[AndyJackson]

even the U.S. Senate toyed with the notion of extending the Seward purchase into Asian Russia

Now THAT position would have been strategically indefensible. We would have held Vladivostok with our sea power and the Russians would have held or retaken everything else because of their land power.

[SAJ]

Merely recounting history here, not saying it would have been a good or a sound idea. McKinley, for reasons I've never quite understood, had quite an expansionist bent. You will note, of course, who presided over the Russo-Japanese peace talks, and won a Nobel for his efforts. None other than T.R., McKinley's vice-president. I've always thought that this was a charmingly subtle way of telling the czars ''No thanks!''

Best regards,

[SAJ]

They were considering **purchasing** a piece of Siberia, not **conquering** it. Good grief!

It took 30 years for the U.S. to understand how brilliant a stroke Seward's purchase of Alaska had been, and there had therefrom developed a considerable faction who advocated attempting to buy more land from Russia. A 'replay', as it were.