“The state of the union”

President Roosevelt posts his message on a wall underneath “Article II, Sec. III,” which says, “He shall, from time to time, give to the congress information of the state of the UNION.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

C. R. Macauley’s cartoon in the New York World is a remarkable testament of the politics of the day: the closing days of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, the accelerated radicalism of his critiques of American society and its ethical moorings, especially among the monied classes, and, in a larger sense, the treatment of Roosevelt’s policies, and the growing corps of Republican insurgents and progressives as addressed by the nation’s major Democratic newspaper.

Except by vague implication — an unflattering depiction of the president — the World‘s cartoon was observation, not criticism. Perhaps Roosevelt’s views posted in the drawing coincided with the World‘s own, despite the formerly radical paper, the prototypical “yellow journal,” transitioning to a more moderate stance on the political spectrum. Or perhaps, like a growing number of citizens, they recognized that the president’s attacks were properly aimed.

In any event, the remarkable annual message to Congress delivered by the president (now known by its Constitutional description, the “State Of the Union” message, and since 1913 usually delivered in person by the president) contained remarkable words and phrases.

Roosevelt employed his usual colorful phrases and stinging words. In this message he engaged in hyperbole, however, and vituperation. He surely meant to ring the tocsin to a restive nation that had just endured a Wall Street Panic, partly an outgrowth of unrestrained activities by bankers and brokers. In part, too, the public had been primed by several years of financial scandals; corruption among trusts and corporations; revelations by numerous Muckrakers in the press; and a spate of legislative and regulatory reforms.

If the president’s secondary purpose was to shake the scales from legislators’ eyes, he surely succeeded, as Macauley’s listing of the message’s red-hot highlights illustrates.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-02

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