Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962

William H. Taft sits beside a well-dressed Republican elephant who says, “Poor girl! She’s been making over that same old hat ever since I can remember.” William Jennings Bryan sits beside an older lady labeled “democracy” and “Bryanism,” who says, “Gra-cious! Now aren’t those new styles just the limit!” Bryan scowls and says, “Fierce!”

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Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s drawing style was starting to mature at the time this cartoon was published, but his concepts were clever and incisive from the start.

President Roosevelt tries to get a car labeled “Congress” to start with Uncle Sam, in the back seat, holding “needed legislation” and “urgent legislation” in his hands. A happy Democratic donkey looks on.

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History knows that the volatile Theodore Roosevelt — quick both to anger and mirth — seldom cursed; and virtually never drank spirits (confirmed in a libel suit he filed) — but his emotions seemed always on display. Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s cartoon shows one attitude that was reflected in Roosevelt’s speeches and quotations; in articles and books; in letters and conversations: his frustrations with Congress.

A “3rd term” cow runs to William H. Taft to reach for food labeled “presidency” that Taft holds as President Roosevelt rushes out of the White House toward both of them. Several others, including Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks climb a fence and tree to escape the cow.

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Unlike most other cartoonists, Jay N. “Ding” Darling always accepted President Roosevelt’s sincerity in declining to seek, campaign for, or accept another presidential nomination in 1908. Rather than limiting the cartoonist’s options on the topic, it left him free to depict Roosevelt’s frustrations, and allegorize the president’s dilemma in the face of public and party pressures that he break his word and run again. This cartoon is a unique and clever presentation of the situation.

William H. Taft (Roosevelt’s clear choice as a successor) is depicted as a scared little boy. Indeed Taft was a reluctant and inept candidate, properly pictured except perhaps for the “little” aspect. His cookie or pie is threatened by an angry-looking cow that his broken loose — and the third Roosevelt term that she represents is so formidable as to scatter the other aspirants for the presidential nomination. Of the two who can be identified are Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, up a tree; and Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon, climbing over the fence.

As President Roosevelt holds a “dishonest” brand on a stick labeled “special message to Congress,” he chases a man holding “dishonest wealth,” “illegal discrimination,” “watered stocks,” “stock gambling,” and “dishonest corporation methods.” The man says, “The public and the courts be ‘d–d.'” In the background, “Congress” says, “Oh I’m so afraid somebody will be hurt!”

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It can be supposed that cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling composed the wording this cartoon’s title to answer the question some citizens had about whether the Theodore Roosevelt the reformer would have pulled in his claws because of the financial crisis engendered by the recent Wall Street Panic.

President Roosevelt stands behind a fence and tosses an extremely large pair of “Roosevelt’s shoes.” A number of men standing waiting to catch them: Secretary of War William H. Taft, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou, Iowa Governor Albert Baird Cummins, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes; and former cabinet secretaries Leslie M. Shaw and Philander C. Knox.

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The immediate context of Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s cartoon was a public statement issued by President Roosevelt the previous day, on December 12, 1907. Hence the “Now” in the cartoon’s title.

President Roosevelt cuts off the head of a “third term” turkey. Caption: Roosevelt: I don’t see what more I can do to it.

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An unsettling cartoon image to contemporary readers, perhaps, and certainly not a Thanksgiving-turkey context, Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s cartoon nevertheless uniquely reflected the frustration of President Roosevelt over America’s incessant talk of another term in the White House.

President Roosevelt tries to pacify the “Taft boom” baby with a teddy bear as a messenger boy departs with a “wireless to Taft” that reads, “Bill, hurry home. He’s getting fretful. Rush. T.R.”

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At times it seemed that the most enthusiastic backer of William H. Taft’s possible candidacy for the presidency, and even a run at the Republican nomination, was President Roosevelt — not Taft himself; not his dragooned corps of supporters. Taft’s wife Helen and his brother Charles were strong boosters, but Taft himself suffered from lassitude and in his heart would have preferred a seat on the Supreme Court. (Eventually he would serve as as President and Chief Justice, the only person thus far to do so.)

President Roosevelt holds a large “message to Congress” in the shape of a big stick. Several men lie on the ground with stars around their heads: “lumber vandalism,” “gov’t land grabbers,” “wreckers,” “stock gambling,” “corporate dishonesty,” and “swollen fortunes.” Uncle Sam stands in the background.

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President Roosevelt forwarded his seventh Annual Message to Congress on December 3, 1907. It was not until 1913 that presidents began delivering these reports in person — now called the State of the Union address — and Roosevelt’s was one of the longest documents of his presidency. He was nearing the end of his presidency, and he meant to sum up the Administration’s accomplishments, at least for posterity; and charter a course for the next Administration and beyond.

In the first section of the cartoon, President Roosevelt shows William Jennings Bryan a paper and says, “Here is a draft of my plan for a more elastic currency Mr. Bryan.” In the second section, Roosevelt puts his hand on his head when Bryan says, “Mr. President your plan is admirable. I indorse it in every particular.” Caption: Better read it over again, Mr. Roosevelt.

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Jay N. “Ding” Darling was one of the few cartoonists of his era — at least among the most prominent — who displayed the facility of composing effective cartoons, capturing personalities in caricature, evoking chuckles (or, when appropriate, tears), and — as important as all the other factors — delivering trenchant commentary. In doing so, cartoonists like Ding were faithful servants of democracy, and no less guides for future researchers and historians.

Depicted as football players, President Roosevelt, Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou, and Uncle Sam, holding the “prosperity” football, charge ahead past the man labeled “panic.”

