The next Republican National Convention

President Roosevelt bangs the lectern as he addresses delegates that all look like himself from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and New York. A messenger dressed like Roosevelt brings him a message. On the wall is a flag that has four large “R’s” and two big sticks.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon from early in C. R. Macauley’s association with the New York World humorously asserts President Roosevelt’s utter dominance of the Republican Party. As a president he was popular with the public, and he had been a famed celebrity, but control of the party and its apparatus, as suggested by Macauley, was another matter.

It especially was the case in the context pictured. A full fifteen months before the president nominating convention, Macauley suggests that Roosevelt was “it,” humorously picturing him as speaker, various delegates, messenger boy, and gallery visitor.

As the convention drew nearer, Roosevelt shared his preference for William H. Taft, partly to forestall any “stampede” of delegates that would draft the president for another term.

To emphasize how dispositive Macauley’s commentary was, this cartoon could well have appeared, with equal relevance, before the 1904 nominating convention. In fact very similar cartoons appeared at that time, by Puck‘s Udo J. Keppler and others.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-19

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