Transcripts For CSPAN3 Theodore Roosevelt And The Navy 20240711

About this change. Good afternoon. I am very excited to introduce the next speaker. Im going to share a personal to exemplify his passion for Theodore Roosevelt. I entered jerrys orbit when we serve together as instructors in jacksonville, florida. Career i was in my negotiating orders for a followon to her. For background, this tour is unique for officers. Areandbased aviators, we sent to seek to learn real knowledge in the navy. For example, officer on the deck in the airconditioned bridge sounds good. Sunny san diego or florida or the deployment schedule. A nice med cruise would suffice. As a lieutenant commander, jerry had already completed his tour. For teddyere his zeal roosevelt became apparent. When asked about his carrier assignment he said, Theodore Roosevelt, no question. I wouldve taken any job to deploy on tr. If you needed a working party to scrape barnacles, you could count jerry in. Not understanding his rationale, i requested further explanation. Jerry went on to describe his affection for the statesman, and he connected teddies naval strategies on americas ability to achieve our national interests. This was the first time i observed such passion for history and strategy in a naval officer. Teddywas bleeding roosevelt. I take pride in introducing himself him as a scholar, but i am prouder to introduce him as a shipmate. Ladies and gentlemen, dr. Jerry hendrix. [laughter] by the way, i wanted a ted cruz, so i deployed on eisenhower. Dr. Hendrix in life you get a chance to serve with some people who have a direct impact on you. I took over command of the vehicle roosevelt on a dark night when it backed into a cruiser. That was my introduction to the ship. I didnt know how long it would be, but i was not the Commanding Officer at the time. One thing i knew was, i needed to have a Brilliant Team with me. Whoof those young officers was my tactical action officer, worked in operations, was jerry hendrix. If you look at the program, you will see we honor every year a junior officer from the theater roosevelt for leadership. In 1997, if you look at that date, you will see the name jerry hendrix. He was my first pick is a junior leadership award. He is someone i value greatly, and someone i am proud to introduce as well. Thank you. [applause] this time of covid denies you certain privileges. You, one of the privileges i was just denied the ability to hug my sea daddy. Leave me, such as my affection archdmiral arches l izelle. There is a lot of good memories there. It is a great privilege to be here. It has been a few years since i the had a chance to address Roosevelt Association on topics historical or contemporaneous, so it is good to be back here. I always want to start out i have a tendency to speak fast, slow want to slow myself down here a little bit. That was a great panel that came before. I enjoyed the conversation from the three scholars. I was struck by items that came from each one of them. I have all of theater roosevelts letters, all eight volumes. They are tremendous for me. Having done my doctorate on roosevelts use of the navy as an instrument of coercive diplomacy, i really got into those letters, specifically looking at roosevelt and the navy. Since then, i have had the chance to read the letters for how he viewed other topics. For instance, his conversations or letters with t washington are national treasures. Looking at the conversation and dialogue going on, at a critical turning point, the conversations and letters he has with his daughter are instructive to me as a father of daughters about how to have an adult conversation with your daughter who is highspirited. I am fortunate to have two highspirited daughters take after their mother, who is also highspirited. Theyre great anecdote about alice roosevelt, who became the wife of the speaker of the house of representatives. She used to keep a pillow that said, if you dont have anything nice to say about someone, come sit next to me. [laughter] that gives you a sense of where i decided i was going to take up this historic topic. Roosevelt i looked at , what really emerged was the fact that he set out to build one fleet, then he ended up having to build another. Why was that . There had to be a reason. Is there something advance this for me . Slide. [laughter] anyway, Theodore Roosevelt went through a time of unprecedented growth. President , we dealt 16 battleships, seven cruisers, 24 submarines, and 20 destroyers. In nearly every case, these ships were built as the result of his direct by a very youthful president , the youngest president ever in the history of our country with the members of the appropriate house and Senate Congressional committees that were in charge of naval shipbuilding. If you think naval Ship Construction is political today, it was just as political then as members lobby to have seats on those committees, because those committees meant jobs in their home districts as well as the placement of those ships and ports in their home districts. It should be noted that there was a significant imbalance in his ship building plans. In 1903, the general board of the navy, which was made up of nine flag officers, made a proposal to the president that the fleet we should have by 1920 was to have early six battleships, 36 24 cruisers, and 48 scout cruisers for a total of 36 battleships and 120 cruisers. Audit ratio, what he they built which was big question was and by the way, all seven cruisers were built in roosevelts first term. Essentially built and authorized from 19011905. Noting in 1905, there were cruisers during his first full term as president or his second term in the executive office. Fourid he just build submarines in the first term and no destroyers, then pivoted to build 20 submarines and 20 destroyers in his second term . What was the reason for this change in fleet architecture . Why did Theodore Roosevelt, the advocate for building up the navy, turn away from cruisers and why did he place such emphasis on submarines and destroyers in his second term . To understand these decisions, we must understand the outline of the four eras of the Roosevelt Naval