Theodore Roosevelt Plays Peace Negotiator During the Age of Empires

In ‘This Week in History,’ European and Asian powers come to America to obtain a peace treaty, resulting in Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize.

From Left: "The Man of the Hour," depicting Roosevelt as warrior in 1898 and peacemaker in 1905, settling war between Russia and Japan. (Right) Roosevelt's Nobel Peace Prize photo, 1906. Public Domain

Theodore Roosevelt was known for bold statements and bold actions. On Dec. 6, 1904, Roosevelt issued his Annual Message to both houses of Congress. In it was a bold and assertive statement that would inevitably require an equal form of action.

“The adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.”