This calendar year marks the anniversary of one of the lesser known events of the World War One-era: the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. The purpose of this World’s Fair was to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, which had become a reality in August 1914. The fair was in the works going all the way back to the Taft Administration. Who could have known that the Great War would begin at the same time? Needless to say, the ongoing war in Europe changed the tone of the fair. President Woodrow Wilson ceremonially turned on the lights from far off Washington D.C. at midnight on New Years 1915. (A competing fair opened in San Fransisco in February.) There were a number of military exercises over the next several months, including a cavalry review on Lincoln’s Birthday, a troop review of the First Cavalry by dignitaries that included Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt in March, and a coast artillery display in May. The piece de resistance however was  a visit from Theodore Roosevelt that July.

Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt were in San Diego one hundred years ago this week, having taken a train from Los Angeles. The Roosevelt family were actually old hands at such expositions. Theodore Sr. attended the London Exhibition in 1851 and then helped run the American pavilion at the Vienna Fair in 1873. Theodore’s old sister Anna (Bamie) worked in a women’s auxiliary that coordinated the 1893 Chicago Fair. President Roosevelt spoke at the dedication of the St. Louis Fair in 1903. Given the family’s worldliness, it is easy to understand their interest in these events that once so captured people’s imagination.

Given the historical moment it is not surprising that the Colonel used his speech to rail against Wilson. Remember, this is less than three months after the sinking of the Lusitania.

The clip up top is very short. Watch closely though and you will see Edith tenderly take him by the arm. Here is a slightly longer clip, that alas I could not embed. Again, these newsreels were taken one hundred years ago this week. Okay, here is one more from that same visit to the fair.. You can practically hear him spewing venom. Look closely toward the end. You will see he has a black armband on his right arm. I can’t help but wonder if that was for the victims of the Lusitania. I would love to know the story on the armband.

Dan T. Moore was a captain of artillery and presidential aide when he sparred with Theodore Roosevelt. A few years later he founded the Field Artillery School of Fire in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His work prepared many of the artillery officers who fought in France a few years later.

My post the other day about boxing as part of basic training for the First World War got me thinking about Theodore Roosevelt. Many people do not know that Roosevelt was rendered fully blind in one eye during a sparring match while he was president. The reason so few people know is that he made so little of it; he only referred to it occasionally from the time it happened in 1905 until his death in 1919. That’s right. Theodore Roosevelt was fully blind in one eye for nearly the last fifteen years of his life. Not even the man who caused the injury knew about it.

Roosevelt had always loved boxing, and did not sour on it even after the incident; he called it a “first-class sport” in his 1913 autobiography. As New York City Police Commissioner he encouraged young men to put on the gloves in clubs and YMCAs throughout the city. Still, he understood its tawdry side. Just a few months after he became governor in early 1899 he signed the legislation that outlawed professional fighting in the Empire State. Surprise! Pro boxing was corrupt even a century and more ago.

In 1916 the Wilson Administration promoted him to major in a move to promote 1000 officers in preparation for potential involvement in the Great War. As this once-classified document indicated he eventually served on the General Staff. He eventually made colonel and lived until 1941.

Dan T. Moore was a military attaché stationed in the White House who sparred with the president approximately 100 times during the two winters he was stationed in the Executive Mansion. Years later Roosevelt mentioned in passing that the injury had occurred while he was sparring a “captain of artillery.” Moore, stationed at Camp Meade at the time and preparing the American buildup taking place after the declaration of war that April, understood immediately that he was that captain; there were others who boxed with Roosevelt, but he was the only captain of artillery. When Moore realized the gravity of what had happened he wrote to Roosevelt immediately to make amends. Roosevelt never blamed Moore, but the military officer never got over it.

(top image, Library of Congress; bottom image, NARA)

artist Louis Dalrymple for Puck magazine, 18 April 1900

The death of Vice President Garret A. Hobart in 1899 left the office open to many aspirants going into the election the following year. When President McKinley opened his Easter egg that Sunday morning out popped such potential prospects as Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt and others.

Enjoy your Easter.

(image/Library of Congress)

A post last Sunday included a photograph of Leonard Wood. Behind Wood in that image was a campaign poster that I believed was from the 1900 presidential campaign. I could not make out the wording above each candidate’s head and believed it read “The Governor” and “The Governor.” Woodruff also bore a striking resemblance to McKinley. I was in error about the true provenance of the photo.

Earlier this week political consultant and writer Gerry O’Brien contacted me and let me know that the poster actually was from the 1898 New York State gubernatorial race. Gerry also kindly sent me not one but two images of that poster. There it is above. I would like to thank Gerry again for taking the time to respond and to answer so thoughtfully. Check out the link to Gerry’s alternative history novel, 1901: Theodore Roosevelt, Robot Fighter.