Putting the screws on him
Subject(s): Campaign funds, Cortelyou, George B. (George Bruce), 1862-1940, Presidents--Election, Trusts, Industrial
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George B. Cortelyou turns a vice to squeeze money for Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign from a bloated man labeled “The Trusts.”
Comments and Context
This Puck cover cartoon by Joseph Keppler Junior ran a week before the 1904 presidential election. Its simplicity is typical of this underrated cartoonist: Campaign chairman George B. Cortelyou squeezes campaign contributions on the eve of the election, and from the hated trusts, while a beaming President Roosevelt, predictably clad in Rough Rider uniform, looks on approvingly.
Both parties in 1904 — and before, and afterward — solicited funds from the trusts. The cartoon might have seemed partisan to some readers, since Roosevelt, the “Trust Buster,” had prosecuted monopolies in his first term, for instance the famed Northern Securities Company.
There were reports late in the campaign, however, that the Republican Party, through Cortelyou and Party Treasurer Cornelius Bliss, had made special (and successful) appeals to trusts like Standard Oil and industrialists like Edward H. Harriman for late-minute campaign contributions. Some of these accusations emerged in 1911 and 1912; some documented and some unsubstantiated
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1904-11-02
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:
Putting the screws on him. [November 2, 1904]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277869. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Putting the screws on him. [2 Nov. 1904]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277869.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1904, November 2]. Putting the screws on him.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277869.
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.
