Cursing the heretics
Subject(s): Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908, Democratic Party (U.S.), Gorman, Arthur P. (Arthur Pue), 1839-1906, Hill, David B. (David Bennett), 1843-1910, Laughter, Olney, Richard, 1835-1917, Parker, Alton B. (Alton Brooks), 1852-1926, Whitney, William C. (William Collins), 1841-1904
Click on image to zoom in
William Jennings Bryan, wearing the pope’s tiara and holding a scepter labeled “16 to 1,” jumps up and down and stamps his feet in anger, as six men labeled “Cleveland, Whitney, Hill, Gorman, Parker, [and] Olney” stand to the left, laughing.
Comments and Context
Pughe’s cartoon appeared shortly after the mid-term elections of 1902, during which the Democratic Party did not fare well, due in part to the popularity of the new president, Theodore Roosevelt, the continuing prosperity in the country, largely unabated since 1897, and what might be termed a fatigue with William Jennings Bryan. The “Commoner” had been the party’s presidential candidate in 1896 and 1900 and lost badly. His harping on the “16 to 1” free-silver coinage issue was growing thin.
Significant in Pughe’s cartoon is the fact that traditional and “Gold Democrats” are mocking Bryan, and they represented only half the party: there were still elected leaders, and journals, who were in Bryan’s camp. And of the skeptics in the cartoon, the only plausible presidential candidates were Grover Cleveland, who had run three times beginning in 1884, and was retired from two stints in the White House; and David Bennett Hill, a perennial aspirant and former governor and senator from New York. That is to say that Bryan was not only a leader, but he filled a power-vacuum in the party.
Ironically, the inclusion of Alton Brooks Parker in this cartoon foreshadows his surprising nomination for the presidency in 1904. When this cartoon appeared, Parker was barely known to the public, a New York State judge. His presence — and his stiff demeanor suggests that cartoonist Pughe scarcely knew how to caricature the nonentity — might mean that Puck, a Democrat journal, was privy to backstage machinations of the party.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-03-11
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
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:
Cursing the heretics. [March 11, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277244. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. Cursing the heretics. [11 Mar. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277244.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1903, March 11]. Cursing the heretics.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277244.
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 5, 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.
