[Theodore Roosevelt on SS Leviathan on Way to Peace Conference]

Theodore Roosevelt Jr., (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. With the assassination of President William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the 26th President (1901-1909). He brought new excitement and power to the office, vigorously leading Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. He established many new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He greatly expanded the United States Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States' naval power around the globe. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Elected in 1904 to a full term, Roosevelt continued to promote progressive policies. After leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa and toured Europe. Returning to the USA, he became frustrated with Taft's approach as his successor. Roosevelt founded his own party, the Progressive, so-called "Bull Moose" Party, and called for wide-ranging progressive reforms. The split among Republicans enabled the Democrats to win both the White House and a majority in the Congress in 1912 fatally weakening the Republican Party. Frustrated at home, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition in the Amazon Basin, nearly dying of a tropical disease. During World War I, he opposed President Woodrow Wilson for keeping the U.S. out of the war against Germany, and offered his military services, which were never summoned. Although planning to run again for president in 1920, Roosevelt suffered deteriorating health and died in early 1919. Roosevelt has consistently been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents. His face was carved into Mount Rushmore alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. "Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it."

SS Vaterland was built in 1913 by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg, Germany, as the second of a trio of very large ships of Imperator-class for the Hamburg-America Line's trans-Atlantic route. She was the largest passenger ship in the world upon her completion, superseding SS Imperator, but later being superseded in turn by the last ship of this class, SS Bismarck, later the RMS Majestic. Vaterland had made only a few trips when, in late July 1914, she arrived at New York City just as World War I broke out. With a safe return to Germany rendered questionable by British dominance of the seas, she was laid up at her Hoboken, NJ, terminal and remained immobile for nearly three years when she was seized when the United States entered World War I, 6 April 1917. German crew was sent to a new internment camp in Hot Springs, NC, where many of the crew later died of a typhoid fever outbreak in summer 1918. During war Leviathan mage regular passages between the U.S. and European Allies, delivering up to 14,000 persons on each trip. On 29 September 1918 she left New York for Brest, she was one of the main carriers of troops to France, carrying 2,000 crew, and 9,000 troops. The voyage would prove to have the worst in-transit casualties of the deadly second wave of the Spanish flu. By the time she arrived at Brest on 8 October, 2,000 were sick, and 80 had died. After the war, she was at her Hoboken pier until April 1922, until finally sailed to Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. After 14-month reconditioning and refurbishment virtually a new ship emerged and she had become the world's largest and fastest ship. A claim that was immediately challenged by the Cunard Line who reminded them their RMS Mauretania (1906) still held the official speed record for trans-Atlantic crossing, as well as the White Star Line, who claimed the RMS Majestic as the world's largest ship as its length was longer, and its gross tonnage was higher as Gibbs used a skewed formula. She immediately proved popular with the American public in the 20s, starting her career fully booked for her maiden voyage 4 July 1923. Her passenger average reached a strong 1,300 by 1926, making her the #1 traveled ship on the Atlantic, but given her capacity of 3,000, it was too little to be profitable. From 1920 all US registered ships counted as an extension of US territory, making them "dry ships" according to the National Prohibition Act. With the Atlantic shipping capacity oversaturated, especially after the Immigration Act of 1924, alcohol-seeking passengers readily chose other liners. After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every year of service, in 1937 she was finally sold to the British Metal Industries Ltd. She arrived at Rosyth, Scotland, on 14 February. In the 13 years that she served U.S. Lines she carried more than a quarter-million passengers, never earning a cent. Leviathan was an American symbol of power and prestige, which despite her economic failings, made her a popular ship with loyal travelers. She attracted attention as the largest and fastest ship in the American merchant marine and featured in countless advertisements. The ship's orchestra, the SS Leviathan Orchestra under the direction of Nelson Maples, was also well regarded. Gramophone records were produced in 1923 and 1924 for Victor Records by the band, which would later become an inspiration for the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra decades later.

