The fire breaks out again

President Roosevelt, dressed as a firefighter, drives away as a house labeled “Central America” catches on fire labeled “war.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Students of times subsequent to this cartoon might not be aware of the conflicts that were called the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Central American Wars. It was not a mere stereotype but fact that countries of that region were frequent adversaries, frequently invading each other, frequently employing members of local groups with shifting loyalties, frequently making, and breaking, the peace. From Mexico and also into South America, the numbers of governments and leaders through the decades were numerous. The numerous revolts and declarations of independence of the region of Panama against Colombia is, today, a forgotten but plausible justification dealing with rebel leaders prior to arranging for construction of the Panama Canal.

Dispositive in Ralph Wilder’s cartoon, pertinent to this context, is the word “Again” in the caption. A Third Central American conflict had just concluded — as much as any of them ever did — when Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya resisted the Third treaty because he supported Honduran rebels opposed to their president, Manuel Bonilla. Honduran troops chased the rebels into Nicaragua, and the offended Zelaya sought international assistance.

Historians might be tempted to wonder, as President Roosevelt did, in effect, what was new and what might ever change. The United States was concerned with regional peace, and for reasons not associated with revisionists’ criticisms of supposed American commercial hegemony: the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was promulgated to keep European military activity from the hemisphere; to promote harmony and stability; and to, in 1907, prevent the endemic conflicts from upsetting progress on the Canal.

So Wilder’s cartoon shows Roosevelt not ignoring or avoiding “fire” in the neighborhood, but rather the situation of finishing one rescue operation and being immediately called to another.

Wilder drew for the Record-Herald, a rival of the Chicago Tribune. They were major papers in the city and the Midwest, but the Tribune had John T. McCutcheon on its staff. From the 1890s until 1903 McCutcheon was a cartoonist and war correspondent for the Record-Herald, and when he joined “the Trib” his work evolved and matured, and he became one of the nation’s leading editorial cartoonists, and the most influential of the “Chicago School” of Midwestern political cartoonists. Wilder’s drawing style was very close to that of McCutcheon, whether by a publisher’s direction or creative osmosis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-25

Creator(s)

Wilder, Ralph, 1875-1924

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