Flirtation
Subject(s): Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Courtship, Democratic Party (U.S.), Elections, Parker, Alton B. (Alton Brooks), 1852-1926
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William Jennings Bryan escorts an old woman labeled “Dem. Party” on his right arm. Coming up behind them is “A.B. Parker,” well-dressed, wearing a top hat and overcoat.
Comments and Context
Following up on Puck‘s center-spread cartoon of the previous week that featured a depiction of the obscure Alton Brooks Parker, this issue placed Parker on the front page. Keppler’s cartoon suggests that Parker, or rumors of his possible presidential candidacy, plagued the party’s titular leader William Jennings Bryan. Clearly there was a movement among the party’s conservative Eastern and “sound-money” wing, to boost Parker.
Parker was the Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, a distinguished platform, but not one of national prominence or a traditional springboard into politics. Puck was either aware of the machinations, or possibly party to them, as an anti-Bryan organ. As part of the campaign to bring the judge into the sunlight, he gave a speech to Union College on “The Educated Man in Politics,” and was the subject of a complimentary profile in The Summary, a publication of the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, N.Y. Neither was a substantial source of publicity, so notices like those paid by Keppler in Puck helped create a boom.
Parker ultimately did receive the Democratic nomination to challenge President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. He had actually been a social friend of the Roosevelts, but his losing campaign was lopsided. Historian Irving Stone, in his study of losing presidential candidates They Also Ran, noted that Parker was the only presidential candidate never to have a biography written about him.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-03-18
Creator(s)
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:
Flirtation. [March 18, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277245. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Flirtation. [18 Mar. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277245.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1903, March 18]. Flirtation.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277245.
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. February 26, 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.
