Lost in the Shadow of Fame Read online

  Despite the harsh and dangerous conditions of the desert campaign, he managed to continually pursue his intellectual interests. During the months while serving in Mesopotamia, he managed to engulf himself in Xenophons’s Anabasis, Plutarch’s Lives, Voltaire’s Charles XII, two volumes of Layard’s Early Adventures, Disraeli’s Tancred, Camoens’ Lusiad and David Harum, and a copy of the Lusiads – all a form of traveling “pigskin library” similar to his father’s library when on safari in Africa seven years before.

  In his own semi-autobiography of his Mideast experiences, “War in the Garden of Eden,” Kermit alternates between his war experiences, conditions in the British Army and a running monolog on the biblical history of the region including glimpses into Arab and Turkish customs and culture.

  For his efforts as a volunteer officer in the British Army in Mesopotamia, during the months of 1917 and early 1918, Kermit was awarded the Military Cross*[16]. On June 1, 1918, TR wrote to Kermit’s brother Ted, “He has received the British War Cross for gallantry in action in command of a light armored battery; he is to report to Pershing…it is a load off my mind to have him transferred.”

  Although considered a secondary effort in relation to the war in Europe by the British High Command, the campaign in Mesopotamia was a costly exercise for the British people. “Between the armistice and 1922, the cost of Iraq to the taxpayer was in the region of £100 million.”8

  The War in Europe

  In the spring of 1918, TR wrote to General March, the Chief of Staff, requesting Kermit to be transferred to the U.S. forces in France. Upon arriving in France following his service in the British Army, Captain Kermit Roosevelt was ordered to attend the Artillery School at Saumur. His wife Belle joined him and his surviving siblings who were also stationed in Europe. Each serving the war effort in various capacities; Major Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was commanding a battalion in the 26th Infantry Regiment, with Ted’s wife Eleanor supporting the troops working as a full-time volunteer with the Y.M.C.A. Brother Archie was commanding a company under Ted.

  Eleanor’s state-side aunt, Mrs. Hoffman, owned a large house in Paris which enabled Eleanor to live in very comfortable quarters and the home became a base for the occasional visiting family member. Besides her immediate in-laws, her brother-in-law, Dr. Richard Derby, his brother Lloyd, Ted’s cousin’s George, Philip and Nicholas Roosevelt all passed through from time to time. Although enjoying the warmth and camaraderie of the occasional family gatherings at the Paris house, thoughts of the war constantly weighed on the minds of the Roosevelt clan. Young Quentin was gone. Archie was recovering from a severely damaged kneecap and fractured arm*[17], Ted was suffering from a gun shot through his leg, a wound which bothered him for the rest of his life and Kermit was once again, being thrown into the breach of war.

  At the end of July, Kermit and his wife stopped off at the Paris house prior to his reporting to the artillery school. Their spirits were running very low on this occasion with the anticipation of this perhaps being their last family gathering. The war appeared to be an endless conflict, slowly consuming the family.

  To bolster morale, Kermit, Ted, and their wives decided to dine at a local restaurant - the Roosevelt ethos would never display fear, cynicism or dread. Having consumed too much wine himself, Kermit concluded Belle needed some “good red wine” to improve her complexion and against her will, began to force feed her from the bottle. As Belle and Eleanor rose to leave, embarrassed and complaining about being “conspicuous”, Ted whispered to Archie, “Let’s show them what being conspicuous is!”9 During their rushed walk home, Belle and Eleanor were followed by the raucous band of Kermit in uniform, Archie wearing his plaster cast, Ted on crutches singing and shouting “En avant, mes braves!” Before long, a large crowd gathered to watch the three American officers chasing the two dreadfully embarrassed women. The cheering group formed up a noisy parade of strangers including an entourage of hobbling, wounded French soldiers and proceeded to march through the streets of Paris.

  The outward good cheer would be short lived. The Roosevelt family once again returned to war as TR Jr’s wounds healed he was temporarily assigned as an instructor and attended the General Staff College then returned to the 26th Infantry.