thought. Back one slide please. Thank you. Roosevelts formative years. Its not hard to find good photographs of him as a young man. His early years reveal a deep and abiding interest in Naval Affairs. His mothers two brothers, james withrban bullet, served distinction in the confederate war. And the american civil james was an Intelligence Officer and urban serve on board the battleship alabama which fought against and james fire the last shot by the alabama against it before she sank. Theodore to visit roosevelt and his family in new york prior to going into permanent exile in england after the war. Roosevelts mother would tell her Children Stories about her brothers. Theodore himself would later recount that as a child, he heard tales of ships, ships, ships, and the fighting of ships until they sank into the depths of my soul. Because of his childhood asthma, roosevelt also spent much of his time engrossed in the reading of books. Autobiography,s one that touched him greatly was the 19th century fiction series mr. Midshipmen easy which was britain written by British Royal navy captain. Theodore roosevelt interest in the age of sail carried over into his time at Harvard College where his senior thesis on the war of 1812 would later become a published classic which continues to be appreciated today. The Naval Institute still publishes a version of this. The of us as scholars of war of 1812 still use it as a primary resource to this day. It is a very good work of 22. Ory that he does at age this book and his effort in that represents a serious effort not only to understand individual ship tactics also how fleets can be employed to advance national interest. Roosevelt, even as a young man, demonstrated an ability to in understand the intersection point between key Technological Advancements and national strategy. Soaking was his perception that many of the key principles of seapower that would later form another workn of appeared in one form or another in roosevelt very first book. Roosevelt remained interested in Naval Affairs in the years that followed, examining key aspects of naval strategy and his two subsequent books. They appeared in 1887 and 1888. Book ultimately did appear in 1890, roosevelt was such an outstanding naval theorist, that the Atlantic Monthly opposed him to write the review. It was at this time that these two men began an active correspondence on naval matters that would endure until the formers passing. The extent said that of roosevelt interest in the navy was limited to his desire that it be larger and that it supported carving out an american spirit of influence in the western hemisphere under the Monroe Doctrine. It is important to note that during this time of his life, he seldom if ever specifically called out naval architecture or ship design issues beyond some mention in his letters of the need for armor piercing rounds, rapid firing guns, and a significant critique of the Kentucky Class battleships superimposed terror. I read all those letters and thats the only time he gets into detail. He was unable strategist, but not a naval technologist at this point in time in his life. Was because of roosevelts enduring interest in naval issues as well as his growing participation in republican politics that he was nominated to be the assistant secretary of the navy during the First Administration of William Mckinley in 1897. Greek mathematician archimedes once said that if someone would give him a long enough lever at a place and a place to stand, he could move the world. In december 1896, William Mckinley handed Theodore Roosevelt a really big stick. Asking him to be the assistant secretary of the navy under John Davis Long who had served in the house of representatives with mckinley as before. Man. Was an elderly its important to understand the nature this relationship between the senior and the junior. He had recently married for a second time after his first wife is pat had passed. His second wife was very young, and they had a very young son. Long head to children with his first wife and now he has a young child and he is involved in this relationship with his wife and this young child. Were, leftion as it titanict a man with energies to oversee the departments daytoday activities. Long was not enthusiastic about roosevelts desire to grow the United States navy, but roosevelt dug in and engaged with the various technical Uniformed Bureau chiefs who oversaw the running of the navy. Roosevelt went to see often to view the fleet exercise and he fired a naval gun more than once for the sheer joy of it. He writes entire letters about firing naval guns and he would grade the different calibers. Roosevelt attempted to convince long and his boss William Mckinley that a larger navy was an investment in maintaining global peace. During this time, roosevelt engaged in a correspondence with the senator from massachusetts and generally supported senator lodges large policy which aimed onlytend control over not the western hemisphere, but also over the territorial possessions far out in the pacific to include hawaii which roosevelt was an advocate for annexing and the philippines, ultimately. Roosevelt also continue to write and speak with who encouraged him to grow the navy especially the number of battleships and cruisers in the fleet. Sevelt also demonstrated to make investments in additional dry docks in order to have ample repair facilities to maintain the fleet that he envisioned. Roosevelt also saw ahead that the navy would be involved in wars and that time of wars, it would need to have an Industrial Base sufficient to repair the ships that were damaged in battle. He was also innovative. He urged investment in new torpedo boats as well as urging secretary long to support financially Research Efforts of professor Samuel Langley as he saw sought to construct a flying machine. Roosevelt anticipated the coming war with spain and also the United States larger role in the world in the 20th century. When he left the Mckinley Administration in 1898 to join the rough riders and go to cuba to fight, he urged secretary atlanticonsolidate the battle fleet near cuba and to strengthen the United States hold over the newly one