Now he told Roosevelt the story of the young American inventor who wrote a letter to Napoleon.1213 The inventor proposed to build the emperor a fleet of ships that carried no sail but could attack England in any weather. He had it in his power to deliver Napoleon’s armies to England in a few hours without fear of wind or storm, he wrote, and he was prepared to submit his plans. Napoleon scoffed: ships without sails? “Bah! Away with your visionists!”1214 The young inventor, Sachs concluded, was Robert Fulton. Roosevelt
