Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) 26th President of the United States (1901-09). Typed Letter Signed, with five words added in his hand, two separate pages, 9¾ x 7 in., Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y., July 25, 1918. Accompanied by an 11 x 8½ in. engraving. Eight days after being informed that his youngest son, Quentin, had been shot down by the Germans, Roosevelt responds to a letter of condolence from Mrs. George Van Horn Moseley, wife of the major in charge of supply and transportation for the U.S. Army in France:
"My dear Mrs. Moseley: With the exception of one letter from a Lutheran Clergyman whose son is in the service, there is no letter that we have prized as much as we do your note….I shall pay you the highest compliment it is in my power to pay any woman, and say that you have the spirit that Mrs. Roosevelt, the spirit that she has trained her four boys to show….[W]hen I lunched with your husband…before he sailed, I found that he more than any other of my army friends, or of my civilian friends, appreciated just what I thought I could do if I were allowed to raise the divisions and just why I believed there was a good basis of justification for what I thought I could do.
Writing to you I am certain of your sympathy when I say that bitter though our grief for Quentin is, our pride is even greater, and we hold our heads high because two of our other three boys have been wounded and all three decorated for gallantry in action. I think I shall quote your note in full (of course without your name) in an article I intend to write, for you have put the beliefs I have held for many years far better than I have ever been able to put them. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt."
Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918) was a member of the 95th Aero Squadron, part of the 1st Pursuit Group, when he was shot down in his Nieuport 28 on July 14, 1918 near the village of Chamery, France. He was buried with military honors by the Germans, who tried to use his death as propaganda for the German cause. Instead, the opposite was true. The postcards they created with photographs of Quentin's body next to his plane showed that even a President's son was prepared to fight and die for his country. This was in stark contrast to the Kaiser and his sons, who came nowhere near the conflict. Quentin's grave became a shrine for American soldiers and the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Palm for his actions. Theodore Roosevelt, in spite of his brave words in this letter, was deeply affected by the death of Quentin. He died in his sleep less than six months later, on January 6, 1919.
Estimated Value $5,000 - 7,500.
Purchased from Joe Rubinfine, 1990.
U.S. Presidents and First Ladies