philippine islands. It hadtle at manila curbed for the secretary left. With these responsibilities in mind, he urged sec. Long and president mckinley to build six new battleships. For on the east coast and to on the west coast. Specific because he was not only looking to build battleships, he was looking to build the Industrial Base and he wanted to make sure we were investing on the west coast where there was not that much shipbuilding at the time to match the east coast. In addition, he urged them to add a 75 torpedo boats, 25 in the atlantic. In roosevelts mind, the threat to the United States as he left the Navy Department were germany and europe. This was 1898 and roosevelt was looking ahead saying this is where the fleet threat will be. After leaving the Mckinley Administration to fight with the rough riders, roosevelt had returned to the United States a hero and was elected to the governorship of new york. Soon, anxious to be rid of the young double making reformer, the states political bosses convinced mckinley to add Theodore Roosevelt to the ticket in 1900 as his Vice President to replace the recently deceased Garrett Hobart. We dont have good names like Garrett Hobart anymore. It was thought that he could do little harm to the powers that be from the vice presidency. However, mckinleys assassination six month after the inaugurations left roosevelt very much in charge. As the senator from new york, one of the heads of the Republican Party said, look the dam cowboy is president of the United States. Roosevelt thinking in 1901 with regard to the architecture of the fleet early in his administration revealed that he largely picked up where he had left off as assistant secretary a few years later. In october, one month after becoming president , roosevelt wrote a letter in which he expressed an interest in increasing the tonnage and firepower of the american fleet, that he was also interested in finding the cheapest path to a more effective navy. A few days later in a letter to the influential senator william chandler, roosevelt asked the senator to put three new battleships into the naval bill. He stated that he really wanted for battleships, but the three represented the limit of conservation. He went on to say quote of course i want cruisers, gunboats and torpedo boats in addition and above all, i want men. Its important that he realized not only as he grew the navy in size and ships, he wanted to make the investment and manpower, operations, maintenance, and infrastructure. That all must be grown in balance with each other. Was about was already at this point on his second secretary of the navy as his former boss, john long, who had been mckinleys friend, had tendered his resignation. It is important to realize that over the next seven years, he would have two secretaries of state, he would have six secretaries of the navy. What became quickly apparent to all observers both contemporaneous and historical is that the owner roosevelt was his only secretary of the navy. Else was just getting tryouts for positions in his government. Two of his six secretaries of the navy went on to become attorneys general. One did not impress him, so he sent him off to a lesser important job as a lesser judge of the supreme court. During his first three years in office, Roosevelt Naval acquisitions emphasized battleships, torpedo boats, and destroyers. 200edo boats came in at tons. Destroyers were 400 tons. Today, destroyers are 9500 tons. Destroyers have become battleships, but i digress. He also did order cruisers in this first term. Seven of them. For large armored cruisers of the tennessee class that when combined with mckinleys six Pennsylvania Class cruisers became the big ten. If you have ever wondered how it is that the midwestern athletic conference got its name, the navy lent the name of its big ten cruisers to the big ten athletic conference which as a graduate of purdue, i take some pride in. He also built three scout class salem cruisers. These were small, slight, very fast cruisers whose job it was to rapidly advance ahead of the battle force to scout for the enemy then radio back where the enemy was. 1904, Theodore Roosevelts correspondence with regard to the navy began to change as it came under the influence of the ideas of commander william sims. Roosevelt had been aware of sims while he was assistant secretary and he did not think much of him then. He thought he was hysterical and a troublemaker. Sims was nearly evangelical in his advocacy for improving the accuracy of gunfire within the force. Advancing the then radical idea that it was the accuracy of guns not the volume of fire that one battles. Now some six years later, sims and a fitted from exposure to the ideas and techniques of a British Royal navy captain who went on to be admiral sir percy scott who pioneered a method of maintaining new large caliber guns always on their targets despite the Rolling Movement of the ships underneath them. Sims observed that this technique in action, he brought it back to the United States where he convinced roosevelt to its efficacy as well as the importance of shifting American Ship design to only carrying batteries of 10 inch14 inch guns. One argued that smaller caliber weapons would never be used in battle as ships of the line would engage and fight at the extreme range of their largest weapons. Sims ideas along with the support of roosevelt began to have an effect on the architecture of the navy. At the end of roosevelts first term, the real significant change was two important events that occurred very soon at the beginning of his second term. The battle of tsushima straits of hms advent dreadnought. His firstlt began true term as president , his correspondence reveals a leader who was deeply satisfied with where things stood with regard to the navy. Writing to his old rough raining Commanding Officer rough writing Commanding Officer in 1905 soon after his inauguration. He shared that when he had become president , he had set a goal of creating a fleet of 40 advanced ironclads. That he had reached that goal with 20 battleships and 12 armored cruisers in the fleet. Roosevelt stated that this placed the United States behind