Mainly as a result of supply blunders during the bitter winter of 1917, a Congressional investigation was under way, when General Goethals was recalled to active service, and was asked on December 19, 1917 to accept appointment as Acting Quartermaster General. Goethals did so only after Secretary of War Newton D. Baker had assured him full authority and that he would not be interfered with, nine days later he was appointed Director of the Storage & Traffic Service. Reaction to his appointment at home and overseas is illustrated by a message he is said to have received from former President Theodore Roosevelt: "I congratulate you, and thrice over I congratulate the country."