Roosevelt later claimed that Admiral George Dewey could sail from Puerto Rico at an hour's notice, but the statement works better as a political signal than as proof of a clean American path to victory. Its precise wording left room between preparing to sail and receiving an order to fight. British strength already in the Caribbean provided the immediate counterweight. Any American move could meet a larger imperial naval response before it achieved a decisive result.
Notable Point · 38:13-43:46
Roosevelt, Dewey, and escalation control
Roosevelt's later claims about Dewey are used to show how naval threats could signal resolve without necessarily creating a usable war plan.