Who’s in the hole?

President Roosevelt smiles as Joseph Benson Foraker grabs onto his coat, which rips off and he falls into a deep hole. The U.S. Capitol building and Washington monument are in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The idea of this cartoon is to represent the end of the controversy between President Roosevelt and Senator Joseph Benson Foraker over the matter of a regiment of black troops being cashiered (not honorably discharged) after a melee near their barracks in Brownsville, Texas, left one man dead and another wounded. The accusations, defenses, and insults were the stuff of national interest for months.

Foraker attacked Roosevelt at private dinners (which were then printed in newspaper columns), and the president attacked the senator in letters, statements, and by patronage. After a spirited Roosevelt defense at this time, cartoonist Albert J. Taylor, and much of the country, thought that the president — with the assistance of many speeches in the Senate by allies — won the battle of public relations.

Taylor’s drawing anticipates a situation eight years in the future, when Elihu Root offered advice to William Barnes about the latter’s libel suit against Roosevelt and a prediction that he would “nail Roosevelt’s hide to the wall.” Root warned that Barnes should be careful about whose hide would wind up on the wall.

Indeed, at the moment the public thought Roosevelt had won the day over the Brownsville Affair. If so, it was a Pyrrhic victory: the controversy still festered more than a century later.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04

Creator(s)

Taylor, Albert J. (Albert Jean), 1868-1927

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