There, Teddy’s gone and “destroyed confidence” (?) again

President Roosevelt holds a large “message to Congress” in the shape of a big stick. Several men lie on the ground with stars around their heads: “lumber vandalism,” “gov’t land grabbers,” “wreckers,” “stock gambling,” “corporate dishonesty,” and “swollen fortunes.” Uncle Sam stands in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

President Roosevelt forwarded his seventh Annual Message to Congress on December 3, 1907. It was not until 1913 that presidents began delivering these reports in person — now called the State of the Union address — and Roosevelt’s was one of the longest documents of his presidency. He was nearing the end of his presidency, and he meant to sum up the Administration’s accomplishments, at least for posterity; and charter a course for the next Administration and beyond.

It was, therefore, a long message, and perhaps took people a while to digest it. In any event, it was not the next day but two days subsequent when Jay N. “Ding” Darling drew his cartoon commenting on the message and its reception.

Relatively early in a career that neatly spanned the first half of the twentieth century, Ding nevertheless was at the top of his powers, artistically and conceptually. The scene he depicted was comical, almost slapstick: a portly Roosevelt storms away from carnage he just inflicted on a set of wounded plutocrats, and he carries an exaggerated (and weaponized) Big Stick. Uncle Sam, also drawn comically, is amused, not distraught, at the blood and stars of pain.

The concept of the cartoon makes just as strong an impression: the president delivered hard lessons to the “malefactors of great wealth” in his message; and, as Ding saw it, they deserved every lick; and all this at a moment when the nation was nervously facing a Wall Street crisis. To put a cherry on the cake, as it were, Ding’s caption for the cartoon dripped with sarcasm” — it was the president, not the the corruption and bad practices of the corporate elite, that “destroyed confidence,” emphasis on the quotation marks.

The final bit of visual humor for readers to notice is that Roosevelt’s trademark Big Stick is so shaped, but is really a rolled-up manuscript.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-05

Creator(s)

Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962

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