The thick-skin variety

The heads of Chauncey M. Depew labeled “Compliments of New York” and Thomas Collier Platt labeled “From the Empire State” lie on desks in the “U.S. Senate” chamber, with Uncle Sam scowling in the background.

Comments and Context

This over cartoon by Udo J. Keppler in Puck Magazine might have run any year while the twin graybeards Chauncey M. Depew and Thomas Collier Platt were senators, such was the routine assessment of the magazine and indeed much of the public (even of New York State’s citizens — this was at a time when state legislators, not the voting public, elected senators, a Constitutional system that had grown corrupt).

Indeed the concept of the cartoon might have been applied to previous New York senators, who generally were elderly and settled into careers serving special interests. And this was the case in other states’ delegations as well, since the senate had evolved into a club of a few powerful bosses.

But as the year 1906 drew to a close, so did the careers of these two senators whose political activities began decades previously… and who each recently had endured public opprobrium and political emasculation. In the insurance industry scandals and hearings and charges since 1904, Depew was frequently exposed as an influence peddler, receiver of bonds and “forgiven” loans, and other perks. Platt, the longtime “Easy Boss” of New York politics, was still in office, but had been finally and rudely deposed as political chieftain by Benjamin B. Odell, Theodore Roosevelt’s successor as New York governor.

Their shelf life, in Keppler’s view, was past.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1906-12-19

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

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

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation