Originally posted by Toad
I'm only just into the book but Bradley starts out from an unusual place/view.
He starts from a historical perspective of actions Japan and the Western powers in the Pacific Rim.
So far, he's establishing a link between the barbarity of the "flyboy" killings on Chichi Jima and those earlier times.
Some of TR's actual quotes don't show him in a very favorable light with respect to "human rights" by today's standards.
I have read most if not all published quotations of TR's thoughts on Japan and the Japanese. Many display the typical western outlook on oriental societies, which means being less open-minded than we would find appealing today. Nonetheless, TR admired most of the Japanese he met and worked with. During negotiations to end the Russo-Sino war, Japan's chief negotiator Jutaro Komura arrived at the President's Long Island home in Oyster Bay (called Sagamore Hill). TR put him up in the "special guestroom". During his visit, Komura and TR became fast friends. Komura entertained TR's children with exotic stories of Japan at the dinner table. Komura joined TR on hikes, went riding with him in the countryside and participated in family outtings. When Komura left for Washington to continue negotiations with the Russians, he knew he could trust and depend on TR to reel the Russians into negotiating in good faith.
TR was not as impressed with the Russian representative, Sergei Witte. In fact, TR was often harsh in his comments about Russian "buffoonery". He was unimpressed with the Russians, and the Czar in particular.
On the other hand, he was very much impressed with the Japanese. Roosevelt stated that "the Japanese interest me, and I like them very much." Yet, he did not believe that he could put his full weight of trust in them. Again, the ingrained cultural prejudices of the times were difficult for one to overcome, even in one's own thinking. TR felt that Japan was fully capable of presenting one face in public and another to itself. While I discuss TR, I should also point out that the Japanese were far less tolerant of westerners than the west was of Japan. That sword certainly cuts both ways.
He was concerned that the growing influence of the Military in Japan could lead to conflict with America in the not so distant future. Komura had explained how Japan's military leaders saw the US presence in the Philippines as a threat to Japanese nationalism and their self-precieved manifest destiny of dominating the western Pacific. TR stated that he hoped that conflict could be avoided as he "greatly admired the Japanese people." His foresight would prove accurate 30 years later when Japan began expansion on the asian continent.
If you were to visit TR's Sagamore Hill estate, you will find the house decorated with the many gifts he received from Japanese visitors and the Japanese Government, including some marvelous swords and artworks.
While TR personally admired the Japanese, make no mistake that he was very much a man of his times and his thinking, now frowned upon as being prejudicial, was still far more open-minded than his contemporaries. Remember, what we see as being intolerant today was viewed as being extremely liberal at the turn of the 20th century.
Bradley, or any other 21st century historian would be wise to understand that their modern vista must allow for the cultural differences of the era in question when they offer any type of critical analysis, be it of Roosevelt or the Japanese.
My regards,
Widewing