  Following his training, Kermit was assigned to the Seventh Field Artillery10 in the 1st Expeditionary Division later re-designated as the 1st Infantry Division.*[18]

  At the timing of his emergence into the European war, the conflict was near to its end. He was engaged in the Meuse-Argonne campaign*[19] beginning in October and participated in the attack on the city of Sedan shortly before the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. The remainder of his service was in a dull and uneventful series of occupation and troop movements through Europe. In January, 1919 Kermit was assigned to duty with the American Commission to Negotiate Peace and War Damages in regard to the Treaty of Versailles. Despite his short combat service in Europe, the postings enabled him to be reunited with family members during the conflict who also were contributing to the war effort.

  To Camoes in Mesopotamia*[20]

  Two small black tomes that first saw light

  In Lisbon scores of years ago,

  Have been my comfort and delight

  Amid the desert and snow.

  When first I turned the yellowed leaves

  ‘Twas’ mong the palm trees of Brazil

  Now in the caliphs land I find

  Their magic unabated still.

  And when the sweltering troopship steamed

  Through Ormuz Strait neath molten sky

  The sea worn galleons of Camoens

  Seemed there at anchor riding high.

  Upon the house tops of Baghdad

  I’ve read of Inez’ luckless fate,

  And midst the scorching desert dust

  Heard stout daGama’s sailors prate.

  In long sea watches, of the bout

  That was held in London town,

  Twixt twelve of England’s sturdy knights

  And Portuguese of far renown.

  Now in pursuit of cautious Turk

  With kit reduced to the absurd,

  One volume still I’ve brought

  And read, Among the mountains of the Kurd.

  And so I’ve scrawled these vagrant lines

  To offer thanks where they are due,

  For many a weary moment cheered

  By these companions tried and true.

  The armistice treaty, marking the end of hostilities was in effect at 11am, November 11, 1918. The war had taken the lives of 10 million people and changed international boundaries and politics in Europe and the Middle East forever. Unforeseen at the time, the war’s outcome and the conduct of the victorious nations in the years following the armistice laid the groundwork for yet again another world conflict within two decades. As the defeated and cowed loser, Germany sank into a spiral of enormous inflation and economic distress, the allied nations began a binge of celebration and growth. Following a post war recession, the 1920s were a decade of reckless euphoria and flourishing economic growth.

  Notes:

  1 Machine Gun Corp Old Comrades Association, Alan Simcock report: “14 LAMB was equipped with eight RR armored cars divided into four sections of two cars each with motorcycle mounted scouts. The LAMBs in Mesopotamia were Army troops and were used for patrolling roads, reconnaissance, often with cavalry and in support of flanking attacks. Their main base was in Baghdad.”

  2 Ibid. “The Rolls-Royce armored cars had originally been designed by the Royal Naval Armored Car Division and were based on the Rolls-Royce Alpine Tourer version with a Silver Ghost chasis and six-cylinder, 7428cc engine developing about 80hp. A four-speed gearbox was fitted and the top speed was about 45mph. The armor was 4mm thick.”

  3 War in the Garden of Eden, 1919, Kermit Roosevelt pg. 120

  4 As observed by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Davis, U.S. Cavalry, in a report to the American War Department, 1918: “During this round-up of the 50th
Division, a very creditable piece of work was done by an American, who held at that time a commission in the British army, to wit: Captain Kermit Roosevelt, of the Light Armoured Motor Car Brigade. These armoured motor cars made a successful effort to recapture two British officers of considerable rank who had been taken prisoners by the Turks when they had been forced to descend during an aeroplane flight over the Turkish lines, and who were being sent under escort to Aleppo at the time of the battle of Khan-Bagdadie. Learning the whereabouts of these officers after the battle, the British division commander sent the armoured car brigade up the Euphrates, which they followed to a point 75 miles about Ana, or just about half way from Baghdad to Aleppo. During this push up the Euphrates, a part of the British forces chanced to encounter a very important German agent. They captured him, but left most of his baggage, together with a lot of papers, scattered about the bivouac where they had captured him. Later, Captain Roosevelt came along in his car, saw these papers, recognized the importance of them, gathered them up, and later turned them over to the appropriate staff officer. Upon careful examination, the papers proved to be of the very greatest importance and Captain Roosevelt was, for this act and for other instances of admirable conduct, suitably rewarded. I might add appropriately, that Captain Roosevelt by his work with the armoured cars, as well as by his generally admirable conduct, made a very favourable impression on the officers of the British Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, all of whom spoke of him in terms of the greatest praise.”

