Letter from Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Funston urging him to stay in the military The Vice President's Chamber Washington, D.C. Oyster Bay, N.Y., August 20th, 1901   Brig. Genl. Frederick C. Funston, Manila, P.I. My dear General:-- I hear you [are] think[ing] of leaving the army. Let me urgently advise you not to do so at present. I should not expect you to stay in it permanently, but I do hope you will remain in it a couple of years more. I think it would be a mistake to get out now unless some altogether exceptional opportunity offers itself. I think you have it in you to rise to very high civil position; I know that what you prize is the chance to do work worth doing, no matter how arduous; and I feel that from both of these standpoints it would be well for you to stay in the army at present. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt