Theodore Roosevelt has been in the news latterly — not the President of the United States , but the ship call for him .
There ’s no question that the novel coronavirus has radically changed the lives of millions of people around the orb . As medical professional fight to keep open life in overcrowded hospitals , and as delivery people and market depot employees maneuver to work every solar day to check that we have the supply we need , many non - substantive workers have stopped going into their offices and are rather make from place to seek to slow the spread of the virus . I ’m memorialize this episode of the podcast in my closet , because clothes muffle echo , so if things sound a footling different or unearthly , that ’s why .
Even Navy ships have feel the effects of the virus , perhaps none more so than theUSSTheodore Roosevelt , a Nimitz - category nuclear - powered aircraft carrier that was set up in 1984 . The ship was at sea in the Pacific Ocean with more than4000 crewmemberson board when COVID-19 begin to appear among the sailors . After the irruption bulge , the ship was docked in Guam , but the disease continued to diffuse .
alert by the post , the ship ’s air force officer , Captain Brett Crozier , wrote a letter to elderly military officials . He point out that , in the cramped condition of a Navy ship , social distancing and 14 - day quarantine were not potential , which meant , Crozier write , that “ the spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating . ”
He asked that the USSTheodore Roosevelt ’s crewmembers be allowed to disembark in Guam due to the chop-chop deteriorating situation , writing , “ Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolate them for two week may seem like an extraordinary measure . … This is a necessary risk . Keeping over 4000 vernal humans and womanhood on board the TR is an unneeded peril and breaks religion with those Sailors entrusted to our care . ”
He ended by writing , “ We are not at warfare . sailor do not demand to give out . If we do not act now , we are failing to right take care of our most trust plus — our Sailors . ”
The letter , which Crozier emailed to senior military officials , wasleakedtoThe San Francisco Chronicleand published on March 31 . Then - acting secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly removed Crozier from bid on April 2 . As Crozier disembark the aircraft bearer , sailors cheered him from the deck .
Captain Crozier — who has reportedlytested positivefor COVID-19 — was drive out because , according toThe New York Times , Modly “ had lost confidence in Crozier ’s power to command the ship effectively as it dealt with the evolving crisis after Crozier sent the letter on an unclassified email organization to 20 to 30 the great unwashed , [ which ] Modly said stimulate unneeded warning equipment about the operational readiness of the ship and counteract the chain of command . ”
After Crozier ’s removal , Modly kick the bucket to the USSTheodore Rooseveltto assess the spot , where he made disparaging remark about Crozier which were leak to the world . Under public pressure , Modly resignedon April 7 .
The actions of Crozier , Modly , and the Navy are obviously being heatedly debated , and there will in all probability be more development between when I record this episode and when it goes out .
I ’m not an expert in the Navy , or in the military range of mountains of command , so it does n’t sense appropriate for me to fag into any of that here . But the current news does give me the chance to discuss an interesting historic precedent for this situation — one that need Theodore Roosevelt himself . I ’m your host , Erin McCarthy , and in this bonus sequence ofHistory Vs . , we ’re go to bet at the round - Old World robin letter incident of the Spanish - American War .
During and after the Siege of Santiago , one of the last major operations of the Spanish - American War , U.S. scout troop station in Santiago de Cuba were beset by malaria and xanthous feverishness . 1000 of man were sick and dying , but the McKinley administration plan to keep the troop in Cuba until peace negotiation were over — and until they were healthy . harmonize to some sources , there was a actual care that nauseous soldiers would come back to the states and start a chicken feverishness epidemic .