  5 War in the Garden of Eden, 1919, Kermit Roosevelt pg. 174

  6 Ibid. pg. 179

  7 Ibid. pg. 203

  8 Too Close to the Sun, Sara Wheeler, pg. 123

  9 Day Before Yesterday, The Reminiscences of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt pg. 106

  10 In a letter dated July 23, 1921 to Colonel Fred Feigl, editor of the Tammany Times, Kermit’s brother Ted as Assistant Secretary of the Navy wrote: “Nothing pleases me more than to be able to testify to the splendid efficiency of the 7th Field Artillery. Our artillery supported us at all junctures with dash, devotion and intelligence. I have seen battalions wheel into action when needed in a rapture attack not more than two or three hundred yards behind the attacking lines. My own brother Kermit served as a battery commander in the 7th Field Artillery.” Letter received by the author from the Andrew E. Woods, Research Historian, Colonel Robert R. McCormick Research Center, Cantigny First Division Foundation

  Chapter VI – Conducting Postwar Business

  Cities and Thrones and Powers

  Stand in Time's eye,

  Almost as long as flowers,

  Which daily die:

  But, as new buds put forth

  To glad new men,

  Out of the spent and unconsidered Earth

  The Cities rise again.

  “Cities and Thrones and Powers”

  Rudyard Kipling

  In 1919 the US economy began a downward spiral into recession as many thousands of returning Doughboys shed their uniforms for work clothes and business suits and began to flood the job market. Simultaneously, the end of wartime production depressed job availability in this country as Europe began experiencing hyperinflation. Race riots broke out across many American cities as the great migration of Southern blacks began to move to the Northern cities looking for work and a better quality of life. Adding to the worldwide economic problems, as the war was ending, an influenza epidemic began spreading across the globe and before ending in 1919 would eventually claim more than fifty-million lives exceeding even the death toll of the Great War. Kermit returned to this tumultuous environment to once again begin his life anew.

  In 1919 he entered the business world pursuing two diverse projects: the shipping industry, which was to become a lifelong career in various management and ownership positions, and a sideline interest in a family partnership in the restaurant business in New York. Long before Starbucks ever became a national trademark, Kermit, with brothers Theodore and Archibald, their brother-in-law Dr. Richard Derby along with their cousin Philip Roosevelt began a company to operate a chain of coffee houses in New York.1 Perhaps the first of its type in the country. The initial establishment, named the “Brazilian Coffee House” was located on West 44th Street in the theater district. The family members all retained an equal share in the ownership. Kermit originated the idea based upon coffee shops that he frequented in Brazil years before. Keeping true to Kermit’s literary taste, “Upon entering the long narrow shop, a patron saw portraits’ of Voltaire and Shakespeare on opposite sides of the room.”2 In 1921 the coffee house name was changed to the “Double R” (for Roosevelt and Robinson) and relocated to a new location on 45th Street. Before long, another store was opened on Lexington Avenue.

  However, by 1927 the business was experiencing heavy losses and the family decided to sell the operation. Kermit began negotiations with the Maxwell House Coffee Company and considered selling a fifty-one percent share for a firm price of $15,000. Maxwell House expressed interest primarily in the advertising opportunity for their product realizing the revenue would amount to little but no deal was struck. The family continued managing the business until it was sold completely in 1928.

