Taft Ohio endorsement
Subject(s): Foraker, Joseph Benson, 1846-1917, Ohio, Presidents--Election, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
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President Roosevelt stays hidden as he watches Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker attempt to counter the momentum of a huge rock shaped like William H. Taft’s head labeled “Taft Ohio Endorsement.”
Comments and Context
Theodore Roosevelt would indeed end up looking upon this situation — the Ohioan Secretary of War William H. Taft gaining advantage over fellow Ohioan, Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, in their rivalry for the 1908 Republican presidential nomination. Roosevelt’s endorsement of Taft coincided with real animosity between him and the Foraker.
At the time of this cartoon, Taft had made several uncharacteristically bold and sagacious moves against Foraker’s faction in the state. The Secretary of War was frankly less then enthusiastic about running for president (he aspired to serve on the Supreme Court, which he eventually did); but his main encouragers were Roosevelt, his wife Helen Taft, and his half-brother Charles.
In Clifford Kennedy Berryman’s awkward drawing, Foraker seems likened to Sisyphus of Greek mythology, doomed to forever futilely push a boulder up a mountainside.
On the day this cartoon was published, Roosevelt wrote a lengthy analytical letter on the Republican contest, and Ohio specifically. He wrote it to William Allen White, a confidant and Editor of the Emporia Gazette in Kansas. In the letter he maintained that his support of Taft was wisely sub rosa — a position he maintained despite the fact that he frequently “telegraphed” his lack of neutrality among contenders.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-07-30
Creator(s)
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Page Count
1
Production Method
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:
Taft Ohio endorsement. [July 30, 1907]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301572. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949. Taft Ohio endorsement. [30 Jul. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301572.
APA:
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949., [1907, July 30]. Taft Ohio endorsement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301572.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
