What would Lincoln do?
Subject(s): Executive power, Imperialism, Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Click on image to zoom in
President Roosevelt sits at a desk pondering the Philippine and Central American issues. Papers on his desk read, “Philippine Policy,” “Panama Canal Treaty,” and “Mastery of the Hemisphere.” He imagines a statue of Abraham Lincoln, around which are vignettes showing Roosevelt denying the “Philippine Petition for Freedom,” using force against Colombia at the Panama Canal, menacing South America and Central America with a big club, and standing with arms folded across his chest, wearing imperial robes and a crown.
Comments and Context
Abraham Lincoln was Theodore Roosevelt’s hero, a model in temperament, decisions, and wisdom. Roosevelt’s father was “the best man I ever knew” (the opening lines of his Autobiography) and Roosevelt wrote biographies of men he admired — Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Hart Benton and others in book chapters and magazine articles. But Lincoln was his political and moral hero; and of course Roosevelt was not alone with these sentiments.
Lincoln was invoked in Roosevelt’s writings and speeches. Most especially, in 1904, he invoked comparisons that were favorable to himself, not so much to boast but as to assure the public of his devotion to Lincoln’s principles. In his letter of acceptance of the Republican re-nomination, the president wrote (and his critics might have noted Roosevelt’s reluctance to use the first-person pronoun), “We are striving to do our work in the spirit with which Lincoln approached his.”
He likewise quoted and cited Lincoln in his convention and campaign speeches, and his subsequent inaugural address.
Cartoonist J. S. Pughe in Puck saw an opening — an easy target in such circumstantial juxtaposition — to imply hypocrisy in Roosevelt’s deeds.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1904-09-28
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:
What would Lincoln do?. [September 28, 1904]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277860. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. What would Lincoln do?. [28 Sep. 1904]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277860.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1904, September 28]. What would Lincoln do?.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277860.
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.
