Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very good book with a very misleading title. It does considerably more than present a history of how President Theodore Roosevelt (1900-1908) used the U.S. Navy to further diplomatic ends. Hendrix does provide a really compelling account of how Roosevelt developed an effective way to combine what today is called `force projection' with diplomatic operations to further U.S. policy and national security. Perhaps, as Hendrix suggests, Roosevelt did lay the foundation for the 20th Century to be the `American Century'. Yet the transformation of the U.S. Navy from a very mediocre force into a world class navy is interesting story in its own right and a significant part of this book.
Theodore Roosevelt appears to have been very good at recognizing brilliance in others. He became friends with and adapted wholesale Alfred Thayer Mahan's theoretical constructs for creating a strong navy as an indispensable adjunct to international trade. But he also looked to advice from such practical naval officers as William Sims who was an outstanding naval gunner of the period. Roosevelt and his naval advisors were at the forefront bringing the latest technology (such as wireless radio) to naval development. Roosevelt adopted the concept of the all big gun battleship as the back bone of the fleet, but also understood the importance of the marine torpedo and promoted the torpedo boat and latter the submarine. In doing this Roosevelt and his advisors created the foundation for the dominance that the U.S. Navy enjoys today.
Finally, although Hendrix does not really emphasize this, Roosevelt clearly recognized the value of the U.S. Marine Corps as central to the concept of force projection. It was during his administration that the Marines firmly established their reputation as the protectors of American interests in abroad.


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Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy examines President Roosevelt's use of U.S. naval seapower to advance his diplomatic efforts to facilitate the emergence of the United States as a great power at the dawn of the twentieth century. Based on extensive research, the author introduces a wealth of new material to document the development of Roosevelt's philosophy with regard to naval power and his implementation of this strategy. The book relates Roosevelt's use of the Navy and Marine Corps to advance American interests during the historically controversial Venezuelan Crisis (1902 03), Panama's independence movement (1903), the Morocco-Perciaris Incident (1904), and the choice of a navy yard as the site for the negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War. The voyage of the Great White Fleet and Roosevelt's initiatives to technologically transform the American Navy are also covered. In the end, the book details how Roosevelt's actions combined to thrust the United States forward onto the world s stage as a major player and cemented his place in American history as a great president despite the fact that he did not serve during a time of war or major domestic disturbance.This history provides new information that finally puts to rest the controversy of whether Roosevelt did or did not issue an ultimatum to the German and British governments in December 1902, bringing the United States to the brink of war with two of the world s great powers. It also reveals a secret war plan developed during Panama s independence movement that envisioned the U.S. Marine Corps invading Colombia to defend the sovereignty of the new Panamanian republic. Theodore Roosevelt s Naval Diplomacy brings new understanding to how the U.S. Navy was used to usher in the American century.

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