theodore roosevelt's nobel peace prize
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TR in 1906 won the Prize as President for negotiating the peace between Russia and Japan that produced the Treaty in 1905. For more on Roosevelt's diplomacy, and on the 2006 commemoration of the anniversary of his Nobel Peace Prize.
December 10, 2006 marked the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize to President Theodore Roosevelt for his diplomacy ending the Russo-Japanese War. On that day, the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire and Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee hosted a commemorative lunch – the sole commemoration taking place anywhere in the world to honor Theodore Roosevelt's Nobel Peace Prize and his role as peacemaker. Thanks to the interest of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee presented an authentic replica of the Nobel Peace Prize to Capt. Jon Iverson, commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for the Shipyard’s Treaty Museum in Building 86 in honor of continuing efforts to document the legacy of the Treaty in diplomatic history, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The lunch and presentation took place at Wentworth By the Sea Hotel in Portsmouth/New Castle, New Hampshire. In 1906, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee recognized that the Portsmouth Peace Treaty would not have been signed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on September 5, 1905 had it not been for Roosevelt's good offices in arranging the formal negotiations. Research focused around the 100th anniversary of the Treaty in Portsmouth in 2005 proved that Roosevelt orchestrated the dynamics of the formal and informal peace process, knowing that he could rely on the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and the local people to create the positive atmosphere needed for the Russian and Japanese negotiations. The Nobel Peace Prize 100th anniversary was a time to remember not the Theodore Roosevelt who wielded ‘big stick’ diplomacy but the Theodore Roosevelt who as President understood how to use a great nation’s diplomatic good offices for peace. Roosevelt’s Nobel recognizes that Roosevelt’s unique diplomacy was the first that used all of the forces that have since distinguished the United States on the world stage: the capacity of the American people for goodwill, the military’s tradition as peacemaker and the respect for the individual nations’ ability to negotiate these differences between themselves. Go to the text of the Union Leader op-ed published on December 10, 2006. |
The Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901, is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who in the preceding year "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Alfred Nobel's will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.
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Go to President Theodore Roosevelt's own Nobel Peace Prize acceptance remarks. The comments were read in Oslo, Norway by Secretary of State Herbert Pierce, who accepted the Prize on behalf of the President -- and who represented the US government in Portsmouth during the Portsmouth Peace Treaty negotiations in 1905.
In his 1913 Autobiography, TR had this to say about the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize: "As a result of the Portsmouth peace, I was given the Nobel Peace Prize. This consisted of a medal, which I kept, and a sum of $40,000, which I turned over as a foundation of industrial peace to a board of trustees which included Oscar Straus, Seth Low and John Mitchell. In the present state of the world's development, industrial peace is even more essential than international peace; and it was fitting and appropriate to devote the peace prize to such a purpose. In 1910, while in Europe, one of my most pleasant experiences was my visit to Norway, where I addressed the Nobel Committee, and set forth in full the principles upon which I had acted, not only in this particular case but throughout my administration."
In his 1913 Autobiography, TR had this to say about the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize: "As a result of the Portsmouth peace, I was given the Nobel Peace Prize. This consisted of a medal, which I kept, and a sum of $40,000, which I turned over as a foundation of industrial peace to a board of trustees which included Oscar Straus, Seth Low and John Mitchell. In the present state of the world's development, industrial peace is even more essential than international peace; and it was fitting and appropriate to devote the peace prize to such a purpose. In 1910, while in Europe, one of my most pleasant experiences was my visit to Norway, where I addressed the Nobel Committee, and set forth in full the principles upon which I had acted, not only in this particular case but throughout my administration."
At the commemoration event on December 10, 2006 - one hundred years to the day on which the Norwegian Nobel Institute presented the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize to President Roosevelt -- a group of citizens in Portsmouth, New Hampshire presented (photo at left) an official replica of the Nobel Peace Prize to the commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard which hosted the formal negotiations between Russia and Japan and 1905 and today operates a Treaty Rooms Museum in the building where the negotiations took place. In presenting the replica medal, Charles B. Doleac, founder and moderator of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum and founder of the Japan-American Society of New Hampshire which hosted the commemoration, read a letter from Geir Lundestad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. The letter said, in part, "We are honored that you are celebrating the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Theodore Roosevelt. The basis for the committee's decision was stated in the presentation address as 'President Roosevelt"s happy intervention to terminate the bloody war recently waged between two Great Powers, Japan and Russia.’ Roosevelt took strong interest in the peaceful solution of disputes along several different lines. When I visited the White House a few years ago, I was pleased to see Roosevelt’s peace prize medal prominently displayed in the Roosevelt Room right across the hall from the Oval Office.”
In 2009, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum commemorated the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama. A video of the award ceremony and acceptance speech was presented to the public at Wentworth By the Sea Hotel in New Castle NH on December 12, 2009