Speaking of to-day’s eclipse
Subject(s): Eclipses, Fairbanks, Charles W. (Charles Warren), 1852-1918, Foraker, Joseph Benson, 1846-1917, Root, Elihu, 1845-1937, Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932, Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Click on image to zoom in
The sun, with Theodore Roosevelt’s beaming face, is partially covered by smaller planets having the faces of Elihu Root, William H. Taft, and Charles W. Fairbanks. Other “planets” in the background include Leslie M. Shaw, Joseph Benson Foraker, and another that is unidentified. Caption: Political astronomers are watching some aspiring planetoids.
Comments and Context
For working political cartoonists, the shortest and happiest lines between two points occurs when the points are a current-event piece of news, and a political situation pleading to be described. Such was the case in this Puck cover cartoon by Joseph Keppler, Junior, when the public anticipated the sun being blotted out by the moon, and the (forever inevitable) discussion about the upcoming presidential contest.
Despite being nearly three years in the future, speculation on the next Republican candidate was rife, particularly because Theodore Roosevelt had renounced interest in succeeding himself on election night of 1904.
Roosevelt’s dislike of Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks eliminated his “moon,” whether the public and Keppler quite knew it yet; and the president was on the verge of open feuds with Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. Roosevelt’s private preference was Elihu Root, the new senator from New York, but he knew the public would distrust the former corporation lawyer. (Roosevelt believed that Root served every client well, and would have liked him to be serve the whole nation in the White House.)
The “inside track” was always William Howard Taft, Secretary of War. Indeed, Roosevelt maneuvered the field and pressure putative rivals of Taft, insuring his nomination in 1908.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-08-30
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:
Speaking of to-day’s eclipse. [August 30, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278383. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Speaking of to-day’s eclipse. [30 Aug. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278383.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, August 30]. Speaking of to-day’s eclipse.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278383.
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.
