Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. Navy and the Spanish-American War

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy, and the War with Spain

   • Anna K. Nelson

   Pages 1-5

3. New Interpretations of How the USS Maine Was Lost

   • Dana Wegner

   Pages 7-17

4. The Spanish Navy and the Spanish-American War

   • Miguel A. Fernandez

   Pages 19-29

5. Army-Navy Joint Operations in the Spanish-American War

   • Graham A. Cosmas

   Pages 31-38

6. Theodore Roosevelt and the Heritage of the U.S. Navy

   • John A. Gable

   Pages 39-47

7. Roosevelt’s Naval Thinking before Mahan

   • Henry J. Hendrix II

   Pages 49-59

8. The Experience of the Spanish-American War and Its Impact on Professional Naval Thought

   • John B. Hattendorf

   Pages 61-80

9. The Influence of the Spanish-American War on the U.S. Marine Corps

   • Jack Shulimson

   Pages 81-93

10. “The Men Behind the Guns”

    • James R. Reckner

    Pages 95-107

11. Back Matter

    Pages 109-117

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In the 1890s, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt led a campaign to modernize the navy. Paramount in Roosevelt's vision was the creation of a fleet of modern, steel-hulled warships armed with the most powerful weapons available. The future president and his intellectual soul mate, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, firmly believed that America's emerging global expansion would only reach its full potential through sea. power. The swift and overwhelming US victor in the Spanish-American War of 1898 vindicated the views of Theodore Roosevelt and Captain Mahan, and marked the debut on the world stage of the modern US Navy. Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. Navy and the Spanish American War considers the impact Roosevelt had on the US navy in general and how his reforms affected the course and outcome of the Spanish-American war in particular. The nine contributors to this volume include leading historians, and prominent naval officers from the US and Spain. With essays ranging from the Roosevelt family's naval heritage to the impact of the Spanish-American War on enlisted forces in the navy, this work is a major contribution to our understanding of Theodore Roosevelt and 'his' navy.

• Expansion
• history
• military history
• Theodore Roosevelt
• William McKinley

'...a refresher for specialist and a primer for others interested in turn of the twentieth century American naval affairs.' - The Journal of Military History

EDWARD J. MAROLDA is the Senior Historian of the Naval Historical Centre in Washington, DC. He has authored, co-authored, and edited several books on the history of the US Navy.

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