A pretty high bar to clear
Subject(s): Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915, Allison, William B. (William Boyd), 1829-1908, Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926, Cost and standard of living, Elkins, Stephen B. (Stephen Benton), 1841-1911, Frye, William P. (William Pierce), 1831-1911, Hale, Eugene, 1836-1918, Hurdles (Fences), Hurdling (Track and field), Knox, Philander C. (Philander Chase), 1853-1921, Presidents--Elections, Republican elephant (Symbolic character), Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
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A group of Republicans try to push, pull, and coax the “G.O.P.” elephant to jump a hurdle on a race course. William B. Allison stands on the far side of the hurdle. Philander C. Knox is pulling the elephant’s trunk. William P. Frye, Nelson W. Aldrich, Stephen B. Elkins, Joseph Gurney Cannon, and Eugene Hale are pushing the elephant, which is being ridden by a plump man labeled “Stand Pat,” wielding a whip. The hurdle has four bars, the lowest labeled “Cost of Living 1896,” the next “Cost of Living 1900,” then “Cost of Living 1904,” and the highest “Cost of Living 1908.”
Comments and Context
The “High Cost of Living” has been a perennial bugaboo of politicians and icon of cartoonists through the years. In the administration of Woodrow Wilson, and especially in the two years following the Armistice ending World War I, the issue was paramount. It often was manifested by an impossibly tall and thin dour character.
In any period of price inflation, and especially by the party out of power at the moment, the cost of living was a tempting issue.
Most of President Roosevelt’s nearly two terms were marked by general prosperity, industrial peace, expansion including trade with other nations, and production on farms and in factories almost unprecedented. Rising prices largely were offset by rising wages and increased numbers of jobs. Record immigration generally was welcomed by agriculture and industry, hungry for employees.
J. S. Pughe’s cartoon was, then, a rather cliched partisan hit against the party in power — a device to which Puck magazine seldom resorted. This is especially significant, given the fact that the nation then was not confronting a generic challenge, but was engaged with a specific crisis: the Wall Street Panic.
The figure atop the elephant, by the way — the only character not labelled — might be a generic plutocrat, but it resembles Cornelius M. Bliss, a plutocrat of sorts who had also been treasurer of the Republican National Committee during the 1904 Roosevelt reelection campaign. Retired when this cartoon was drawn, Pughe possibly still found the visual identification useful.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-10-30
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:
A pretty high bar to clear. [October 30, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285917. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. A pretty high bar to clear. [30 Oct. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285917.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1907, October 30]. A pretty high bar to clear.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285917.
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.
