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Medal of Honor Recipient President Theodore Roosevelt
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Posthumous Honor Presented at White House
on January 16, 2001
Read "I Am Entitled to the Medal of Honor and I Want It"
LIEUTENANT COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT UNITED STATES ARMY
receives the Medal of Honor posthumously. Accepting the award from the President on behalf of the Roosevelt family is great grandson Tweed Roosevelt.
The quest to secure the Medal of Honor for Theodore Roosevelt ended after 103 years when President William J. Clinton presented the nation's highest military award to Theodore Roosevelt posthumously. Tweed Roosevelt received the Medal on behalf of the Roosevelt family, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, January 16, 2001.
TR was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery on July 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, in the battle to capture San Juan Heights, near Santiago, Cuba, when he led the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) and other troops in two dramatic charges against entrenched Spanish positions. Tweed Roosevelt, a great grandson of TR, was chosen to receive the Medal for the family because of his leadership in the efforts to bring about the award.
Back in 1898 Roosevelt, first Lieutenant Colonel, then Colonel of the Rough Riders, as the colorful regiment of cowboys, Indians, and Ivy League athletes was known, was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor by the chain of command in Cuba, Brigadier General Leonard Wood, who had won the Medal of Honor fighting the Apaches, Major General Samuel S. Sumner, an eyewitness to the San Juan Heights battle, Major General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, and Major General William R. Shafter, the commanding general in Cuba who had himself won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War.
It was, to say the least, highly unusual for an award recommended by the entire chain of command to be rejected; and this was an award for action in combat that had been witnessed by many and widely reported in the press. But the recommendation was indeed rejected by the War Department. Why? The probable reason is that TR had sent a telegram and a letter to Secretary of War Russell A. Alger strongly urging that American troops, ravaged by tropical diseases, be immediately returned to the United States now that the fighting was over. (TR himself contracted malaria, which remained with him the rest of his life). General Shafter leaked these messages to the press, thereby embarrassing and infuriating Secretary of War Alger as well as President William McKinley.
Alger was subsequently forced to resign from the cabinet after an investigating commission exposed his incompetence at the War Department. TR, of course, became President in 1901, and that ended the matter of his Medal of Honor, or so it seemed. Then, in the "Fiscal Year 1996 National Defense Authorization Act," passed by Congress on February 10, 1996, Congress repealed the statute of limitations on military decorations. The legislation was passed primarily because of the failure of the United States to award the Medal of Honor to worthy African Americans during World War II and the Korean War, but the 1996 Congressional measure potentially opened the door for the consideration of any case from the past involving military decorations.
It was then that Congressman Paul McHale, Democrat from the 15th District in Pennsylvania, a former officer in the Marines, took up the cause of TR's Medal of Honor and began what might well be called the "second battle of San Juan Heights"! Congressman McHale, who retired from Congress in 1999, was present, along with other Congressional champions of TR's cause, at the presentation of the Medal of Honor in the White House on January 16, 2001.
The Fight to Win the Medal of Honor for the Colonel
Congressman Paul McHale introduced a bill to give the Medal of Honor to TR in 1996, and then introduced a second bill on July 25, 1997, HR 2263, entitled "A bill to authorize and request the President to award the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his gallant and heroic actions in the attack on San Juan Heights, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War." HR 2263 had over 160 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, forming an impressive and bipartisan coalition. Congressman Rick Lazio, Republican from Brightwaters, Long Island, New York, filed the formal application and supporting evidence with the U.S. Army for the posthumous award. Congressman Steve Buyer, Republican from Indiana, Chairman of the House Military Personnel Subcommittee, greatly helped to rally support for the bill in the House of Representatives.
The bill to grant TR the Medal of Honor was endorsed by the Board of Trustees of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, and subsequently was backed by the Navy League of the United States, of which TR was a founder, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute as well as by a broad spectrum of Americans, ranging from members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, an organization which TR joined in 1917, to the students in Richard Siegelman's third-grade class at the Vernon School in East Norwich, Long Island, near TR's Sagamore Hill home, who sent out countless letters and messages in support of the Rough Rider's cause.