france, but on par with germany and that in the years to come, the country could rest. Replacing ships in the fleet as they wore out. At that point at the beginning focus wasm, his main training. His plans for a life of ease were shared shattered in 1905 when the russian baltic fleet which had sorted after the defeat of the Russian Navy Pacific fleet was defeated at the battle of port arthur. The russians had sailed from the baltic halfway around the world to meet with the japanese fleet at the strait of tsushima where it was decisively defeated. The major lesson that emerged from this battle was that both speed and range of naval big guns to be did to japans overwhelming victory. While captain mahon continued to shipste for mixed caliber having written along estate making that argument, roosevelt was increasingly inclined to listen to commander sims who had just examined the outcome of the battle with great care. Withhad extensive contacts the british navy and was aware they were building a new type of battleship the brittons first sea lord. Mountingg 18,000 tons, 10 1211 inch guns, the dreadnought could make 21 knots with speed provided by her revolutionary steamturbine engines, the first major steamturbine battleship in the world. She was so revolutionary that historians to this day user as the dividing line in battleship divide battleship design reference, referring to ships built before her as predreadnought and ships built after her as post dreadnought. The 40lt realized that ironclads he had been so satisfied with as late as march 1905 were all obsolete and in need of rapid replacement if the United States was to remain competitive as a naval seapower. So while accepting the ships he already had, in 1906, he began to strenuously urge u. S. Navy leaders to pursue new battleship of new battleships of the most advanced design. In october 1906 in a letter to sams, tr specified the capabilities he sought for a new battleship. He wanted 20,000 tons. He wanted steamturbine power. He wanted a ship that was capable of making 25 knots or greater. It was to be heavily armored at the beltline and her main gun deck and he wanted her to possess no less than eight 12inch guns. He also wanted them to be constructed with multiple watertight compartments that would make it capable of taking hits and remaining afloat. Roosevelt made no mention of cruisers in the letter, but it is clear that at this point, roosevelt the naval strategist had become very much roosevelt the naval technologist. He knew what he wanted, he had read the diagrams, interviewed members of industry, consulted with officers and technologists and engineers. And he was able to sit down at his desk at the white house and design the ship he desired for his navy as commander in chief of the navy to have. 19 oh later, in january seven, in a letter to representative george foss, chairman of the house Naval Affairs committee, roosevelt shared his reasoning with regard to cruisers in the fleet going forward. Thele cruisers, especially great armored cruisers, serve useful purposes, it would nevertheless have been infinitely better to have spent the money which was actually spent on them in the construction of firstclass battleships. Our great armored cruisers are practically as expensive to build and maintain as a battleship, and yet taking the battleship all around for the purpose of which a navy is really needed, its superiority to the armored cruiser is a enormous. Rit is torpedoe that building boat destroyers, there must be a few fast scouts and various auxiliary levels, but the strength of the navy rests primarily on its battleships, and in building these battleships, it is necessary from the standpoint of life, efficiency and economy that they should be of the very best kind. Rooseveltsf efforts was the delaware class battleship which came in at 20,000 tons. It mentioned 10 it mounted 1012 inch guns, but it wasnt until roosevelt convened the navy leaders in newport with a minute tendons that he was able to effect real change. The result of that conference, the gathering of the kings, as it were, was the wyoming class thatll ship, displacing 26,000 tons, mounting 12 12inch guns and able to make 21 knots of speed on steam turbines, representing the culmination of roosevelts efforts as president. We find tr in 1907 nearing the end of his presidency and faced with the facts of the recent russo japanese war, as well as the implications of the british dreadnought battleship, made a decision to expand his energy on recapitalizing the American Navy with new battleship designs, as well as torpedo boats troyers and submarines. Cruisers, which he had previously been in favor of, had to take a lower priority in the face of what roosevelt could only consider a strategic emergency. The world, characterized as it was by multiple spheres of influence loosely linked by sea lanes of communication, was increasingly becoming competitive and unstable, and roosevelt feared a war was not far in the offing. It is true that the naval arms race that commenced ultimately contributed to the outbreak of world war i. Roosevelt, who made the decision to dispatch his combined fleet on a massive, round the world insistent that the fleet remain together as a coherent combat force. And in literally his final s president to his chosen successor, William Howard taft, tr pleaded with his friend never to divide the fleet until the canal through panama was complete. It was clear roosevelt feared that they divided fleet would be overwhelmed and destroyed piecemeal by rising enemy, likely either germany or japan. Both of roosevelts immediate successors continued his building policies. Single term, he received permission from congress to build six battleships, 20 submarines and 26 destroyers. During the wilson presidency, five additional battleships were built along with 26 submarines and 12 destroyers. Light,e of the 3d experimental class besides the light, experimental class cruisers, no more wood laid no more would be laid down in the fleet until 1918. My conclusions. The historical record is clear that roosevelt did not intend to build an imbalanced fleet. Independent naval thinker, as well as a friend of a