through the top of the signature), some light wrinkling, and a uniform shade of mild toning, otherwise fine condition.
This correspondence reflects Roosevelt's conflicted feelings shortly before severing his connection with the US Navy. "It has been a very hard matter for me to decide. I want you to know that I am trying to act conscientiously," he tells O'Donoghue, the niece of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a gifted newspaper writer, as well as a member of the Woman's National Press Association and director of the Choral Society of Washington, D.C. Roosevelt had always been fascinated by naval history, and was appointed assistant secretary of the navy in 1897 by William McKinley. With war brewing in Cuba between the United States and Spain, however, TR formally resigned following the declaration of war by Spain on April 23, 1898. He would of course, gain fame as a member of the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. Great subtle content as Roosevelt leaves the navy behind and begins to pave his way into history! Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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