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

President Roosevelt and William H. Taft trudge up a snowy mountain to rescue New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, who is depicted as a dog.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The premise of Democratic cartoonist W. A. Rogers’s drawing in the Democratic New York Herald in the last weeks of the 1908 political campaign is that New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes was desperate for help in his reelection effort. The incumbent was recently re-nominated over sporadic resistance within his own party, but his reelection was never seriously in jeopardy. Rogers’s portrayal of a crisis requiring a rescue effort by President Roosevelt and Republican candidate William H. Taft was more wishful thinking than political reality. Roosevelt indeed fretted over defection from Hughes affecting the national vote — and harming the state’s reliability in the presidential electoral column; but that fear was also ill-founded, the result of Roosevelt’s congenital insecurity before election days.

William Jennings Bryan, riding a donkey, and President Roosevelt and William H. Taft, riding an elephant, tug on the arms of the “labor vote.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

To the extent there was a “Labor Vote” in 1908 it was indeed a target of both parties, and it began in an important way to trend Democrat. Previously, union members, a growing percentage of laborers, were attracted to Socialist candidates or Democrats. In the latter case it was as much suspicion and hostility toward corporations, trusts, and “Eastern financial interests” as affection for Democratic policies.

President Roosevelt sits at his desk studying a “map of Africa.” Kermit Roosevelt cleans a gun beside him. President Roosevelt’s “big stick” “malefactor of great wealth” costume, “mud,” “undesirable citizen,” and “big noise” drum are hanging up on the wall. To the right of his desk are a number of books with African explorers’ names in them: David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley, Paul Kruger, John Hanning Speke, and Richard Francis Burton.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Democratic cartoonist W. A. Rogers evidently was convinced that Republican candidate William H. Taft would win the presidency four years hence — or he displayed President Roosevelt’s confidence, as per the title of the drawing, and the preoccupation in the White House.

William H. Taft, J. S. Sherman and an octopus representing John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil ride on an elephant while William Jennings Bryan rides beside them on a donkey.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The White House scrapbooks of political cartoons from across the nation during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration are remarkable resources for what they reveal. Political cartoons were respected as legitimate and important reflections of public opinion. The president was able to keep tabs on the attitudes in the citizenry, based on local pictorial commentary. By the great percentage of negative cartoons, it suggests that Roosevelt was quite interested in diverse opinions, not only sycophants.;

President Roosevelt holds his “Harvard” oar while William H. Taft holds his “Yale” oar near the “the Thames.” Caption: T.R.–“My oar knows no brother. W. H. T.–“Same here!”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Veteran cartoonist W. A. Rogers, late of Harper’s Weekly and destined to draw for the New York Herald into the 1920s, documented an item in the news of the day in a cartoon whose origins and meanings might well be misunderstood more than a century after its publication.

A lion reaches out to claw President Roosevelt as he types on a typewriter. Beside him is a “dictionary,” a gun, and a boy reading a “natural history” book. A snake looks at the boy.

comments and context

Comments and Context

In mid-1908, the American public focused its attention on new items in the headlines. As per usual, they often centered on President Roosevelt as had been the case for the seven years of his administration, and during other positions he held. In some venues he seemed larger than the entire Spanish-American War; and the romance of the American West — much of what the public knew of it — was synonymous with Roosevelt.

William H. Taft holds a “composition by Willie Taft,” which he addresses to President Roosevelt, who appears to be a teacher with a world map in the background, a bell on his desk, and a “big stick” beside his chair.

comments and context

Comments and Context

W. A. Rogers’s cartoon in the The New York Herald is a textbook example of a cartoonist portraying a commonly acknowledged matter, even a mundane fact, in ways that invest it with a very partisan point of view. It is the political cartoonist’s right, oftentimes a duty, to retain the foundation of a situation but (to use a later generation’s term) “spin” for positive or negative impact on readers.

William Jennings Bryan stokes a bonfire that includes “cross of gold,” “popular vote for federal judges,” “gov’t ownership,” “the omitted issues,” “Supreme Court packing,” and “referendum.” A caged parrot sits in the foreground.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Among the obsolete election traditions that were once endemic to every political campaign in years past, like the obligatory street parades with torches, were the bonfires lit by partisans at the commencement of campaigns. Like Walpurgis Night festivals in northern Europe, bonfires, dancing, and speeches would energize the devoted.