captain, he built a fleet that was balanced, envisioned a fleet made up of battleships, cruisers, torpedo boat destroyers, new submarines, inappropriate russians. In his march 1905 letter to leonard wood, tr expressed satisfaction with the current navy, saying he reached his mark. But the events of 1905 in waters off japan and shipyards of england caused them to reassess his goals. It would not be until the mid1930s before the United States would again begin tilting large, heavily armored and armed cruisers, which were capable of both scouting for an screening main battle forces. Seee heavy cruisers would active service during world war ii in the atlantic and the pacific. Roosevelt appointed himself to be the head of these efforts. I oftenummarize here, think that we have a tendency to emphasize highend platforms war onehat after cold as we enter cold war to now, we had limited resources or a perception thereof that we had limited resources. So we chose to prioritize the highest, most expensive and most technical in our line, whether that was our lee class to stores, see wolf submarines, now virginia class submarines, and we went from having 105 frigates ring the cold war to having zero frigates today. But today, as we see rising competition, whether china or russia, we start to look for the need for balance in the force. It is ok to prioritizing a time of emergency, but when we look forward and you realize that you are facing the advent of potential battle, you have to look at what that proper balance is for the fleet architecture you need to be able to fight and win. And just went to end here, i look forward to taking your questions. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [indiscernible conversations] looking forward, we have security threats, we have a new competitor [inaudible] and we have growing fiscal pressures. You get into a specific area that my friend dr. John gable of the Roosevelt Association warned me never to do, which is try to apply tr to current events. Because you never quite know, a man of roosevelt s complexity, where he would come down on things. But if i take the events of 1905 and you say there is a strategic crisis and an emergency, roosevelt felt he had to make hard priorities. The thing i dont get into is that roosevelt had an entire other budget to spend as well, so how did he shift things within that budget . The thing that really amazes me is the degree first of all, roosevelt is living in washington d nine months act of the year and is also writing letters to give you a sense of how much roosevelt wrote, if you did an average of every piece of correspondence roosevelt wrote, he wrote 12 pages a day for every day he was alive on birth until death, tremendous amount of correspondence to keep up with. But he is also carrying on daytoday conversations by having people into the white house to meet with him there. Is degree to which he lobbying congress, leaders of the house and senate Naval Affairs committees, it directly, is tremendous. Johnsonaines johnson, had nothing on roosevelts ability to lobby to get his programs through. So if roosevelt was alive today, he would be deeply involved in setting the priority for what is his priority. The question is, which roosevelt would be alive today . The1897 roosevelt, roosevelt during his presidency, the progressive roosevelt . Roosevelt is manuel valls and is a different person at bullmoose then he was when he was in the harness as president of the United States. But it cant believe roosevelt at any point would have lost his deep love for our beloved in states navy. Other questions . This is a typical question, but in the naval war of 1812 1912, tr [inaudible] any idea what that rating was . Capt. Hendrix yes, it is the number of guns. Of 1812, youwar would put uss hornet 18, so it is uss hornet of 18 guns. What he doesnt get into until you get back into the annexes the poundage of those guns. You can say a ship had 18 guns, but what is the throw weight of that gun, whether it is 32 pound or 20 pound come etc. , etc. , that is back in the annex. But if it says the name and number, it is the number of guns. Admiral . He is senior. [laughter] rooseveltstheodore transition over his lifetime, [inaudible] i would like you to address your views on fleet size at the size of ships, and whether you think the 500 plus ship navy that is envisioned now is the way we should be going. Capt. Hendrix ok. Thank you, admiral. Before iy final moment lose my ability to be confirmed by the senate for any future role. [laughter] i have been an advocate for 353 ships in the navy since 2009. When i was a commander serving in the office of the under secretary of defense for policy, the boss, the navy presented a plan for 313 ships. I was the staff officer to take the brief area i asked what was the justification for 313, and the answer was unsatisfactory. The answer was given to us is briefers that, this is what we think we can get away with. That is what it boiled down to. I said, what is the basis . They said we have a study, i opened it and read it, and there was no justification. It was a political calculation based on what they thought they could go to the congress and to the congress and get support for. A review of regional Combatant Commanders and looked at what their presence requirements werent what type of ships they wanted. And what i came up with was a minimum requirement to fulfill regional Combatant Commander requirements, 353 ships. In december 2015, when the navy put out a study saying the number was 355, i was happy with that. That matched things i had seen seven years previous. That represents a minimum number toships required to be able meet our rotational requirements for naval presence. Naval presence is fundamentally required, that if there is a breakdown in naval presence, you have too much a power vacuum, others stepien. Dont do freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea for two and a half years, someone dredges up a bunch of coral and creates artificial islands as a means of trying to expand territorial claims. That is what happens when you have gaps in this. I realize i am speaking to the that 353t the point is represents a