America’s greatest Pecksniff
Subject(s): Fictitious characters, Pride and vanity, Swindlers and swindling
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A man described as “America’s greatest Pecksniff,” an allusion to Dickens’ character Seth Pecksniff in the novel Martin Chuzzlewit, stands, full-length, facing slightly right, holding a paper that states “The Widow & Orphan Pump” which shows a pump spewing money into a trough. Likenesses of Pecksniff appear in the background as a bust statue, a painting, and a silhouette. Caption: “There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen; all is peace; a holy calm pervades me.”
Comments and Context
The beatific expression on the face of New York Senator Chauncey M. Depew, and the quotation from Charles Dickens’ humorous novel Martin Chuzzlewit — spoken by the hypocrite Seth Pecksniff — mask the irony of Depew’s situation, and the venom in cartoonist Keppler’s drawing.
Senator Depew was a Republican before Lincoln’s presidency, and was equally devoted to his party and Wall Street confreres. He served as president of the New York Central Railroad system, and in other corporate offices, and in and out of politics. It was he, for instance, who delivered the official nomination announcement speech when Theodore Roosevelt ran for governor.
Depew was also famous as a raconteur and humorist — accounting in part for the expression Keppler bestowed on him — and after-dinner speaker. He wrote advice on humorous delivery, and collected his witticisms.
Since the 1896 he continually employed the tear-jerking Republican appeal for public trust in the economy — that “funds for widows and orphans not be molested.” A confluence of scandals in 1905 brought those words back to haunt Depew, as in this cartoon.
Depew was officially connected with the Equitable Life Insurance Company, which in 1905 sustained black eyes from manipulation of its funds and manufactured losses; and a sordid social scandal involved the company’s heir James Hazen Hyde. Depew also created an “Improvement Company” and a town bearing his name that were also involved in financial scandals, claiming losses greater than their values. He was being widely condemned — more than two other United States senators then under investigation and indictment for lesser offenses.
Keppler based this cover cartoon on one of the actual illustrations for Dickens’ early novel Chuzzlewit, by the Briton Fred Barnard. The novelist’s complete works were very popular in the United States.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-08-02
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
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:
America’s greatest Pecksniff. [August 2, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278124. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. America’s greatest Pecksniff. [2 Aug. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. May 14, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278124.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, August 2]. America’s greatest Pecksniff.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278124.
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. May 14, 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.
