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Prior to the Spanish-American War, President William McKinley took pause -- many thought for too long -- before committing the United States military presence in Cuba.
On Jan. 25, 1898, The Washington Post published the following article, shown here in part, declaring the much-awaited move to place a battleship in Cuba as "friendly naval relations" with "no friction expected."
"For the first time in many years, an American warship is to pass under the guns of Moro Castle into the harbor of Havana. The battleship Maine has been selected for this purpose. She is now off the southern coast of Florida, but will turn her prow toward Havana within the next forty-eight hours. In the words of Navy Secretary John Long, she will go upon a 'friendly visit'.
"The determination of the President to send a warship to Cuba was suddenly reached yesterday morning, and was the culmination of a series of unexpected incidents. It is well known that the President, when he entered upon his administration last March, had decided to follow the Cuban policy of his predecessor, Mr. Grover Cleveland, with one important exception. He believed that a United States warship should be stationed in the harbor of Havana to protect American interests. Circumstances and the advice of some of his Cabinet deterred him from carrying out his intentions, but when the recent riots occurred in Havana, and there was possibility of injury to American life and property, the necessity for the presence of a vessel appealed to him with renewed force.
"He had determined to order a ship to Cuba as soon as possible, when an opportunity was presented to him yesterday morning which was too favorable to be overlooked. Senor Dupuy de Lome, the Spanish Minister, called at the State Department yesterday morning to lay before Assistant Secretary (William Rufus) Day the proposition regarding a reciprocity treaty with Cuba. The Minister had some time previously been made acquainted with the intention of the administration to send a fleet south for maneuvers, and had received the information with equanimity.
"When the reciprocity treaty was being informally discussed yesterday, Secretary Day suggested that as the new government of Cuba had reached a point where it could inaugurate treaties, it was evidently thoroughly established. He followed this suggestion with the remark that there could now be certainly no false interpretation placed upon the visit of an American vessel to Havana, especially as Spain and the United States were on the most friendly terms -- fully as friendly, in fact, as Spain and Germany -- and he called attention to the fact that two German vessels were reported as having arrived at Havana."
The presence of an American vessel, in fact, was simply a re-establishment of former relations.
"The Spanish Minister received the suggestions in the same kindly spirit which animated it, and at once agreed that neither the Spanish nor the Cuban government could take umbrage at the presence of a ship from a nation as friendly as the United States. With this understanding, he left the department.
"The administration officials see no reason why any undue agitation should follow the announcement of the Maine's proposed departure. In fact, there are many reasons why their belief is well founded. The insurgents might, of course, be glad to create some demonstration which would precipitate friction between the United States and Spain. There are, however, no insurgents in Havana and this cause of trouble is absent. As for the Spainiards, it is expected that the Blanco government, if it is securely entrenched as it claims to be, will see to it that no outbreak occurs. With the insurgents absent and the Spanish population held in check there is no possibility of hostile demonstration and the City of Havana ought to be as placid as the harbor.
"The Maine is a battleship of the second class, and is regarded as one of the best ships in the new navy. She was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and is 318 feetlong, 57 feet broad, 21.6 mean draught, and 6,682 tons displacement. She carries four 10-inch and six 6-inch breech-loading guns in her main battery, and seven six-pounder and eight one-pounder rapid-fire guns, and four Gatlings in her secondary battery, and four White-head torpedoes."
Senor Gonzalez Quesada, Secretary of the Cuban Junta, said: "The sending of the Maine to Cuba, whatever be the official version, is, in our opinion, the proof that things are in such condition in the few Spanish strongholds that anarchy reigns, and that American citizens and property, unable to find protection at the hands of the impotent Spanish government, have now the protection of their own vessels. It is a declaration to the world that the United States are not afraid of the Spanish rabole which seems to control the Spanish officials. The attitude of the Spanish papers and officials has been that the presence of an American warship in Havana means intervention; undoubtedly they well now say that it is the most natural thing for any nation to send its vessels to the ports of a friendly power, and Mr. Dupuyde Loma will declare that his government is delighted."