The real objection to Smoot
Subject(s): Legislators, Mormons, Polygamy, Puppets, Smoot, Reed, 1862-1941, United States. Congress. Senate, Utah, Utah--Salt Lake City
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An old man labeled “Mormon Hierarchy”, wearing a coat of stitched together fragments of cloth labeled “Polygamy, Mormon Rebellion, Resistance to Federal Authority, Blood Atonement, Murder of Apostates, [and] Mountain Meadow Massacre,” stands outside the door to the “U.S. Senate” and places a puppet labeled “R. Smoot” inside the Senate chamber.
Comments and Context
This cartoon was drawn at the commencement of the first trial in the United States Senate of Reed Smoot of Utah, elected the previous year but challenged over his status as a prominent “Apostle” in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a Mormon he was scrutinized over policies and controversies surrounding the denomination. Polygamy supposedly had been outlawed — a major concern of Americans — but Smoot himself had a mother who was the sixth of his father’s simultaneous (“plural”) marriages. Smoot was seated by the Senate, but trials continued for four years.
The “sins” or offenses and controversies surrounding Mormonism are emblazoned on the coat of the elder holding Smoot as a puppet.
Smoot served in the Senate until 1933. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee he co-sponsored the famous Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, which raised import duties on numerous items by precipitous percentages. It is widely blamed for igniting a worldwide trade war at the commencement of the Great Depression. Other nations enacted retaliatory tariffs and some economies experienced severe inflationary spikes before a depression that was only diverted by the outbreak of World War II.
Smoot was the first prominent Mormon in national politics. Others, mostly from Utah, have included Ezra Taft Benson, George and Mitt Romney, Stewart, Morris, and Tom Udall, Mike Lee, Jason Chaffetz, John Huntsman, Harry Reid, Jeff Flake, and Orrin Hatch.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1904-04-27
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 real objection to Smoot. [April 27, 1904]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277814. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The real objection to Smoot. [27 Apr. 1904]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277814.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1904, April 27]. The real objection to Smoot.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277814.
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.