Hearings were held on September 28, 1998 by the House Military Personnel Subcommittee; and testimony was given by Dr. John A. Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA); Tweed Roosevelt, a great grandson of TR who is a member of the TRA Executive Committee; Nathan Miller, a biographer of TR; Congressman Paul McHale, a member of the House subcommittee; and Congressman Rick Lazio. Jim Wiltraut, Congressman McHale's able assistant, energetic Ken Trepeta from Congressman Lazio's office, and knowledgeable Mike Higgins of the Military Personnel Subcommittee's staff were of great help in advancing TR's case in the House and elsewhere.
Opposition to the Colonel's Cause
The opposition to awarding the Medal of Honor to TR came particularly from elements within the U.S. Army. The Army has opposed in general the repeal of the statute of limitations on military decorations and the award of what might be called historical medals. Moreover, some in the Army thought that Roosevelt simply did not deserve the Medal of Honor. While no public statement was made on the case, it is widely believed that some historians in the Army think that TR was no more outstanding than many other brave officers in the battle of July 1, 1898 in Cuba, who did not receive the Medal of Honor either. In any event, while Congressman McHale's bill was making its way through the House in 1998, TR's cause received a major setback when the Senior Army Decorations Board recommended that the Medal of Honor again be denied to TR. TR's supporters, of course, took issue with this ruling.
On Thursday, October 8, 1998, the House of Representatives passed HR 2263 unanimously by a voice vote. The bill was then introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Bob Smith, Republican of New Hampshire, with strong support from Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota. (Senator Conrad's state of North Dakota regards TR as an adopted favorite son because of his days as a rancher in the Dakota Badlands). Time was now short, because Congress was about to adjourn for the year. Tweed Roosevelt had helped greatly in getting the bill through the House, and he and Senator Conrad were the leaders for the cause in the Senate and later in dealings with the White House. In one day alone Tweed Roosevelt personally visited 14 senators in their offices. The bill passed the U.S. Senate unanimously by voice vote without dissent on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 21, 1998, in the closing hours of the Congressional session. There was much celebrating by TR's supporters at that time, but as it turned out the war was far from over.
The Fight For the Medal Goes On
On October 22, 1998, the day after the bill cleared the Senate, Bill Bleyer reported in Newsday: "In a compromise to placate legislators who did not want to offend the Army, a letter signed by five Senators and Congressmen involved in the issue will accompany the bill to the White House." The letter requested the President to "seek the advice of the secretary of the Army" on the matter, and to ask the Army to "prepare a full and formal record of Theodore Roosevelt's valor." The bill was signed by President Clinton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on the afternoon of Thursday, November 12, 1998. Among those present were Tweed Roosevelt, Congressman Peter King, the New York Republican whose district includes Sagamore Hill, and Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. The President then honored the request from those in Congress who did not want to bypass the Army, and the matter was referred back to the Army for review.
The Army set up a special Medal of Honor panel to review the evidence and then make a recommendation, and supporters of TR hoped that the issue might be resolved by the end of 1999. Much new evidence and comment was received by the Army panel.
Lawrence H. Budner, President of the TRA, sent in copies of two original letters in the noted Budner Theodore Roosevelt Collection. The letters were written in 1898 by a Rough Rider to his parents in Texas, describing TR's heroic leadership in the Cuban campaign. Two recent attacks on Roosevelt's war record were often cited by opponents of the posthumous award: a book, Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan (1997) by Harold and Peggy Samuels; and an article by Mitchell Yockelson, " 'I Am Entitled to the Medal of Honor and I Want It,' Theodore Roosevelt and His Quest for the Medal of Honor," Prologue, Spring 1998, Vol. 30, no. 1. Dr. Gable of the TRA, in a letter to the Army panel, said that Yockelson and Mr. & Mrs. Samuels cited unreliable sources in making their case while ignoring eyewitness testimony favorable to TR. "Both publications are clearly biased against Roosevelt, deficient in scholarship, and full of holes," wrote Dr. Gable.
Others in favor of TR's case noted that over 20 other American soldiers had been awarded the Medal of Honor - then the nation's only major combat decoration - for bravery in the heavy fighting near Santiago on July 1, 1898, and asked if TR's record that day was any less noteworthy. Who else led two charges that day? Who else was exposed to enemy fire on horseback in that battle?
