Rogers, W. A. (William Allen), 1854-1931

Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna hands President Roosevelt an “endorsement” bouquet as he looks at Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. On the wall is an “Ohio Convention” banner.

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As the chief political cartoonist with the prominent Democrat newspaper the New York Herald, W. A. Rogers, a veteran who had drawn, since the 1870s, for the New York Daily Graphic, for Harper’s Weekly, and for Puck magazine, he was a past master at invective and critical commentary. Indeed many of his cartoons for the Herald were strongly partisan. But he frequently drew editorial cartoons — that is, illustrating news of the day and current events — with no overt efforts to attack or persuade. The Herald, which published weekly national editions, perhaps sought in those editions’ cartoons, to be less partisan as readership was more diverse.

Uncle Sam stands beside President Roosevelt and points to the “Post Office Scandal U. S. Mail” punching bag. On the ground are dumbbells, a barbell, and Indian clubs—”vigor” and “energy.”

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This cartoon was clipped from the Memphis Commercial Appeal for the White House cartoon scrapbook, but it originally appeared in the New York Herald, drawn by their longtime staff cartoonist William Allen Rogers.

In a way it was atypical for a Rogers cartoon, half of which were not political cartoons but editorial cartoons illustrating current events. The inspiration for this cartoon was the breaking Post Office scandal. Long brewing ands widely rumored, it unfolded as a multi-faceted web of corruption, favors, and bribery. It was largely under the watch of a longtime department bureaucrat, a former Congressman whose subsequent career included a stint as Postmaster General and many other offices. At the time of this scandal’s exposure he was “on watch,” but not able to watch — ancient, partly paralyzed, and blind — unaware of corruption around him.

President Roosevelt rides a horse and directs Postmaster General Henry C. Payne riding on an “investigation” Republican elephant to go higher to the “postal frauds” mountain. In the background is a large star with the label of “Star Route frauds.”

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The “Star Route Frauds” were a series of corrupt arrangements and bribes connected to the nation Post Office department awarding mail route contracts and exclusive rights, especially in the West and South. Primary or favored routes were rated by stars; hence the nickname.

The assignment of postal-delivery contracts, whether to contracted parties, or because proximity to routes could prove lucrative, was an invitation to corruption and bribery in America’s Gilded Age. Star Route frauds were uncovered in the Grant and Hayes Administrations; and as the Republican Party had a long grip on the federal government, it was a challenge for Republicans to investigate Republicans.

President Roosevelt rushes ahead on a horse and drags Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who rides on an “Ohio” saddle blanket on another horse, along behind him.

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W. A. Rogers of the New York Herald (this cartoon was reprinted in the Albany Times-Union) was as adept as any newspaper artist in capturing the essence of a current event, a news story of the moment. Despite his Democrat leanings, when he chose to be documentary and not partisan, he provided posterity with a good record of the times.

This cartoon illustrates the denouement of an episode in the wrangling that preceded the 1904 Republican presidential nomination, a year hence. Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, confidant of the martyred President William McKinley, and chairman of the Republican National Committee, coveted the nomination. Some Old Guard grandees inn the party, and members of the financial community, preferred him (or anybody) over the incumbent, Theodore Roosevelt.

Perry S. Heath sits on a “higher up” stake as August W. Machen, James N. Tyner, the Bureau of Promotions, and “Rural Free Delivery” are swept along in the current of the river. The United States Capitol building can be seen from afar.

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President Theodore Roosevelt’s determination to confront the recently revealed but long-festering incidents of corruption in the Post Office department involved firings, reforms, investigations, and outside help. In the latter regard, the president invested James Garfield and Charles Bonaparte with investigatory powers, and encouraged the crusading zeal of Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Joseph Bristow.

Some of the major obstructions, however, were with naïve associates like Postmaster General Henry Clay Payne (whom Roosevelt regarded as honest but not always competent) and mid-level officials. One such was Perry S. Heath, onetime associate of Roosevelt and publisher of the Salt Lake City Tribune; he was also Secretary of the Republican National Committee and First Assistant Postmaster. A clerk names Seymour Tulloch had claimed as far back as 1900 that Heath was acting corruptly, both in financial matters, and handling improper activities of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna.

President Roosevelt sits atop a surprised-looking Republican elephant as a scarecrow labeled “Iowa idea” of tariff reform” stands in front of them.

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The “Iowa Idea” was a short-lived proposal tossed into the era’s continual debates about tariffs and import duties. Its construction, and the political reaction to it, say more about the economics and politics of the years of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency than, arguably, the impact it might have had if adopted.

In summary, the gist of the Iowa Idea, intended to be a plank in the national Republican platform in 1904, was to declare that tariff revisions would be disallowed if they were to result in the formation or growth of a monopoly or trust.

People look at a ruined United States Capitol building standing next to a volcano that has just erupted.

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The clipping of the W. A. Rogers cartoon that was pasted in the White House scrapbook of political cartoons is blurry. There is a small sign — mostly obscured by its small size and Rogers’s shading anyway — that might explain the artist’s intention.

President Roosevelt bangs on the Senate side of the United States Capitol building and music notes come out. Caption: There’s music in the air.

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Mixing musical metaphors — or, rather, inappropriately showing piano keyboards played with timpani mallets — cartoonist W. A. Rogers commented on the outcome of the dispute between President Roosevelt and Congress over the issue of expanding the Secret Service’s functions.

President Roosevelt wears a mask and sits at a desk with Secret Service reports. On the wall are “Rogue’s Gallery no. 1–Members of Congress,” a “list of undesirable citizens–Harriman, Rockefeller, Foraker, Haskell, and Tilman,” and a March 1909 calendar. On the other wall is a sign–“Old Sleuth Hawkshaw & Co.: Private Investigations. Shadowing”–and some disguises, including “mollycoddle masks,” “Ananias masks,” “malefactors of great wealth,’ and a coat “for the frivolous judge disguise.” On the ground are “gum shoes” and a “Muck Rake” cat.