The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), or Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. The Company's ships were among the largest and fastest connecting Europe with North American ports, including Hoboken and New Orleans. The Hamburg America Line lost almost the entirety of its fleet twice, as a result of World Wars One and Two, as a result of attacks and war reparations. This is just a few of the ships: Hansa = Sovetskij Soyuz America = America Ariadne 1 = Lady Gwendoline Augusta Victoria = Normannia, Kuban Batavia (1899-1924) = Polonia, Bavaria 3 (1905-1934) = Calixto Garcia, Bavaria (1921-1958) = Sontay, Belgravia (1899-1945) = Riga Bethania (1898-1944) = Parisian, Bitterfeld (1930-1943) = Mariso Blücher (1901-1929) = Leopoldina, Bosnia (1898-1924) = Frangestan Brasilia (1897-1920) = Norseman Bulgaria (1898-1924) = Canada, Caribia (1933-1983) = Ilitch Cincinatti (1908-1918) = Covington Cleveland (1909-1923) = King Alexander Columbia (1889-1907) = Rapido, Terek Corcovado (1907-1954) = Sueh Cordillera (1933-1979) = Russ Dania 1 (1889-1927) = Montserrat Dania (1904-1924) = Tsad Dortmund (1926-1971) = Lugela Emil Kirdorf (1922-1963) = Ardeal Prince Bismarck (1891-1924) = Venetia, Don, Moscow Fuerst Bismarck (1905-1935) = Friedrichsruf General Miter (1920-1950) = Arthur Habsburg (1906-1933) = Teutonia 4 Hamburg I (1899-1928) = President Fillmore Heluan (1908-1931) = City of Lucknow Hesse (1922-1946) = Fechenheim Holsatia V (1909-1928) = Frisia Empress Auguste Victoria (1905-1931) = Empress of Scotland Imperator (1913-1938) = SS Imperator Kiatschou (1900-1933) = Princess Alice King Friedrich August (1906-1931) = Montreal King William 2 (1907-1947) = Madawaska, US Grant Crown Princess Cecilie (1905-1926) = Princess Leuna (1927-1970) = Kozma Minin, Pulaski Los Angeles (1928-1956) = Roda Magdalena (1928-1980) = Rio Magdalena Moltke (1901-1925) = Pesaro Niederwald 2 (1921-1942) = Asuncion Normannia (1890-1906) = Patriota, L`Aquitaine Oakland (1929-1968) = Sperrbrecher IV, Oceana (1890-1927) = Scot, Alfonso XIII, Vadco Nunez de Balboa Orinoco (1927-1963) = Puebla, Juan de Garay Palatia 1 (1894-1925) = Nikolaiev, Norodovoletz Patria 3 (1938-1985) = Empire Welland Pennsylvania (1896-1924) = Nansemond Phenicia (1894-1937) = Kronstadt, Fleiss, Vulcain Polynesia (1904-1938) = Colonia, Hohenstein, Tel Aviv President Grant (1903-1951) = President Buchanan President Lincoln (1903-1918) = Servian Prince Adalbert (1902-1917) = Princetown, Alesia Prince Joachim (1903-1933) = Mocassin, Porto Rico Princess Victoria Luise (1901-1906) Rhineland 3 (1927-1941) = Behala Rhenania 3 (1904-1916) = Feltre Saarland (1923-1943) = Teiyo Maru Saxony II (1922-1949) = La Plata Sachsenwald 2 (1910-1932) = Earl of Forfar, San Francisco (1927-1943) = Rhakotis Sauerland 2 (1928-1944) = Sperrbrecher VII, Sibiria (1894-1916) = Hertha Silvia (1901-1938) = Rivera Steigerwald (1921-1943) = Santa Fé, Thessalia (1904-1933) = Galicia Thuringia (1923-1949) = General San Martin Toledo (1914-1933) = Kigoma Vaterland (1911-1938) = SS Leviathan Vancouver (1930-1959) = Curacao Venetia (1891-1917) = Bellagio Vogtland (1924-1943) = Berakit Westphalia III (1923-1946) = General Artigas Württemberg (1921-1947) = Jan Wellem Ypiranga (1908-1950) = Assyria The company built a large ocean liner terminal at Cuxhaven, Germany, in 1900. Connected directly to Hamburg by a dedicated railway line and station, the HAPAG Terminal at Cuxhaven served as the major departure point for German and European immigrants to North America until 1969 when ocean liner travel ceased. Today it serves as a museum and cruise ship terminal.