Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States.
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the powerful United States Navy battle fleet that completed a journey around the globe from 16 December 1907 , to 22 February 1909 , by order of United States President Theodore Roosevelt . Theodore Roosevelt . Roosevelt successfully groomed his close friend , William Howard Taft , and Taft won the 1908 presidential election to succeed him . United States presidential election, 1908 . Popular incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt , honoring a promise not to seek a third term , persuaded the Republican Party to nominate William Howard Taft , his close friend and Secretary of War , to become his successor .