Sending out the dove again

Admiral George Dewey and President Roosevelt with his “Nobel prize” stand in the vessel, “The Forlorn Hope,” and release a dove that holds “peace notes to South America.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Frederick Morgan’s cartoon depicts President Roosevelt and Admiral George Dewey, and refers to South American leaders, but a major figure behind the cartoon is not shown: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

There was trouble aplenty in South America during Roosevelt’s presidency — countries’ internal conflicts that threatened American interests, hostilities between nations, friction arising from the independence of Panama and the construction of the canal, and several diplomatic and economic transgressions that caused European nations — particularly the Netherlands, England, and Germany — to threaten military actions to collect substantial debts.

The latter situations generally involved Venezuela, and led more than any other crisis to the president’s promulgation of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Most specifically, the United States sought to counter Germany’s aggressive intentions.

Naval hostilities never commenced, but in several instances Roosevelt kept the fleet under Admiral Dewey, stationed in the West Indies, at the ready… and announced the fact to troublesome South American countries. More than once he very diplomatically communicated to the German Kaiser his willingness to use Dewey — an extremely popular war hero after the battle of Manila Bay in 1898 — to counter any moves Germany might make against Venezuela or anywhere in the Western hemisphere.

Morgan labelled the ship “Forlorn,” but Roosevelt’s gambits largely were successful.

Morgan was the son of Matt Morgan, an English cartoonist whom Leslie’s Weekly imported during the Civil War to be its “answer” to Thomas Nast, popular and effective cartoonist of Harper’s Weekly.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-30

Creator(s)

Morgan, Frederick, -1932

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