The American Samson
Subject(s): Barbering, Delilah (Biblical figure), Presidents, Price regulation, Railroads, Samson (Biblical judge), Scissors and shears, Trusts, Industrial
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Theodore Roosevelt, as Delilah, holds a broken pair of shears, one side labeled “Senate” and the other labeled “House.” Behind, reclining on a bed, is “Samson,” a long-haired old man labeled “The Railroads,” his hair labeled “Rate Fixing Power.” He appears to be asleep, having pleasant “Rate Fixing” dreams, caressing his long locks with his left hand. Caption: Delilah Roosevelt — I must get these shears to work together before I can do any hair-cutting.
Comments and Context
“The American Samson” by J. S. Pughe is an example of Puck — and many reformist and muckraking journals — addressing a burning issue of the day, and invariably portraying Theodore Roosevelt as an ally, not an opponent or a leader who equivocated. Cartoons of the day, taken as a whole, and beyond individual issues and momentary controversies, help posterity understand Roosevelt and his place in contemporary movements.
President Roosevelt might well have had a better feeling than other politicians about the inequities and challenges of railroad monopolies and rate-fixing. He would have encountered them as a rancher in the 1880s, intending to join the supply-chain of raising cattle for the dinner tables of the nation, from his ranches in the Dakota Territory. In any event, the vice-grip of the Railroad Trust — interlocking and commercially conspiratorial combinations of rail companies — was one of many “Samsons” addressed by reformers, politicians, and muckraking journalists at the time.
The broken shears that Pughe showed represented a challenge to much legislation at the time: with a few exceptions in each house of Congress, the Senate was conservative and resistant to reform, and the House of Representatives was increasingly “insurgent,” and the hothouse of progressive legislation.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-12-13
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
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:
The American Samson. [December 13, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278469. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. The American Samson. [13 Dec. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278469.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, December 13]. The American Samson.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278469.
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.
