This article explores a largely understudied dimension of early Russian-American relations: how the American press of the era perceived and interpreted Alexander I’s offer to mediate in the Anglo-American War of 1812–1815. The study draws on a wide range of sources, including American newspaper publications from 1813 to 1815, documents from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and records from both the Madison administration and the U.S. Congress. Its methodological approach combines traditional historical methods-such as historical-genetic and historical-comparative analysis–with elements of discourse and content analysis. The primary aim of the research is to identify the distinctive features characterizing the representation of Russia’s mediation initiative in the American print media of the period. The authors demonstrate that press coverage of the Russian offer was shaped by a complex interplay of factors, including the partisan loyalties of individual newspapers, their regional affiliations, the fluctuating course of military events, and the shifting international context. While pro-administration outlets sought to present the tsar’s proposal as a diplomatic victory for the Madison government and a sign of the republic’s growing recognition abroad, Federalist publications turned the issue into a vehicle for attacking the administration’s foreign policy. The article also traces the evolving image of Russia within American public discourse. During this period, that image took on a distinctly ambivalent quality: traditional Russophobic sentiments, particularly entrenched among Republicans, were tempered by the conciliatory gesture of the Russian emperor. Although the proposed mediation never came to fruition, the authors argue that it nonetheless fulfilled an important symbolic function. It contributed to the international legitimization of the United States as a sovereign actor, bolstered the domestic standing of the Madison administration, and left a lasting imprint on the way Russia was perceived in American public consciousness.