Target practice at Sagamore Hill

President Roosevelt has a “Hunting in South Africa” book slung across his shoulder as he aims his gun at various wooden cutouts of animal targets. He says, “Oh, it’s a shame.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The publication date of this cartoon by Clifford Kennedy Berryman helps explain the subtexts of the subject — why, at the commencement of a busy presidential campaign, President Roosevelt was taking target practice at Sagamore Hill.

With all due deference to the license of cartoonist (Roosevelt’s costume, the wooden representations of animals, etc.), the Sagamore Hill setting reflected the fact that the president was in the midst of Washingtonians’ traditional summer respites. Roosevelt had been very public with his plans for an African safari upon retirement; among his concerns were reinforcing his determination not to to accept (or maneuver toward) a third-term nomination. Additionally, the planned timing was to give his successor (William H. Taft, he felt sure) complete access top the spotlight of public attention.

The timing of the attention to the African trip, even as the campaign season commenced, explains the theme of Berryman’s cartoon. Two days prior to the cartoon’s publication, Roosevelt wrote an adulatory letter to Harry Hamilton Johnston, an expert in many aspects of black Africans, including their developments in the New World. This confirms the typical Roosevelt trait of multi-tasking: on his safari he would observe, discuss, and process information beyond wild animals and geographical observations. Roosevelt invited Johnston to the White House for further conversations, and Johnston accepted.

The week of Berryman’s cartoon was focused on Africa, at least in part. The president’s datebook shows that two days subsequent to the cartoon, Roosevelt received, at Oyster Bay, Henry Fairfield Osborn and others, and Charles Scribner (who would publish African Game Trails), to discuss aspects of the safari.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-13

Creator(s)

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949

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