Vacation
Subject(s): Arm, Face, Leisure, New York (State)--Oyster Bay, Recreation, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Vacations
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The face of President Roosevelt appears with many arms extending from behind engaged in various activities, such as playing tennis, chopping wood, boxing, rowing, and signing papers making an “Appointment.” Caption: His annual rest at Oyster Bay.
Comments and Context
For many years in Washington, D.C., it was not an option or mere tradition but an annual necessity for government workers to escape the District every year for an extended summer. The nation’s capital was basicall built on a swamp, in a zone that normally is high in humidity. Due to the humidity, and to temperatures routinely in the 90s and higher, the entire federal government frequently was “elsewhere” in summer months.
President Roosevelt was no exception. His Sagamore Hill home on Long Island was less than a day’s trip by train, so even when he was Civil Service Commissioner in the 1880s, he often visited the breezes cooling his home overlooking Long Island Sound.
Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, commemorates the Strenuous Life, Summer Version, of the President of the United States. His depiction of Roosevelt is iconic, and has been reprinted through the years, virtually creating an American Vishnu. This activity of Roosevelt, of course, was a hallmark since his youth. He wore out hunting guides, exercised obsessively, loved many sports, engaged in uncountable “point-to-point” walks in Washington’s Rock Creek Park and the forests of Long Island, with children and diplomats alike, going “Through or over, never around” any impediment. He even speed-read voraciously, reportedly finishing at least one book a day, as if there were Olympic medals in that category.
These tendencies provide another of many opportunities for cartoonists. John T. McCutcheon of the Chicago Tribune probably relied on this thematic preoccupation more than any other cartoonist, but Keppler’s drawing easily is the most colorful.
A few months after this cartoon and his summer “relaxation,” Roosevelt planned to embark on a visit to Panama to assess progress on the Canal, the first sitting president to leave the continent confines of the United States.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1906-07-11
Creator(s)
Language
English
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:
Vacation. [July 11, 1906]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278553. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Unknown. Vacation. [11 Jul. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. April 2, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278553.
APA:
Unknown., [1906, July 11]. Vacation.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278553.
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. April 2, 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.