  By the beginning of the 20th Century, American shipping was transporting only a small fraction of the country’s foreign trade but the Great War proved the need for a substantial merchant fleet. Few today realize that at the outbreak of World War I and the years following that conflict, the United States Government literally confiscated the American maritime industry. This move can be compared to the 21st century banking and auto industry takeover.

  As the war progressed, German submarine warfare began taking a tremendous toll on allied shipping. In 1917 there was a great need for cargo and troop ships to support the transport of American troops to France, and the U.S. fleet was inadequate. Recognizing this deficiency, the United States Shipping Board and the Emergency Fleet Corporation was signed into law by Congress in September, 1916 enabling the government to manage the U.S. shipping industry. Between 1917 and 1922 the government built more than 2000 ships. According to the wartime shipping board chairman, Edward N. Hurley:

  “Considering the program as a whole, the accomplishments in the number of ships constructed, the tonnage secured and the time within which the ships were completed and delivered, constitute the most remarkable achievement in ship building that the world has ever seen”.4

  Following WWI, the American maritime industry was recovering from years of neglect, and the government was inappropriately in possession of thousands of ships no longer required for combat duty. The Merchant Marine Act of 19203 codified the importance of maintaining a strong maritime capability for both commerce and national defense. At the end of the war the government began selling the ships to U.S. firms and engaging in a partnership with private operators to manage the remaining government-owned vessels.

  A number of civilians, including William Averell Harriman, son of railroad magnate, E.H. Harriman foresaw the importance of a growing U.S. shipping industry and focused his attention not on rail but on commercial shipping noting in 1916: “The most important matter connected with the growth and well-being of the U. S. was shipping.”5 The Harrimans would play a major role in the shipping industry in the post WW1 era along with a few other wealthy entrepreneurs, including William Vincent Astor.

  With shrewd foresight in seeing a potential business opportunity, Kermit also pursued involvement in this new enterprise along with his friend Astor. Coincidently, Kermit’s forebears on his mother’s side also were engaged in the shipping industry. His mother Edith’s grandfather, Isaac, and her great aunt’s husband, Robert Kermit owned the fleet of Kermit & Carow clipper ships in 19th Century New York.

  During the turbulent business years following the Great War (through Prohibition, the Roaring 20s and into the Great Depression), Kermit participated in a myriad of maritime business ventures, and he became one of the leading shipping-men in the country managing some o
f the largest maritime concerns in the nation. His involvement included both cargo and passenger ocean liners.

  In September 1919 Kermit was appointed secretary of the American Ship and Commerce Corporation, a holding company of the Cramps Shipbuilding Company and the Kerr Navigation Company. However, this initial foray into the world of international shipping was short lived.

  Kermit as a successful businessman in 1926.

  In 1920, Kermit formed the Roosevelt Lines for the U.S. Shipping Board to compete in the competitive jute trade from India to the Atlantic coast. He held 520 shares of stock, being the largest shareholder of the initial 1000 shares issued. In 1921 the Roosevelt Steamship Company was approved by the United States Shipping Board to be a Shipping Board operator of vessels. Also in that year, Kermit, W. Averill Harriman and Emmett McCormack (of Moore & McCormack ship operators) were selected by the shipping board to operate vessels under a new firm called the United States Line. In later years, the company would operate many famous steam ships worldwide, including the Manhattan, President Harding, President Roosevelt, seven merchant ships, and the Leviathan. In 1924 Kermit held the title of President of the Roosevelt Steamship Company and Vice President of the Kerr Steamship Company. Kerr operated vessels for the Shipping Board from New York to India. Kermit also established a joint service with Kawasaki of Japan in 1924 called the “Kawasaki-Roosevelt Line” to provide around the world service. Initially, his Japanese partners named the organization the KKK-Roosevelt Line (Kawasaki-Kisen-Kaisha). Kermit quickly informed the Japanese of a needed change to the company title when he became deluged with complaints as the Ku Klux Klan was extremely agitating at this time.