But the billet was growing indefensible , and near the end of July , General William Shafter , commander of the Fifth Corps , gatheredall of his commanders to discuss it . Roosevelt later recalled in his autobiography that “ Although I had command of a brigade , I was only a colonel , and so I did not specify to attend , but the General informed me that I was particularly wanted , and accordingly I go . ”
As Edmund Morris wrote inThe Rise of Theodore Roosevelt , “ All agreed that it was critical , and that the War Department ’s apparent unwillingness to evacuate the Army was inexcusable . Somebody must write a formal letter of the alphabet tell that in the unanimous opinion of the Fifth Corps stave , a further stay in Cuba would be to the ‘ absolute and objectless ruin ’ of the fighting forces . ”
None of the unconstipated officeholder wanted to take chances his life history by write such a missive , and suddenly , the reason Roosevelt ’s presence had been request became clear . He was a voluntary who had fall by the wayside his spot as assistant secretary of the Navy in parliamentary law to defend , and he destine to go right back to being a civilian after the warfare . He had much less to lose by offending his former boss , President William McKinley , and McKinley ’s secretary of war , Russell Alger . “ To incur the ill will of the War Department would not make any difference to me , whereas it would be destructive to the hands in the regular army , ” Roosevelt subsequently compose . “ I thought this genuine , and pronounce I would write a letter or make a statement which could then be published . ”
Theodore Roosevelt evidently was n’t afraid to speak up — Theodore Roosevelt was n’t afraid of anything , except inaction . As Alfred Henry Lewis wouldwrite of Rooseveltin 1910 , “ Mr. Roosevelt has often show that it is better to do the wrong thing than do nothing at all . … The best affair is to do the right thing ; the next good is to do the incorrect thing ; [ and ] the forged affair of all things is to put up perfectly still . ”
We ’ll be aright back .
In an effort to spur the McKinley presidency to action , and land American troops back to the states before they were wipe out by yellow fever , a architectural plan was hatched .
Roosevelt would indite an initial letter of the alphabet address to the full general , which would then be followed by a “ round - redbreast ” missive — a method typically used toconcealthe identity of the ringleaders of a movement — which would be ratify by Roosevelt and the other commanders .
Then they would leak out those letter to the pressure .
In his letter , Rooseveltwrotethat “ To keep us here , in the opinion of every officeholder commanding a air division or a brigade , will simply involve the death of thousands . There is no potential reason for not ship much the entire command northward at once . … All of us are certain that as soon as the authorities at Washington fully take account the shape of the army , we shall be send home . ”
Roosevelt noted that , in the cavalry division at least , there were no true cases of yellow fever , but therewere1500 compositor’s case of malarial febricity . “ Hardly a man has yet died from it , ” he publish , “ but the whole command is so weakened and shatter as to be ripe for give-up the ghost like shitty sheep , when a real yellow - febricity epidemic rather of a fake epidemic , like the present one , strikes us , as it is bound to do if we stay here at the top of the sickness season , August and the beginning of September . Quarantine against [ the ] malarial fever is much like quarantine against the odontalgia . … If we are kept here it will in all human possibility intend an appalling tragedy , for the surgeon here estimate that over half the United States Army , if kept here during the seedy season , will die . ”
The men were ineffective to penetrate into the interior , and moving them around the island , Roosevelt allege , only sicken them further . To delay institutionalise the men home was “ not only terrible from the standpoint of the case-by-case hold up lose , ” Roosevelt wrote , “ but it signify ruin from the viewpoint of military efficiency of the flower of the American army , for the groovy mass of the regular are here with you . ”
He closed by saying that “ I write only because I can not see our human race , who have fought so courageously and who have suffer extreme hardship and peril so uncomplainingly , go to destruction without reach so far as lies in me to avert a doom as fearful as it is unneeded and undeserved . ”
Roosevelt ’s fellow air force officer then signed their letter , which take down that they were all in agreement that the army “ must be moved at once , or perish , ” add , “ As the U. S. Army can be safely go now , the person responsible for preventing such a move will be responsible for for the unneeded loss of many thousands of lives . Our opinions are the event of thrifty personal reflection , and they are also based on the consentient view of our aesculapian policeman with the army , who understand the situation absolutely . ”
There are differ history of what happen next , butaccording to Roosevelt , he write his letter , and an Associated Press newsperson tag along when he went to give it to General Shafter … who pronto pushed it into the hands of the newsman . As Roosevelt by and by recall , “ I presented the letter to General Shafter , who waved it away and said : ‘ I do n’t want to take it ; do whatever you wish with it . ’ I , however , insisted on hand it to him , whereupon he shove it toward the correspondent of the Associated Press , who take hold of it , and I released my hold . ”
Something similar take place with the rotund - Old World robin , and when the letters attain the press , they caused a sensation .
