Crowned again

A woman, “Peace,” crowns President Roosevelt, who is already wearing an enormous “Nobel Peace Prize” and holding his big stick, with a laurel wreath. On the ground are three laurel wreaths beside a paper that reads, “Amicable adjustment of Japanese question.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

C. R. Macauley, over his long cartooning career, was seldom complimentary toward Theodore Roosevelt. He drew this cartoon for the semi-official organ of the national Democrat Party, the New York World; in 1912 he was even the official, salaried cartoonist for the press office of the Democratic National Committee.

Nevertheless this cartoon acknowledged Roosevelt’s hard work in achieving the Gentlemen’s Agreement with the Japanese government at the time of this publication. It was indeed an agreement, never ratified by the Senate, and its provisions were difficult enough to achieve with Tokyo, and probably more so with prejudiced and hostile anti-immigrant elements in California. (In fact, the varieties of prejudice were dizzying: American employers had initially welcomed Japanese workers in an effort to counter Chinese presence in the West.)

Provisions included Tokyo’s agreement to curb emigration except for family members of United States residents; and American pledges to reduce persecution, and to allow Japanese students to return to American public schools, whence they had been excluded.

Roosevelt justly was honored in this drawing, yet Macauley could not quite bring himself to caricature Roosevelt as less than boastful and in military garb — when his putative peace prize was for diplomatic, not military, success.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-15

Creator(s)

Macauley, C. R. (Charles Raymond), 1871-1934

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

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