Another Saint Patrick?
Subject(s): Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915, Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926, Capitalists and financiers, Free trade--Protection, Frogs, Government policy, Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848-1909, Legislators, Lizards, Presidents--Transition periods, Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1839-1937, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Saints, Snakes, Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930, Trusts, Industrial
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President William H. Taft, as Saint Patrick, wears a miter with the spectacles and grin of Theodore Roosevelt on it. Carrying Roosevelt’s big stick wrapped in “His Policies,” he strides ashore toward lizards, snakes, and frogs labeled “Aldrich, Cannon, Rockefeller, Harriman, Land Grafter, Ship Subsidy, Beef Trust, [and] ‘Preserved’ Food.”
Comments and Context
Barely weeks into his Administration, President William H. Taft is in Puck Magazine’s honeymoon phase, depicted in the cover cartoon by L. M. Glackens as a Saint Patrick who legendarily drove snakes from Ireland. Taft, caricatured as almost thin — anyway, not of the roly-poly corpulence in campaign cartoons — and earnestly about good deeds.
The snakes in the cartoon are Nelson W. Aldrich and Joseph Gurney Cannon, bosses, respectively, of the Senate and House; monopolists John D, Rockefeller (oil) and Edward Henry Harriman (rails); and several trusts.
From the beginning of his Administration, however, the cartoon subtly notes the shadow, or responsibility, under which Taft would have to work as president: Theodore Roosevelt. The club is wrapped in “his” policies — Roosevelt’s, that is; not Taft’s own. And the designs on the miter are also those of his predecessor — Roosevelt’s iconic pince-nez spectacles.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-03-17
Creator(s)
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933
Period
African Safari (March 1909-1910)
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:
Another Saint Patrick?. [March 17, 1909]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291123. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. Another Saint Patrick?. [17 Mar. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291123.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1909, March 17]. Another Saint Patrick?.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291123.
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.