On March 31, 1999, a group of 14 historians and experts, joined by former Senator Claiborne deB. Pell (whose father, Herbert C. Pell, was an ardent Bull Mooser), sent a letter to the President, Secretary of the Army, and Secretary of Defense urging that TR be awarded the Medal of Honor. The letter was sent in time to meet the Army's May 31, 1999 deadline for the receipt of evidence and comment. The letter read:
"We the undersigned urge the President to grant Theodore Roosevelt an award he has deserved for more than a century: the Medal of Honor for his heroism as leader of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt displayed extraordinary valor at the Battle of San Juan. The image of Roosevelt leading his Rough Riders first up Kettle Hill and then on the famous charge up the San Juan Heights on 1 July, 1898 is etched forever in the American mind. Roosevelt was denied the Medal for political reasons in 1898. Time now to right a century-old wrong."
The letter was signed by, in addition to former Senator Pell, Stephen E. Ambrose, Douglas Brinkley, John A. Gable, Nathan Miller, Edmund and Sylvia Morris, William N. Tilchin, Edward J. Renehan, Jr., Geoffrey C. Ward, David Grubin, Colonel Herbert M. Hart, John B. Hattendorf, Colonel Paul L. Miles, Jr., and Edward M. Strauss, III.
The letter was the idea of Edward J. Renehan, Jr. of North Kingston, Rhode Island, biographer of John Burroughs and author of The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War. It was thought at the time by many that the Army would look foolish if it turned down Roosevelt in the face of such a distinguished group of petitioners. Earlier, on October 4, 1997, one of the signers of the Renehan appeal, Edmund Morris, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Theodore Roosevelt, had written to Congressman Lazio:
"I hereby endorse without reservation your effort to win the former Colonel Roosevelt a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, in recognition of his extraordinary bravery at the Battle of San Juan Heights on July 1, 1898. He led a charge against almost insuperable tactical odds (foot soldiers storming a high redoubt) and not only succeeded in dislodging the enemy, but inspired a whole generation of American youth with his example."
A long wait followed the May 31, 1999 deadline for submission of material to the Army panel. No public statement was ever made by the Army panel about its findings or conclusions, but the panel did recommend the Medal for TR in the end. Some say it was by a close vote. In any case, the recommendation then slowly made its way through the military hierarchy, including the offices of the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense.
A positive recommendation finally reached the White House, it was reported, in the summer of 2000. During the summer of 2000, Congressman Rick Lazio twice attacked President Clinton for not acting immediately and awarding the Medal of Honor to TR. At that time, Congressman Lazio was a candidate in New York State for the Senate against Mrs. Clinton, and most observers thought that it was unlikely, in view of the circumstances, that the Medal would be awarded until after the election.
Just before Christmas, Tweed Roosevelt and Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota decided to make a final effort to secure the Medal before the close of the Clinton administration. To have waited to the next administration would have been to lose ground, because although the enabling legislation would have remained on the books, the award of the Medal would have had to be approved by a new Secretary of the Army and new Secretary of Defense. Tweed Roosevelt wrote a letter to the President, which was hand-delivered to the President by Senator Conrad at a bill-signing ceremony in the White House. President Clinton opened the letter, read it, and said that he would indeed award the Medal before he left office.
Release January 16, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT MEDAL OF HONOR CEREMONY
The Roosevelt Room
11:45 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT : Good morning, and please be seated. I would like to first thank Chaplain General Hicks for his invocation; and welcome the distinguished delegation from the Pentagon who are here -- Secretary Cohen, General Shelton, Deputy Secretary DeLeon. I thank the members of Congress who are here -- Senator Dorgan, Senator Durbin, Representatives King, Skelton, Weller, and Whitfield; former Representatives Lazio and McHale; members of the Smith and Roosevelt families.
In 1782, George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit. It was the first medal awarded by our nation's Armed Forces. But soon it fell into oblivion, and for decades no new medals were established. It was thought that a medal was too much like a European aristocratic title, while to fight for one's country in America was simply doing your democratic duty. So when the Medal of Honor was instituted during the Civil War it was agreed it would be given only for gallantry, at the risk of one's life above and beyond the call of duty. That's an extraordinarily high standard, one that precious few ever meet.
The Medal of Honor is our highest military decoration, and we are here today to honor two American heroes who met that mark.