William H. Taft fishes near “Put in Bay” as a variety of fish pop out of the water: “popular vote for Senators,” “the tariff question,” “labor,” and “prohibition.” A can labeled “letter of acceptance” sits on top of Taft’s boat.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The oddly named Put-In-Bay, where William H. Taft took a breath before commencing vigorous campaigning for the presidency — such as he did — is the setting of this cartoon by W. A. Rogers. It presented an opportunity to depict marine life as cartoon symbols for the challenges and dangers of the upcoming campaign. The small town on the small Lake Erie island of South Bass was actually a strategic naval port used by Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812. From the bay American ships hid to surprise and destroy British naval ships. As the British lost their fleet of six ships, they lost control of Lake Erie, shifting the course of that aspect of the war. Perry’s famous words arose from that battle, “Don’t give up the ship” and “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

President Roosevelt attempts to fly a “G. O. P.” New York airplane with two wings: “Anti Hughes” and “Hughes.” On the ground is the town of Albany, New York. William H. Taft and J. S. Sherman watch atop a Republican elephant.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The Republican Party in New York State had been so dominant for so long that the ambitions of its many leaders often collided. Between the Civil War and World War I, there were a multitude of presidents, vice presidents, and candidates for each office, from both major parties. Tammany Hall Democrats and Republican bosses, in and out of the United States Senate, also had national impact. Theodore Roosevelt’s gubernatorial nomination was prompted in part by a necessity to replace the scandal-tainted Republican governor Frank Swett Black; in 1904 the New York judge Alton B. Parker was, in effect, the anti-Bryan. In 1906 President Roosevelt had persuaded attorney Charles Evans Hughes to run for governor as the middle choice between two warring factions in the Republican Party.

William H. Taft, President Roosevelt, and William Jennings Bryan wear Rough Rider uniforms and carry big sticks. Roosevelt stands in the middle, and his stick reads: “My policies.” Taft and Bryan face each other. Taft’s stick is labeled “My policies please,” while Bryan’s is labeled “No! My policies.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

One of America’s early histories of political cartooning was entitled Wordless Journalism. This cartoon by W. A. Rogers, one of his best, is an example of that model. With no dialogue, and no complicated labels or symbols, this single drawing speaks volumes about President Roosevelt’s popular sway, his relationship with his chosen successor, and the issues of the 1908 presidential campaign. It also concisely summarizes a dozen years of policy evolutions in the Democratic Party.

“The Courts” cut up President Roosevelt’s “my policies” big stick as “the three twins” watch on the side. On the ground are two pieces: “$29,000,000 fine” and “coal road prosecution.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Throughout the history of American political cartooning, symbols and icons have been essential tools for artists. They are facile representations of ideas and platforms; and at their most basic, they serve to explain matters to semi-literate or uninformed citizens. The Gerrymander was a reptilian character suggested by an electoral map as redrawn to favor Elbridge Gerry, and has remained in the political lexicon. The Ograbme (“O grab me,” embargo spelled backwards) distilled economic arguments by simple graphic shorthand. And so forth, added to the gallery populated by Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and Republican elephant.

Democratic presidential candidate Alton B. Parker struggles under the weight of a number of miniature Democratic political leaders like David B. Hill and Richard Olney brawling on his back. The fighters hold sticks and various signs: “Tammany Hall,” “Brooklyn Democracy,” and “Petty Factions.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-19

A disheveled “wage-worker” reaches for a “high wages” money bag on a shelf and a number of food items on a “provisions” shelf. President Roosevelt looks outside of a window, facing the wage-worker and pointing to the two shelves. His shelf reads, “‘The purchasing power of the average wage has grown faster than the cost of living.’ T. R.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-22

Alton B. Parker spurs a donkey that carries himself and “the Constitution of the U.S.” forward to catch a slow-moving elephant that carries President Roosevelt. Both head toward the “White House,” where Uncle Sam stands.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-17

Secretary of War William H. Taft, Elihu Root, Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, Secretary of State John Hay, and Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox all march out of “the Most Expensive Show on Earth” tent armed with weapons. President Roosevelt sits on a “sacred white elephant” that Alton B. Parker pokes with a pitchfork. A “postal frauds scandal that won’t come off” mailbag is chained to the elephant’s left leg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-01

President Roosevelt is tied to an “official chair” like his “big stick” is tied to the wall. Both are attached to a “November 9 time lock.” There is a pile of papers in front of Roosevelt, and he looks out the window at a “Democratic mass meeting” where Alton B. Parker is giving a speech.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-04

President Roosevelt holds a shining “big stick” as he rides away from the “Mantle of McKinley – 3 years wear” held by the inauguration committee. As he travels on the bronco wearing an “imperialism” crown and an “extravagance” saddle blanket, Uncle Sam, “So. Am. Republic,” and “Central Am. Republic” all look at him in shock. There is a sign that reads, “Inauguration March 4, 1905 IF.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-10

President Roosevelt arrives at the “New Union Station, Washington,” along with William Loeb. The latter is carrying Roosevelt’s “Big Stick,” on which is hanging a cage enclosing the dove of “Peace.” He also bears a shovel labeled “Panama Troubles,” a bag full of “Mistakes,” “Slips,” “Errors,” and “Department Scandals,” and a rifle. The new station, in the background, is the United States Capitol, with a “Tariff Wall” and a large man labeled “The Trusts Stand Pat” atop the dome.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-01

President Roosevelt removes a mask depicting himself as a Quaker and bows in front of an elephant. The elephant wears an “imperialism” crown, a “postal fraud” mailbag and a “pension order” money bag on the elephant’s front two legs, and has “deficit,” “Addicks,” “extravagance,” and “subsidies” bandages. The elephant also wears a “tariff wall” and “the new diplomacy” seat, and grasps “the big stick” with its trunk, which also wears a “Littauer” glove.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14