Chapter 20
The Drug Element in China-US Relations

III. Roosevelt’s Tolerance of the Opium Trade

The Roosevelt name is extremely famous in American history and is one of the “greatest presidential families” in the United States. However, the Roosevelt family has never shown any “favor” to the world; on the contrary, their legacy is full of discrimination and harm.

The portrait of Theodore Roosevelt is carved on Mount Rushmore, and Franklin Roosevelt was the well-known “wartime president” during World War II. These two uncle and nephew together practically represent a significant part of American history.

Undeniably, these two Roosevelt presidents were outstanding politicians in American history, but their images on the Chinese internet have been overly mythologized.

Among the 45 presidents of the United States, 33 presidents have connections with the opium trade — accounting for 73% of the total. The original wealth of America’s political dynasties came from America’s drug trade with China.

In American cities like Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, and others, if you look at any family that has lasted more than 100 years, their early capital all came from the opium trade with China, deriving huge profits from drug trafficking. On the East Coast of the U.S., famous universities such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University — all received huge funding sourced from the opium trade back then.

When we mention the Opium Wars and opium trade, we often think of Britain, but people tend to overlook America’s role.

In 1805, America’s first drug-smuggling ship transported 124 packages and 51 boxes of opium from Smyrna, Turkey to the United States, and then on to China. Before this, the U.S. could only export fur and precious metals to China, suffering a huge trade deficit caused by tea and silk imports, unable to make money from China. After joining the British in the opium trade, Americans suddenly “opened the door to a new world.” Between 1805 and 1834, the U.S. imported 16,305 boxes of opium to China. In the years 1817-1818, American imports accounted for 42% of the opium exported to China. America’s first millionaire, John Jacob Astor, made his fortune through trade with China.

Because of the opium trade, a new elite class emerged in American society, which accumulated capital before the Second Industrial Revolution and helped advance America’s industrialization. American historian Haddad had to admit: “Opium was indeed a way for the U.S. to transfer Chinese economic strength into the American industrial revolution.”

President Roosevelt’s grandfather, Warren Delano, was a famous opium dealer. American scholar Bradley described him this way: “For 19th-century American elites, China was a gold mine for drug trafficking. Warren Delano, the grandfather of America’s greatest president Franklin Roosevelt, was the opium king of China and America’s largest opium trafficker.”

In the 1940s, while the Chinese Communist Party was producing and trafficking drugs in Southern Muddy Bay, why did Roosevelt, Truman, and others turn a blind eye and adopt pro-communist policies? This ultimately led to America suffering greatly in the 21st century. Because, in their eyes, selling opium was not a crime but a hereditary secret weapon!