minimum. So what is the real number . In a moment of, shall we just say, how do i want to characterize this, in march of 2014, the chief of Naval Operations in front of the House Armed Services committee was asked, what do you really need, admiral, to meet the navy s requirements . And he said, we need around 450 ships. That estimate not the minimum, but that is to be able to have all the ships to do that and do all the training and all of the different maintenance and the things that go with running a modern navy. In was what the cno said that committee hearing, i think it was march 12, 2014. Came00ship plan that just out from the secretary of defense seam side, but the same time, that expresses the fact that it is 355 what we call normal ships, but the remainder is made up of unmanned and new, innovative designs, and those manned and optionally manned ships would represent the remainder, another 150 ships on top of that. Those are unproven designed ships. We have to make sure those work. Andnavy of the 1920s 1930s, we did 58 wargames in rhode island in the 1920s and 30s and it 19 fleet exercises to test those ideas out. Virtual cycle of wargaming and experimentation. And by the way, who was the third part of the cycle . Industry. Industry identified that flat torpedo bombers were not going to get it done, and what we need is a dive bomber. Industry came back and gave us a dive bomber prototype. We used it in a fleet exercise and that works, go build me some more of that. I fear that the navy today has gotten far too conservative, it has gotten burned by a couple ship designs and a couple aircraft investments, the a 12 comes to mind. Ed we have failed to move ahead with innovative approaches to fleet design. Hendrixs approach to things. My new book on the topic will be coming out in december. [laughter] it is called to provide and maintain a navy, look for it on amazon soon. [laughter] president roosevelt thinking not just about the ships that he was building, but the infrastructure and resources going forward. [inaudible] if you talk about the future fleet, we have suffered mightily [inaudible] capt. Hendrix this is one of the things i am most excited about. We have left history and are now contemporaneous. Unmannedhips, the platforms, and the frigates, we are building frigates on the great lakes. We are not want to build our new wisconsin, on green bay, and it will come out through Lake Michigan and the locks and out. In world war ii, we had 50 dry docks in the u. S. That could take ships of the hundred feet or greater. Today, we have 13. Our Industrial Base has atrophied. During world war ii, we had seven naval installations in the country where, if an Aircraft Carrier got hit, we could put the Aircraft Carrier in a drydock today, we have two places in the United States that if one of our newman class Aircraft Carriers, and only one place where our ford class can go, because the Washington State dry dock has not been modified to take the ford classs weight. We only have two places. If i lose a nimitz battle, i have to pull it back, i have only two places to go. Even during the 1970s and 1980s, we had the Philadelphia Navy large Philadelphia Navy yard. We sold that yard off. Rebuilding the navy has to include rebuilding your Industrial Base anger Maintenance Base to make sure that you can actually repair those tips and get them back into battle. You cant think you are and get themships back into battle. You cant think youre going into battle and not take hits. During world war ii, some of them were on the Mississippi River and on the ohio river, where we were building liberty ships and amphibians on the ohio. Some of these light, unmanned platforms could be built in the inland mississippi and ohio rivers. We could go there as a means of bringing industrialization and competition back into our Industrial Base. Pascagoula,ings in bath, maine, and i want to grow the Industrial Base to give us greater resilience. Yes, sir. [inaudible] why is the tr naval history of the war of 1812 considered the first modern [inaudible] capt. Hendrix i did my phd at Kings College london under professor andrew lambert. 1812 underthe war of Theodore Roosevelt and is a big proponent of the british version. For the longest time, naval history was owned by the british. If it was going to be printed through a british publishing house, the british sort of owned the genre as it were. So when tr issues the naval war had812, Fenimore Cooper done a history looking at the war, but tr did really hard analysis, getting into operational logbooks. The methodology informed way i did my doctoral dissertation, by the importance of getting into the operational logbooks of the ships and captains to figure out what they were saying, rather than just what the chiefs were saying. I wanted to figure out with the indians were doing in this. Hardis one thing tr does, work in looking at what the individual ships dead, ships did, by looking at the logbooks, and he is able to rebuild battles moment by moment, maneuver by maneuver, so we understood how the americans one and also understood how we lost some significant battles. There is still ongoing debate between americans and brits when it comes to the war of 1812 and the different versions as told by them and by us. But the tr book is a breakthrough in that it is extremely well resourced. It is very difficult to argue with his facts. There is a lot of american ah rah jingoism, but we know when the battle because the flights that were captured still hanging over the United States Naval Academy behind glass from the ship we talk. I am sure a painting still hangs in the into gone still hangs in the pentagon. It is hard to get away from that. We all think of roosevelt as the president and the candidate of 1912, so when you look at cspan , roosevelt appears in two series on cspan, the history of the american president , but also the history of american literature. Books on theour winning of the west, his ultimate achievement as a historian, are also listed as essentially the standup examples of american historical analysis and literature of the 19th century and the american expansion across the western plains. They are still held up