The skipper out of a berth
Subject(s): Hanna, Marcus Alonzo, 1837-1904, Legislators, Plato, Sailors
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Marcus Alonzo Hanna, as an old sailor sitting on a box on the dock, smokes a pipe and watches a ship labeled “Ship of State” sail out to sea. Caption: “Smash m’ gaff! Who’d ‘a’ thought the old ship could sail like that, without me?”
Comments and Context
Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna (R-OH) also served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1903 — honors, enough, perhaps, for many men. But Hanna, an industrialist who entered politics as the virtual amanuensis of William McKinley, his sites had been set higher. For one thing, history (largely through cartoons by Opper, Davenport, et al., depicting “Dollar Mark” as the power behind the throne of McKinley) has distorted Hanna’s role in Republican politics. He was an organizer and financier, and well positioned to run McKinley’s two presidential campaigns.
Hanna famously opposed Theodore Roosevelt’s vice-presidential nomination in 1900 (“Don’t you all realize there is only one bullet between that madman and the White House?”) and when Roosevelt did become president, Hanna let it be known that he had presidential ambitions himself… perhaps to deny the reformer Roosevelt much traction in the job.
Hanna had become senator by questionable means. President McKinley nominated Ohio’s ancient senator, John Sherman, to the post. Sherman was feeble and close to senility, but his confirmation opened a senate seat in Ohio… and Hanna was named as his successor. Throughout 1903, the relations of Hanna and Roosevelt were tense, exacerbated by Ohio’s other Republican senator, Joseph Benson Foraker — a rival of Hanna — forcing an endorsement (or opposing statement) by Hanna regarding the 1904 presidential ticket. Hanna was check-mated. (Ironically, in a few years, Foraker and Roosevelt commenced a bitter feud over the Brownsville controversy.)
In June of 1903, Mark Hanna attended an event at Kenyon College, having completely forgotten that he had been invited to be the main speaker. He spoke impromptu to favorable notice, and evidently referred wistfully to the fact that he might have been Secretary of State… which position at the time was firmly occupied by John Hay. Hence Keppler’s cartoon.
Many of the issues just related, and pending for 1904 national politics, were made moot when Mark Hanna died the following February.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-06-10
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:
The skipper out of a berth. [June 10, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277285. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The skipper out of a berth. [10 Jun. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277285.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1903, June 10]. The skipper out of a berth.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277285.
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 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.