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Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s cartoon addressed the Wall Street Panic then threatening to turn from a panic to a rout in brokerage houses and banks, or to a full-scale Depression. That the cartoonist was one of the most ardent admirers of Theodore Roosevelt explains the hyperbolic portrayal of the financial crisis then barely a month old.

President Roosevelt and several other men rush toward a tent with an “odor of fried ‘baar'” and “odor of hot coffee” as the cook beside the tent says, “Breakfast!”

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As would happen during Theodore Roosevelt’s African safari eighteen months in the future, reporters (and cartoonists) were denied the privilege of accompanying the hunting party as the president spent two weeks chasing black bears in central Louisiana. Cartoonists were virtually addicted to Roosevelt as a subject and object, so newspapers abounded between October 6 and 19 with speculations, political allegories, and fantasies of Roosevelt in the dense and wild canebrakes.

A bear points at “evidence” tracks that President Roosevelt and a “guide” are following to find him. Caption: The Bear: Hold up, Mr. President. Don’t shoot till you hear my argument. You have tracked me here on my own evidence voluntarily given. Now don’t that entitle me to an immunity bath?

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Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

President Roosevelt heads across the “Mississippi River” with two bags in his hand. A “3rd term” hoodoo follows behind, “This little trip won’t injure my health a bit!”

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Virtually every cartoonist, every editorial writer, and every citizen at this time was wondering whether President Roosevelt would succumb to the public pressure for him to break his pledge against running to for a third term 1908. But some cartoonists had the originality and verve to put a special spin on the obsession, and offer a fresh view.

President Roosevelt sprays the “3rd term volcano” with water standing by Washington, D.C., while Charles Evans Hughes and William H. Taft wander up toward the top. Hughes says, “If there is any danger of an eruption, I don’t want to be here!’

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Cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling, who later, outside journalism and politics, would become a good friend of Theodore Roosevelt, correctly depicts the president trying to douse the active, steaming volcano that represents the public sentiment for a third Roosevelt term. Most cartoonists questioned, or ignored, Roosevelt’s declination of another nomination.

President Roosevelt points to a small “prison door” with a man labeled “Congress” by his side. In the background is a police officer chasing a “corporation criminal” that has millions of dollars. Inside the prison is a “man who stole $3.00” and a “pickpocket.” Caption: President Roosevelt — “You see, we want that door cut larger so that when we catch one of those big fellows we can put him inside and not let him loose with the public.”

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President Roosevelt’s complaint, pictured in Jay N. Darling’s cartoon, was and is a cliche in debates about the American criminal justice system — that small-time criminals are incarcerated but, frequently, major lawbreakers “use the system” or evade major penalties and jail time.

President Roosevelt sits on the springboard dipping his feet in the water as Secretary of War William H. Taft, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State Elihu Root, Iowa Governor Albert Baird Cummins, and Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette stand behind him on the board waiting. Former Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw stands on land in the background.

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This 1908 cartoon from early in the career of Jay H. “Ding” Darling displays his mastery of caricature and composition, as well as conception, for Ding squeezed a slightly new aspect from a familiar subject in the day’s news: whether President Roosevelt would run again, violating his own public declination in 1904, and whom he would support as his successor, was getting to be a tired topic.

Edward Henry Harriman walks up behind President Roosevelt in the first section. They get into a tussle in the second section; and then Roosevelt walks away as Harriman’s battered hat sits on the ground. He is pressed up against a lamp pole with stars coming out of his head.

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This early cartoon from cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s career depicts President Roosevelt walking along the sidewalk — coincidentally with his foot over the subsequently affixed mailing label to “The President / Executive Mansion;” this was a “comp” (complimentary) copy received by the president himself and pasted into the White House scrapbook.

President Roosevelt in a special police officer’s uniform marches across the United States with his “big stick.” Caption: Why not make him special policeman for life with the United States, Alaska and the Philippines as his beat?

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The context of this early cartoon of Jay N. “Ding” Darling is the contemporary speculative fascination over what the relatively young Theodore Roosevelt would do with himself upon retirement from the presidency. Cartoonists, as with politicians and the general public, spent time either wondering whether Roosevelt would reverse his decision not to succeed himself, or wondering about which of seemingly countless fields of endeavor the polymath Roosevelt would pursue.

President Roosevelt standing in his stocking feet looks at Secretary of War William H. Taft wearing “Roosevelt’s shoes.” In the background are a pair of shoes labeled, “Sec” and “War.”

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Cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling of the Des Moines Register and Leader, lifelong admirer and eventual friend of Theodore Roosevelt habitually drew Roosevelt as a portly man, almost to the dimensions of William H. Taft. Nevertheless, Darling was invariably sympathetic (with slights exceptions prior to American intervention in the Great War) and this early cartoon of his is no exception.

Edward Henry Harriman holds up his thumb labeled “R.R. Regulation” and his arm, “Grab Arm,” to President Roosevelt saying, “It hurts something fierce, Mr. President!” Caption: Dr. Roosevelt: My, my! Edward, you’ll have to be very careful or you will have to have the whole arm amputated.

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The context of this cartoon by Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling of the Des Moines Register and Leader is the meeting the evening before at the White House between President Roosevelt and J. Pierpont Morgan, who spoke on behalf of major railroad concerns. While it was J. Pierpont Morgan who spoke for the railraod magnates, it probably was Union Pacific’s Edward Henry Harriman who had the loudest complaints.

The railroad trusts wanted laws and especially regulations eased. Through 1906 various reforms made consolidation more difficult, and railroad rates had to be lowered. The industry resented lower profits that might follow, but also argues that bank loans were harder to secure under new strictures. The president was not sympathetic to the arguments, but was intrigued by a “floated” suggestion that government “centralization” of the railroads might solved many problems. Among the results of this concept, advanced by the president of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific line, was guaranteed profits.