The first is Andrew Jackson Smith, United States Army. Then Corporal Smith served as a part of the 55th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, a black regiment that fought in the Civil War. In late 1864, they were part of a Union effort to cut off the Savannah-Charleston railroad link and keep Confederate forces from interfering with Sherman's march to the sea.
On November 30th, the 55th was one of several units that tried to take a 25-foot rise called Honey Hill, close to Boyd's Landing in South Carolina. The Confederate troops had an elevated position, the advantage of surprise and fortified entrenchments. So, as the 5,000 Union troops advanced through the 300 yards of swamp to get to the road leading up Honey Hill, they found themselves walking into a slaughter. The commanding officer, Colonel Alfred Hartwell, wrote, "The leading brigade had been driven back when I was ordered in with mine. I was hit first in the hand, just before making a charge. Then my horse was killed under me, and I was hit afterward several times. One of my aides was killed and another was blown from his horse. During the furious fight the color bearer was shot and killed, and it was Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith who would retrieve and save both the state and federal flags."
Now, to understand what Corporal Smith did that day you have to know that in the Civil War the color bearer was kept in front of advancing troops, and was a known, conspicuous target for the other side. The enemy fought hard for your colors and units that lost them suffered serious loss of morale. Having them held high gave a unit the courage to carry on. Eighty Medals of Honor have been awarded to soldiers who saved their unit's colors during the Civil War. Local legend says that the sandy soil of Honey Hill was literally soaked in Union blood on November 30, 1864 -- that, "one could walk on the dead for over a mile without touching the road." In one five-minute span, the 55th alone is said to have lost over 100 men. But they never lost their colors, because Corporal Smith carried them through the battle, exposing himself as the lead target.
Like so many African Americans who served in the Civil War, the soldiers of the 55th were only reluctantly accepted by their own Union army. Their units were segregated; they were paid less than white soldiers; they were commanded by white officers who mostly wanted to use them as garrison and labor battalions. So their first battle was the fight just to see battle. But given the opportunity, they fought with intensity that only high purpose and conviction can sustain. And they did it knowing they risked almost certain death or enslavement if captured by Confederate forces.
After the war, Andrew Jackson Smith lived out the rest of his days near Grand Rivers, Kentucky, where he was a leader in the community until his death in 1932. He was first nominated for the Medal of Honor -- listen to this -- in 1916. But the Army claimed, erroneously, that there were no official records to prove his story and his extraordinary acts of courage. It's taken America 137 years to honor his heroism. We are immensely honored to have with us today eight of his family members, including Andrew Bowman, here to receive the Medal of Honor on behalf of his grandfather; and Mrs. Caruth Smith Washington, Andrew Jackson Smith's daughter, and a very young 93. (Applause.)
I want to say to all the members of the Smith family, sometimes it takes this country a while, but we nearly always get it right in the end. I am proud that we finally got the facts and that, for you and your brave forebear, we're finally making things right. Major, please read the citation. (The citation is read.) (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT : The second Medal of Honor I award today is for the bravery of Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt on July 1, 1898.
That was the day he led his volunteer troops, the Rough Riders, in taking San Juan Hill, which changed the course of the battle and the Spanish-American War. We are greatly honored to be joined today by members of the Roosevelt family, including Tweed Roosevelt, here to accept the Medal of Honor on behalf of his great-grandfather.
This is the 37th Medal of Honor I have presented, but the first I presented in the recipient's old office -- (laughter) -- in front of a portrait of him in full battle gear. It is a tradition in the Roosevelt Room that when a Democrat is in the White House, a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt hangs above the mantle, and when a Republican is here, Teddy Roosevelt occupies the hallowed spot.
I chose to break with the tradition these last eight years because I figured if we could have even half the luck and skill leading America into the 21st century that Theodore Roosevelt did in leading America into the 20th century, our nation would do just fine. TR was a larger-than-life figure who gave our nation a larger-than-life vision of our place in the world. Part of that vision was formed on San Juan Hill. His Rough Riders were made up of all kinds of Americans from all walks of life. They were considered unpolished and undisciplined, but they were true citizen soldiers. By taking San Juan Hill, eventually they forced the enemy fleet into the Battle of Santiago Bay, where it was routed. This led to the Spanish surrender and opened the era of America as a global power.
