“Pride goeth before destruction”
Subject(s): Croker, Richard, 1843-1922, Democratic National Convention, Democratic Party (U.S.), Elections--U.S. states, Hill, David B. (David Bennett), 1843-1910, Missouri--Kansas City, Presidents--Election, Tammany Hall
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Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker, inflated like a hot air balloon, wears a medallion showing the Tammany Tiger and a laurel wreath with a ribbon labeled “Kansas City Convention.” Running up behind him is David B. Hill carrying a spear labeled “N.Y. State Democracy.” The title is a quotation from the Bible: “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
Comments and Context
For many decades, following the Civil War, the Democratic Party in New York State was split into factions — usually two, sometimes more. Copperheads (Southern sympathizers) and Union Democrats, Tammany Hall grafters and honest Upstate Democrats, city (New York) vs. rural. Occasional Reform Democrats (Samuel J. Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Abram S. Hewitt) vs. Tammany Hall and/or David B. Hill, governor and Presidential aspirant. In 1900, the reformer and radical William Jennings Bryan was renominated for the Presidency by the Democrats and cast his lot with the Tammany faction in New York instead of the bloc led by Hill, who was by then a former governor and former senator. But, as this cartoon suggests, Hill was as much concerned with New York inter-party rivalries as he was the national campaign.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1900-08-01
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
Governor of New York (October 1898-1900)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
“Pride goeth before destruction”. [August 1, 1900]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275581. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. “Pride goeth before destruction”. [1 Aug. 1900]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275581.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1900, August 1]. “Pride goeth before destruction”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275581.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
