Uncle Mark will need a political life saver next
Subject(s): Boats and boating, Brooms and brushes, Congresses and conventions, Foraker, Joseph Benson, 1846-1917, Hanna, Marcus Alonzo, 1837-1904, Presidents--Public opinion, Republican elephant (Symbolic character), Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Waves
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A Republican elephant and Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker sit in an “Ohio Rep. Convention” boat as Foraker says, “Get into the boat!” Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna holds a broom as he points toward a “Roosevelt sentiment” wave. Hanna says, “We’d better sweep it to one side at present.”
Comments and Context
Inspired by the legend of King Canute and his efforts to sweep back the tide, cartoonist Charles M. Payne drew a typically handsome and politically prescient portrayal of the advance run-up to the 1904 Republican presidential convention.
The Ohio Republican Party was blessed or cursed for decades with national Republican luminaries, many of whom harbored presidential ambitions. Presidents Hayes and McKinley hailed from Ohio; Taft and Harding, Ohioans both, would serve as presidents; and among many Buckeye aspirants were senators Marcus Alonzo Hanna and Joseph Benson Foraker, both pictured here.
Beyond their ambitions, both men had been opponents of Roosevelt (and each other); in Foraker’s relations with Roosevelt, as early as the 1880s.
Payne correctly asserted the truth that the senators, or at least Hanna, did not — that even in mid-1903 Theodore Roosevelt commanded widespread support within the party and the nation at large. Hanna’s futile imitation of Canute was moot, however, as he died several months after this cartoon’s publication.
The “mascot” atop the wave might be assumed to be the Teddy Bear, but was in fact the racoon that was the common cartoon mascot of the genial fraternity of cartoonists who drew in Pittsburgh and nearby Cleveland — Payne, Billy DeBeck, Ole May, et al. Payne’s long, subsequent career was distinguished by his creation of the popular comic strip S’Matter, Pop?
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1903-05-24
Creator(s)
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
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:
Uncle Mark will need a political life saver next. [May 24, 1903]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301609. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Payne, Charles M., 1873-1964. Uncle Mark will need a political life saver next. [24 May. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301609.
APA:
Payne, Charles M., 1873-1964., [1903, May 24]. Uncle Mark will need a political life saver next.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301609.
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 5, 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.