Twenty-two people won the Medal of Honor for actions that day. Two high-ranking military officers who had won the Medal of Honor in earlier wars and who saw Theodore Roosevelt's bravery recommended him for the medal, too.
For some reason, the War Department never acted on the recommendation. Some say he didn't get it because of the bias the War Department had against volunteers. Others say it was because he ran afoul of the Secretary of War, who after the war was reluctant to allow the return of a number of American servicemen afflicted with Yellow Fever.
Roosevelt publicly called for America to bring its heroes home, where they had a far better chance to recover. The administration had to reverse course and it proved embarrassing to the Secretary. But while opinions about why he didn't receive the medal are mixed, opinion that he should have received it long ago is unanimous.
So here in this room will stand two great bookends to his wide-ranging life -- the Medal of Honor, America's highest honor for warriors; and the Nobel Peace Prize, the world's highest honor for peacemakers, which he won for his role in settling the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.
This is a remarkable day, and I can't help but noting that for historical buffs, Theodore Roosevelt's son was the oldest man who landed on the beaches at Normandy on D-Day, where he also won the Medal of Honor. Tragically, he died shortly after that, in his uniform doing his duty.
We are profoundly grateful as Americans for this remarkable family. And I am honored that I had the chance before I left office to correct what I think is a significant historical error. I'd also like to thank all these people from New York who are in the Congress, and other people from other states who did their part to see that it was done. And I thank all of you, too.
Nearly a hundred years ago, standing in this place -- I suppose I should also say this -- the reason this was Theodore Roosevelt's office is that all the offices of the President were in the old White House, until Teddy Roosevelt became President. But the country was bustling and growing and so was his family. He had five kids, and no place to work over there. His children were rambunctious like him. They even let goats and other animals run through the White House during regular time.
And so they built the West Wing in 1902, believe it or not, as a temporary structure. But no one ever had the courage to go back to Congress again and ask for money to do it right. So it's held up pretty well for the last 99 years. And that's why this was President Theodore Roosevelt's office.
Here's what he said, way back then: "We know there are dangers ahead, as we know there are evils to fight and overcome. But stout of heart, we see across the dangers the great future that lies beyond, and we rejoice."
Let these words continue to guide as, as we go forth into a new century. May we continue to live up to the ideals for which both Andrew Jackson Smith and Theodore Roosevelt risked their lives. Major, please read the citation. (The citation is read.) (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT : Well, thank you all very much for being here today. This has been a very moving ceremony. Again, I want to thank the large delegation from the Congress, and former members who have come, and families and folks in the Pentagon who worked hard to get this done. This is a good day for America. I'll just leave you with this one thought. I said this yesterday, but I may say it every day in the last week of my presidency. In the case of a black soldier in the long-ago Civil War, it sometimes takes a long time to get things right.
But Theodore Roosevelt reminded us that the only way we do that is by constantly focusing on the future. And that's really what we're celebrating here today, two people who changed America in more ways than one by their personal courage, from very different vantage points. PBS has been showing Jeffrey Ward's magnificent series on jazz -- I don't know if any of you have seen it. But there's a great section on Duke Ellington, who was a native of Washington, D.C. And he was asked what his favorite jazz tune was, and he said, "The one coming up." (Laughter.) There's always a new one coming up -- that's why we're all still here after more than 200 years. Thank you and God bless you all. (Applause.)
END 12:00 P.M. EST
CITATION
awarding the Medal of Honor to Theodore Roosevelt:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to:
LIEUTENANT COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT UNITED STATES ARMY
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt distinguished himself by acts of bravery on 1 July 1898, near Santiago de Cuba, Republic of Cuba, while leading a daring charge up San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, in total disregard for his personal safety, and accompanied by only four or five men, led a desperate and gallant charge up San Juan Hill, encouraging his troops to continue the assault through withering enemy fire over open countryside. Facing the enemy's heavy fire, he displayed extraordinary bravery throughout the charge, and was the first to reach the enemy trenches, where he quickly killed one of the enemy with his pistol, allowing his men to continue the assault. His leadership and valor turned the tide in the Battle for San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Our sincere thanks to the Theodore Roosevelt Association for their contribution
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