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| Lot # 50 PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/12 - Document 257072 |
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WRITTEN THE DAY THE U.S. MERCHANT SHIP ALGONQUIN IS SUNK BY GERMANY,
SEN. HARDING WRITES ABOUT "OVERT" ACTS AND WAR. WARREN G. HARDING.
Rare ALS: "W.G. Harding" as U.S. Senator, 1p,
7¾x10½. Washington, D.C., no year (most probably 1917) March 12. To Mrs.
Williams. In full: "Yours of Feb. 25 came duly to hand. The enormous
pressure of work has made earlier reply almost impossible. Don't worry about the
'overt' act. Sometimes war developes (sic) without it. Sometimes the
fates revolve and settle the trend of events. I note the motor options extend to
April, and I assume you do not plan any serious endeavor until that time. If
your son has developed the trials to a point where he is ready to write final
judgment I shall be glad to furnish him letters of introduction which ought to
secure him a hearing. You may command me at any time. Am likely to be in New
York next week. Will endeavor to reach you by telephone - if that is agreeable
to you. I may be helpful." On January 31, 1917, in a desperate move to end
the two-and-a-half-year-old military stalemate in Europe, the German high
command declared unrestricted submarine warfare against all shipping, neutral or
belligerent, destined for Britain. President Wilson broke diplomatic relations
with Berlin but declined to ask Congress for a declaration of war in the absence
of "actual overt acts" against American lives and property. He sought instead to
arm American merchant vessels as a way of forestalling attacks and thus avoiding
war (see lot 53). On February 24, 1917, British intelligence turned over to
Wilson an intercepted telegram from German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann to
the German Ambassador to Mexico, proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the
United States. Mexico's reward would be the recovery of territory it had lost in
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The "overt acts" came with the sinking, without
warning, of the American merchant ship Algonquin on March 12th (the very
day Harding wrote this letter!), the City of Memphis, Vigilante
and Illinois on March 18th and the Healdton on March 21st. On
April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany to make
the world "safe for democracy". The Senate approved the declaration of war on
Germany on April 4th and when the House approved it on April 6th, war was
declared and the United States entered World War I. Lightly creased. Lightly
soiled. Folds. Vertical fold touches the "W" in signature. Nailhead-size hole
touches 1 word of text.
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