Theodore Roosevelt
[New York, NY], June 21, 1910
Teddy Roosevelt TLS Declining Visit to Portsmouth, Where He Had Brokered Peace Treaty 5 Years Before
TLS

A 1p typed letter signed by former 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) as "Theodore Roosevelt" at bottom right. June 21, 1910. [New York, New York]. On watermarked stationery with "The Outlook / 287 Fourth Avenue / New York" letterhead, and typed in turquoise ink throughout. Expected wear including even toning, light horizontal paper fold, and some grubbiness to the edges including fingerprints. Else very good to near fine. 6.375" x 7.75".

Roosevelt regretfully declined the invitation of E. Percy Stoddard (born 1877), Councilman-at-Large of the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to attend an upcoming event in the city. While the exact nature of the event is not known, we can speculate that it may have been the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth Reunion (a tradition similar to Old Home Week) that was scheduled to take place on July 4, 1910. E. Percy Stoddard served as secretary of the reunion's organizing committee.

As he explains in this letter, Roosevelt's post-presidential schedule was punishing and only permitted him to attend fewer than 1% of proffered invitations! Events on the horizon included a visit to Harvard University, Roosevelt's alma mater, on June 29, 1910. Roosevelt had attended his eldest son Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.'s wedding in New York City the day before.

Roosevelt wrote in part:

"I wish I could accept, but it is a simple impossibility. You have no conception of the multitude of requests to speak and invitations to attend banquets and reunions which I have received. It is physically impossible for me to accept even one in a hundred. I am deeply touched by the courtesy shown to me in asking me to go to these banquets and make these speeches, but I could not possibly accept more than a relatively small portion unless I absolutely abandoned all thought of doing anything else of any kind or sort?"

Thus Roosevelt would not return to Portsmouth, site of the famous peace talks he negotiated during the late summer of 1905. The Portsmouth Peace Conference (also known as the Treaty of Portsmouth) effected a peace settlement between representatives from Russia and Japan, hitherto engaged in a bloody territorial dispute known as the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Roosevelt was awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for the role he played in ably brokering the peace.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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6.375" x 7.75"