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As President Roosevelt’s term drew to a close, many Democratic cartoonists who had routinely criticized him continued without abatement. Other partisans seized the opportunity to increase their level of bitterness and ridicule while he was on his way out.

President Roosevelt and Senator “Pitchfork” Benjamin R. Tillman, identifiable by their footwear, Rough Rider leggings and a farmer’s hobnail boots, are buried underneath a pile of trash as they hold up “the big stick” and a pitchfork. Various scraps of paper have words on them: “liar,” “thief,” “fraud,” and “spite work.”

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The bitter controversy between the White House and Congress over the expansion of the Secret Service had evolved –or descended — into personal attacks, votes of censure, and the president’s Muckrake-like exposure of one senator’s illicit transaction involving western timber lands.

“Bumble puppy” and “Billy possum” carry a teddy bear with a “big noise” drum on a stretcher past a “persimmon tree.” In the background, President-elect William H. Taft swings a golf club.

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Cartoonist W. A. Rogers, seldom friendly to President Roosevelt, marked the end of his administration with irony and condescension in a drawing composed entirely of icons and symbols.

John D. Rockefeller sits in a rocking chair and talks to a group of children–President Roosevelt, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, Ida M. Tarbell, Frank B. Kellogg, Thomas William Lawson, and a “muck rake” cat. A “Standard Oil” lamp lights the room. Caption: “Now, children, I’ll tell you the story of my life.”

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“Spin Doctors” and the machinery of public-relations campaigns are not new to the twenty-first century. John D. Rockefeller had become well known and well off — reportedly the world’s richest man — since discovering oil in western Pennsylvania as a young man. He then discovered, as did others, what could done with oil, gas, gasoline, petroleum, and many byproducts. On his path to wealth, he controlled and often monopolized other businesses, in “vertical” and “horizontal” means; as well as people, banks, and politicians.

President Roosevelt wears a “typewriter” on his back and points his finger at an elephant in Africa as another man photographs the incident. Caption: Mr. Roosevelt’s equipment need not be expensive.

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Among a multitude of cartoon speculations on Theodore Roosevelt’s upcoming African safari, artists played variations on the simple theme that wild animals would be cowed by the belligerent Roosevelt.

President Roosevelt stands in mud labeled “Panama Ananias Cut” as he throws dirt on William MacKay Laffan and Delavan Smith.” Meanwhile, Joseph Pulitzer hides behind a rock and holds up a paper: “World–‘Never touched me!’ J. Pulitzer.”

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The artistic and conceptual inconsistencies of W. A. Rogers and his cartoons have prevented researchers from tracking history through his cartoons, except as a trail of variable partisanship. One of his most famous cartoons, for instance, living through reprints in many articles and history texts, depicts a giant Theodore Roosevelt with a shovel, digging through the Isthmus of Panama; he looks dignified and noble. The drawing has the similitude of endorsement. But a close examination of s small detail reveals that the cartoonist showed dirt being piled upon Nicaragua, which the United States had decided against as it planned a path between the seas.

President Roosevelt wears a cape and holds a mirror and a candle. In front of him is a “muckrake.”

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After the 1908 election, it seemed that some Democratic cartoonists could not let go of attacking President Roosevelt, even as the challenges facing President-Elect William H. Taft and other topics loomed. This cartoon, mocking Roosevelt as a modern Diogenes in search of an honest man, almost seems ad hominem.

President Roosevelt holds a torch as he walks through a cellar of gunpowder. There are two signs: “for Representatives” and “for Senators.” Behind him are the “Secret Service sleuths” and in front of him is a “muckrake” cat.

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W. A. Rogers depicted the president of the United States channeling the “gunpowder plotter” Guy Fawkes of English history.

President Roosevelt beats on a bass drum at the center of a spotlight as William H. Taft speaks in the dark.

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W. A. Rogers, whose career was spent at the New York Daily Graphic, Harper’s Weekly, Puck (briefly around 1892-93), and the New York Herald, usually toed the line for his Democratic editors. This cartoon is a textbook example of how a cartoon can make a valid observation — persuading readers, or accompanying editorial matter — but color it with partisanship that does not smother, but rather elevates the art of political cartooning.

A man rows a boat on tempestuous water with Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, and T. Coleman Du Pont. President Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan stand on a cliff on the edge of the water.

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Cartoonist W. A. Rogers cleverly translated a major political scandal of the 1908 campaign in one drawing, and scored with a pun in its title, no less clever. The one element that he and his employer, the New York Herald, likely felt constrained not to include was the source of the apocalyptic events depicted: publication of the “Archbold Letters.”

President Roosevelt watches an elephant drink from the “Old Wall St. Spring.”

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Cartoonist W. A. Rogers illustrated a situation most voters accepted as fact; that despite reforms, scandals, exposures, laws, trust-busting, Muckraking articles, congressional hearings, and party platforms pledging finance transparency, the major political organizations maintained connections to Wall Street and relationships with trusts.

A scarecrow–“straw vote”–casts a vote “for Taft.” President Roosevelt and William H. Taft look on as there are “reports” on the table in front of them. Caption: T. R.–“We win.”

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A first look at W. A. Rogers’s political cartoon in the New York Herald would suggest to the reader that President Roosevelt and his chosen successor William H. Taft were engaged in something nefarious as “straw votes” are tallied in the presidential election three weeks hence. They appear to be scheming, evilly smiling, rubbing their hands.