The modern Cincinnatus, who will not leave his plough
Subject(s): Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius, approximately 529 B.C.-approximately 430 B.C., Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908, Dame Democracy (Symbolic character), Gesture, Plowing, Presidents--Elections
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Former president Grover Cleveland, as “Cincinnatus,” is working a field with a plow labeled “Domesticity.” An elderly woman labeled “Democracy” is standing in the field, holding a paper which states “Cleveland’s letter of retirement ‘Unalterable and Conclusive’.” She is perplexed as Cleveland gestures with his right hand for her not to approach him.
Comments and Context
President Cleveland is depicted as Cincinnatus, the Roman citizen who yielded to pleas that he serve as leader during various crises, but always relinquished power and returned to his farm. George Washington is the American most frequently likened to Cincinnatus.
The Democratic Party, depicted once again by Puck as a lovelorn spinster desperate for a mate, approaches Cleveland as the one Democrat with a resume, leadership credentials, experience, and a national following in advance of the 1904 presidential contest. Most tellingly, he was not William Jennings Bryan, who after two failed runs and few new policies, was grating on party faithful.
But Cleveland first had been elected president in 1884 after two years as New York’s governor; he won the popular vote for re-election in 1888 but lost the electoral vote. He ran and won again in 1892, the only American president to serve two non-consecutive terms. In his second term he contended with a serious depression, labor strife, and foreign troubles. Then his party nominated a radical populist, William Jennings Bryan, in 1896, and Cleveland managed the revolt of “Gold Democrats” between Bryan and Republican William McKinley.
Cleveland spoke and wrote, leading his party with ideas and recommendations, but as a politician he was through, content not to plow fields, exactly, as had Cincinnatus, but to live in retirement in Caldwell, New Jersey (outside Princeton) where he was born.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-12-30
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:
The modern Cincinnatus, who will not leave his plough. [December 30, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277684. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. The modern Cincinnatus, who will not leave his plough. [30 Dec. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277684.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1903, December 30]. The modern Cincinnatus, who will not leave his plough.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277684.
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.