The McKinley administration was incense by the letters . Accordingto historiographer Lewis L. Gould , the day after the letters were publish , McKinley wrote a letter to Shafter that denounced the round robin as “ most unfortunate from every point of view,”adding , “ The publication of the letter makes the state of affairs one of great difficultness . No soldier reading that write up if ordered to [ go to ] Santiago but will feel that he is marching to sure demise . ” grant to Morris , some within the administration even intimate motor lodge - martialing Roosevelt for his letter of the alphabet .
The presidential term had reason to be irritated . OnAugust 3 , the day before the round - robin hit the press , Alger had write out an ordination for the Army to be prompt back to the U.S.—which meant that many newspapers printed Roosevelt ’s letter mightily next to an annunciation that troops were being brought back . To the public , it await as though Roosevelt ’s varsity letter and the round - redbreast had forced the McKinley administration to act , which was n’t the cause .
By August 7 , the first troops were heading back to the state to quarantine in Montauk on Long Island in New York .
Nothing ever come of the suggestion to court warlike Roosevelt . Instead , Secretary Alger issue a secret letter in which TR gasconade about the Rough Riders ’ performance , saying they were “ as right as any regulars , and three times as good as any province troops . ”
While Alger might have hop the letter would threaten TR ’s chance at getting the governorship of New York , his tactic go bad . Roosevelt returned a war hero . He became governor , and then vice president , and then prexy . He did n’t , however , get one matter he desperately want : the Medal of Honor .
Though some believe he was deny the laurels because of the publicity stunt he had pulled , as Mitchell Yockelson drop a line for the National Archives’Prologuemagazine , there ’s no evidence for this . “ precisely why the Brevet Board deny Roosevelt the accolade is not officially documented , ” Yockelson publish . “ Certainly no evidence be to support the contention that Alger held a grudge over the Round Robin affair or Roosevelt ’s testimony to the congressional citizens committee . On the contrary , letters from the War Department to Roosevelt indicate that they were more than willing to assist him in go the Medal of Honor . One can only assume that the Brevet Board add up to the conclusion that , though Roosevelt ’s behavior in Cuba was quite admirable , it was not worthy of a Medal of Honor . ”
Later , Roosevelt would write that “ I was recommend for it by my superior officers in the Santiago campaign , but I was not awarded it ; and candidly , looking back at it now , I feel that the plank which declined to award it took exactly the right office . ” Around a century after his experiences in Cuba , TR would finally be awarded the Medal of Honor .
In apieceforThe New York Times , Tweed Roosevelt — TR ’s great - grandson , and chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University — wrote about Captain Crozier and the site on the USSTheodore Roosevelt . “As a descendent of the namesake of Captain Crozier ’s former program line , I often question , in situations like this , what Theodore Roosevelt would have done , ” Tweed Roosevelt write . “ In this slip , though , I hump exactly what he would have done . In 1898 , he found himself in almost the exact same status . … In this era when so many seem to place expediency over honor , it is hearten that so many others are read not bad courage , some even risking their life . Theodore Roosevelt , in his clock time , chose the honorable course . Captain Crozier has done the same . ”
Before we go , I require to say a huge thank you to the aesculapian professional person and the essential proletarian who are out there risking their life for us . And to all of theHistory Vs.listeners : I hope you ’re well , and safe , and healthy . Please flow in there .
We ’ll be back before long with another bonus installment ofHistory Vs .
Credits
History Vs.is host by me , Erin McCarthy . This episode was written by me , with fact checking by Austin Thompson .
The executive producers are Erin McCarthy , Julie Douglas , and Tyler Klang . The supervise producer is Dylan Fagan . The show is delete by Dylan Fagan and Lowell Brillante . If you desire to find out more about this instalment , and Theodore Roosevelt , visit MentalFloss.com/historyvs .
History Vs.is a production of iHeartRadio and Mental Floss .