and read very well. He is a good writer. When i sit down to write, i still open roosevelt and read him for about an hour before i i can maybe just so echo a little of how good that guy right. That is along longwinded answer. Yes, admiral. Thank you very much for this enlightened presentation. Im a big fan of tr. [inaudible] it is fascinating to me to see that tr was a strategist first and then became a technologist and tactician of his own. We tend to train our Duty Officers to be tacticians first and at the 10 or 15 year point, maybe we start with strategy. Is it time for us to take a look at military education and push that further to understand the why [inaudible] capt. Hendrix thank you, sir. Thank you for being here today. There are two schools of thought when it comes to strategists in the military. One thought says strategists can be made, and there is a thought that strategist are just created are just created. It is important to use things like cno and commandant reading lists to convey ideas to Junior Officers and not only encourage, but discuss with them. I know, and my captain is sitting here, that we had discussions about Theodore Roosevelt and about Navy Strategy on board the ship in our ward room. Xo movie night, the xo of the ship would come on and we would watch some old war movie. There was a discussion where he would come on in a bathrobe, looking like he was an old british at the beginning of masterpiece theatre, and he would have an ascot on, but but we would have a discussion about what the movie means and why it would resonate with us, we would do it in the ward room and even when we were doing brief, we would have discussions about strategy as well as technology. You need to have that chance as Senior Leaders to interact with Junior Officers, to engage them so that they understand why this widget plays into that strategy. It is incumbent upon Senior Leadership to set that the example. I was very fortunate, both in my p3 community and in exposure to Theodore Roosevelt, to get exposed to big ideas already. Big ideas early. Fortuitous i was assigned a roommate that was a strategic monster. He and i had long debates and arguments in our state room over books we were reading back and forth, and that friendship has continued this day. He is got father to our doctor, so he is still my closest friend godfather to our doctor, so he is still my closest friend. Senior leaders have to encourage that. You start with book reading lists to start an organized discussion, and then make it fun by making it part of the daytoday on the ship. We are going to do a gunfire operation today, why is the fiveinch important to the fleet . And you build out from there. Thank you, very much. One more . We have time. How did tr view the u. K. , ally, competitor or other . Capt. Hendrix great question. Both. Tr had mixed feelings about the united kingdom. He was naturally inclined to be sympathetic to the anglo view of the world. Some discussion on the panel really slick, dealing with things like social darwinism, essentially came out of intellectual discussions between the british and germans at the United States. Roosevelt same time, had war plans drawn up dealing with the united kingdom, its possessions in the western atlantic, theern caribbean. There was a war plan about going against germany but also for battles against to the united kingdom. It was funny, because during my doctoral dissertation, i found the british war plans for dealing with war with the United States. I was very fortunate, there is a 100year rule in Great Britain on declassification. I was one of the first people to read the 1907 british workplan against the United States, because they recognized the u. S. Was ideally geographically located to cut them off from their grain supplies from canada, as well as from south america. So they felt they needed to strike us first to sink our fleet, but knew we would ultimately defeat them because we had the greater preponderance of rall resources and materials. Tr was very close with british diplomats, but at the same time, he planned for potential combat with the british empire. So he was a traditional american in the sense, the Monroe Doctrine meant that european colonial powers needed to stay out of interfering in the western hemisphere, and that included the united kingdom. During the spanishamerican [inaudible] tr wase any evidence involved in the planning of that strategy . Capt. Hendrix yes. It has been a while since i read that, but i did come across that there were war plans. He was intimately involved in do y going, tr in dewe put the navy on war footing on february 25 1898. Long wrote a memorandum to the president saying, the very devil took over tr yesterday and he did all these things. But long never reversed any orders. Tr ordered coal, he ordered ammunition, he told dewey to keep all the ships with him in hong kong and state fully fueled with demi nation p but there was preplanning with the campaign in cuba and was a contingency plan about how the box the spanish up inside the bay. There was a discussion about anking a ship, but not specific ship, never got into that detail, but yes, there is evidence roosevelt was involved in that preplanning, including the choice of the two commanders that would be sent around cuba. Roosevelt was involved in the personal selection of who would be the commanders of battle forces. Very interested, he knew the personalities. [inaudible] please talk to us about the moment that you discovered the commute occasion the communication that theater roosevelt built the navy that was truly the leader in the world. [inaudible] the venezuelan crisis of 19021903 was the turning point of the u. S. Position in the western hemisphere. I will try to be brief. There is a whole chapter in the book on this, because this is an area of great controversy among roosevelt historians. 