June 24, 1904: The Perdicaris Affair

Ion Perdicaris

June 24, 1904: What had become known as the Perdicaris Affair is resolved.

Ion Hanford Perdicaris was born in Athens, Greece in 1840, and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. He became a journalist, and fought for the rights of the Moorish people in Morocco, then a French colony. In the 1870s, he and his wife Ellen established Place of the Nightingales, an estate in the Moroccan city of Tangier.

Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni -- for some reason, his name was usually written as "Raisuli" in the English-language press -- was born in Zinat, Morocco in 1871. He was a leader of the Jebala tribal confederacy in Morocco. Typical of nonwhite leaders of his time, he was viewed by his own people as a heroic figure, fighting against a tyrannical government of outsiders; and by the rest of the world as a villainous barbarian. 

Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni

The mansion on the Perdicaris estate was raided by 200 bandits on May 18, 1904. Ion and his stepson Cromwell Varley were kidnapped by Raisuni and brought to the mountains. Perdicaris broke his leg during the ordeal.

U.S. Consul Samuel R. Gummeré alerted the U.S. government about the incident. Ion was in the mountains for several weeks. Perdicaris and the kidnapper became very good friends, and the incident is regarded as an example of Stockholm syndrome. Raisuni demanded a ransom $70,000 -- about $2.3 million in 2022 money -- from the U.S. government.

Theodore Roosevelt had become President upon the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. To that point, no Vice President who had become President had ever won a term of his own. And, at the time, he was very popular, but it was hardly a given that he would win.

But the Perdicaris Affair played right into his hands. The Republican Party pushed the slogan "Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead!" Due to Perdicaris' political background and wealth, by May 30, Roosevelt had sent the U.S. Navy's South Atlantic Squadron to Morocco.

The Republican National Convention began on June 21, 1904, at the Chicago Coliseum. Roosevelt was nominated for a full term. Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana was nominated for Vice President. Secretary of State John Hay did not speak at the Convention, but he sent a message to it, read on June 22 by the Convention Chairman, the Speaker of the House, Joseph Cannon of Illinois. The message was the established slogan: "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuni dead." The delegates roared their approval.

What no one at the Convention yet knew was that the ransom had been paid. When the Convention adjourned on June 24, Perdicaris and Varley were already back at Place of the Nightingales. Everybody had gotten what they wanted: Roosevelt and the Republicans -- and Raisuli (and Varley) -- had gotten Perdicaris (and Varley) alive, and the political goodwill that came from it; while Raisuni had gotten his money and the prestige that had come from standing up to America.

The Democratic Party had its Convention at the St. Louis Music and Exposition Hall from July 6 to 10. They nominated perhaps the most obscure major-party nominee ever: Alton B. Parker, the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. With the popularity he already had, the successful resolution of the Perdicaris Affair, and the Democrats running a candidate that one historian called "colorless," Theodore Roosevelt won a landslide victory.

In 1910, Ion and Ellen Perdicaris moved to London. Ellen died in 1920, Ion in 1925. His Place of the Nightingales has become a public park. Cromwell Varley died in 1934.

In 1913, Raisuni led several Rif tribes in a bloody revolt against the Spanish, and continued a protracted guerilla war against them. His men were finally defeated in 1919, although Raisuni and most of his troops managed to slip away. After having been reported dead in 1914 and 1923, he was finally captured in 1925, and died of edema in captivity.

The film The Wind and the Lion was released in 1975. Sean Connery played Raisuli, but, to add a hint of "romance" to it, the character of Ion Perdicaris was changed to a woman, Eden Pedecaris, played by Candice Bergen. Brian Keith played Roosevelt, John Huston played Hay, and Geoffrey Lewis played Gummeré.

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June 24, 1904 was a Friday. Phil Harris was born, leader of a "Big Band," music director for The Jack Benny Program, and husband of actress-singer Alice Faye.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders, forerunners of the Yankees, beat the Washington Senators, 5-3 at American League Park in Washington.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Beaneaters, forerunners of the Braves, 5-3 at the South End Grounds in Boston. "Iron" Joe McGinnity beat Irvin "Kaiser" Wilhelm.

* The Brooklyn Superbas, forerunners of the Dodgers, beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Washington Park in Brooklyn.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Americans, forerunners of the Red Sox, 8-4 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-0 at Bennett Park in Detroit. Nick Altrock pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Patsy Flaherty outpitched Kid Nichols. Honus Wagner went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Browns and the Cleveland Naps -- forerunners of the Indians and the Guardians -- were not scheduled.