Both–“I said it first!”
Subject(s): Birds, Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Political parties--Platforms, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
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Two birds who are drawn as President Roosevelt, holding a “big stick,” and William Jennings Bryan stand on a “platform.”
Comments and Context
At the time of this cartoon’s publication, the Brooklyn Eagle had two political cartoonists, William K. Starrett and Nelson Harding. The former withdrew in favor of Harding, and drew for several papers in New York State and Philadelphia before entering the comic-strip field; Harding remained for two decades with the Eagle, winning two Pulitzer Prizes before leaving for Hearst’s New York Journal.
No doubt coincidentally, precisely one month earlier Clifford Kennedy Berryman of the Washington Star had drawn a cartoon of President Roosevelt and Senator Joseph B. Foraker in an almost identical tilt — a schoolyard dispute of “you started it.” It actually was a dissection of several points of disagreement between the president and the Ohio senator. Starrett’s cartoon featured William Jennings Bryan, not Foraker, depicting him and Roosevelt as parrots, not scuffling kids.
In this cartoon, the two birds are not accusing each other of commencing any dispute, but rather each claiming to be the originator of ideas and policies. Bryan had softened some of his Populist-flavored views through the years; and the president had added some relatively radical flavors to his traditional reform recipes, so to speak, especially in the later months of his second term.
As observers noted the evolving similarity of views, cartoonists had fun with the ironic aspects. The printed quotation that provides the cartoon’s caption uses euphemisms for what Roosevelt might have called Bryan — a liar; and the nature of Bryan’s putative response, which might have been to quote the Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-03-11
Creator(s)
Starrett, William K. (William Kemp), 1880-1952
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
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:
Both–“I said it first!”. [March 11, 1908]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301712. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Starrett, William K. (William Kemp), 1880-1952. Both–“I said it first!”. [11 Mar. 1908]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301712.
APA:
Starrett, William K. (William Kemp), 1880-1952., [1908, March 11]. Both–“I said it first!”.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301712.
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 12, 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.
