The annual delivery

President Roosevelt uses his big stick to push a large cylinder with the labels, “message,” “30,000 words,” and “use no hooks.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist C. R. Macauley of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World makes an observation, more than commentary — unless it is that President Roosevelt was prolix. But there is not even the implication that the cartoonist disagrees with the policies; only that it took the president too many words to explain them.

The truth behind Roosevelt’s messages was that he devoted almost excruciating care in their preparation. He began his important state papers and policy directives months in advance; he frequently updated the drafts, and would send copies, or give copies to White House visitors, to solicit opinions. For all of Roosevelt’s supposed egoism, friends and associates often remarked how “thick-skinned” the president was — ready to re-state his words, or to re-consider a policy. In line with that counter-intuitive mode of the president, he remains the only president who delivered an Annual Message (as in the cartoon, and now called the “State Of the Union” speech) without an “I,” the first-person singular pronoun of which he putatively was so fond of using.

As to the length of the speeches — as Macauley sarcastically depicts — as Roosevelt knew his departure from the White House was drawing nigh, he consciously explained, proposed, and planned every element of his philosophy and, he hoped, his legacy in these speeches.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-04

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