1918, wroteter, in britishsent to both the and the germans that if they did not stop there blockade of venezuela, he would sale the Atlantic Fleet south end defeat them in battle. So for 50 years and defeat them in battle. So for 50 years, people said there is no evidence in the historical record of roosevelt doing that and we think he made it up. We think the letter to his friend when wister is incorrect that he is making himself larger than what he actually was. My research was to look at the logbooks of the navy asset that were in the caribbean for the winter exercise of 19021903, to see if they were prepare for war. Point, roosevelt committed the entire Atlantic Fleet, 59 ships, to the winter exercise, which was normally only about 30 ships. Then, he sent admiral george dewey as the commander of the winter exercise. Then he sent rear admiral henry ys chiefor to be dewe of staff. To put this in context, it would be as if the current president said, we are doing an exercise and i am sending chairman of the joint chiefs to be in charge and i am sending the chief of Naval Operations to be chief of staff of the exercise. Dewey way, roosevelt sent down in the president ial yacht, the mayflower, so he committed the personal prestige of the office of the president to the exercise. And then roosevelt summoned the ambassador and said, either leave in 10 days or im going to send dewey south. The ambassador doesnt believe roosevelt and he doesnt send word to the kaiser, seven days later, roosevelt says, what is the kaisers response, and he says, i thought you were joking. And roosevelt says, i am going down into days now, since you didnt take me seriously. Here is another thing. Aided the germans since manila since the germans try to interfere and carve off dewey haspines and had a real grudge against them ever since. Everyone in the western world nose dewey is spoiling for a fight, with 59 ships under his command and tr is forward leaning. Essentially within 24 hours, the kaiser backs down, they agree to arbitration and essentially, the american av is able to American Navy is able to assert and uphold the Monroe Doctrine. The western hemisphere becomes the american hemisphere in that moment in 19 oh tnd American Navy emerges as the preeminent tool of power under the under Theodore Roosevelt. And that it goes forward with panama independence a year later , made a few years after that, roosevelt uses the navy as an instrument of diplomacy. And what is amazing that is reputation, is roosevelt has a tremendous reputation for bellicosity, but despite being known as one of the most bellicose president s, he never goes to war. He is able to adjust the amount of pressure to get just the reaction he wants, and no more. He never lacks that subtlety of overdoing it. He only applies what is necessary and then essentially gets his result and he backs off. Mistake thatot a Theodore Roosevelt is the First American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and he is the only american to have a Nobel Peace Prize and a congressional medal of honor, both of which are displayed in the white house at the roosevelt room today. Example andendous he continues to inform me to this day. I think that is it. [laughter] [applause] thank you very much. Are watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. James baker served as secretary of state for president george h w bush, and as Ronald Reagans white house chief of staff and treasury secretary. On saturday, what an interview with him about leadership in his career. Heres a preview. Frequently, what do you consider your most significant accomplishment in the 12 years you were in washington . Five campaigns for president s, being chief of staff for two president s, being secretary of treasury and secretary of state, and leaving washington. Experience as a lawyer and training as a lawyer really helped me. Peter and susan wright in the capped at how i cap memo and file of every inappropriate request i was asked for when i was chief of staff or when i was secretary of state or anything else. Learned that because i was a lawyer. Washington came to in the immediate aftermath of watergate. Could happen to careless people when they go about their. That is when they go up there. That is a tough environment. I was both longestserving chief of staff at the white house in history, up until my successors came along. Entitle people it is the worst job in government, because you walk around with a target on your front and your back. When people cant get to the president , they want to get to the chief of staff. And the press particularly want to. So my training as a lawyer was invaluable to me in my second career in politics and public service. James bakere about saturday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern, four 00 p. M. Pacific here on American History tv. Lookingweek, we are back to this date in history. It was two years, 10 months, and five days ago that we were here in washington to broadcast a day of triumph in the life of john f. Kennedy. His inauguration. A tremendous snowstorm settled upon the city the night before, so Inauguration Day dawned brittle cold and a blaze of white. The mental the city world that they was somehow fitting the antle this city that day was somehow fitting, a new generation was taking over, not figuratively, but actually, and that day, the young president , we heard some say he was apollo hill, rolled down this from this capital and rolled down this avenue of the president s, his pretty wife behind him beside him, and he waved and cheered in the units marched and the bands play. Played. You can remember on that they have he couldnt quite manage the top hat. He put it on once, it slipped off, they put it on for just a couple of seconds and he concluded it was no use. So the top hat was carried, and finally disappeared altogether as the day of celebration and ore on. Wa so it is now at the same capital where he served for 12 years and took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural address that john f. Kennedy now leaves forever. Perhaps although he wrote down this hill on that day in triumph, it may not he said that he arrives today in feet, just in death. Defeat, just in death. Span history for more clips and posts. The firsth colony, coronet a 1980 education film about the pilgrims and their voyage in 1620. It depicts the first thanksgiving in massachusetts. Much of the narration is taken from the book a plymouth written by william bradford. [waves churning]