ALS as president signed “T. Roosevelt,” one page, 4.75 x 3.25, White House letterhead, no date [circa 1902]. The president writes Senator Henry Cabot Lodge during the 1899-1902 Philippine Insurrection. In full: “Will you speak with Mr. J. V. Kimball about Phillippine [sic] matters?” In very good condition, with mild soiling, edge toning, wrinkling, and trimmed edges.
Following American victory in the 1898 Spanish-American War, Lodge came to represent the imperialist faction of the US Senate and led the charge to annex the Philippines. He, like Roosevelt—who had succeeded to the presidency after William McKinley’s assassination in September 1901—believed America was destined to expand beyond its borders. Among those like-minded individuals was Kimball, a Republican statesman who later served as mayor of Malden, Massachusetts. During the course of the Philippines insurrection, some 130,000 American troops were sent into the fight with American losses totaling 4,000 troops, with another 2,900 wounded. The war led to bitter recriminations within the United States, particularly by the Anti-Imperialist League, supported by the likes of Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie. Desirable content from an early obstacle encountered by TR in his presidency.
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