The Katzenjammer kids

President Roosevelt, who holds a big stick, and William Randolph Hearst, who holds a lit match, watch as Senator Joseph Benson Foraker and Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell are pushed into the sky as the “Standard Oil” container explodes open.

comments and context

Comments and Context

There are several remarkable aspects to this cartoon by C. R. Macauley, published in the midst of the 1908 presidential campaign. The first is the representation of a bombshell in the campaign, largely forgotten by history. In September, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (himself in an Ohio speech — not via editorials in his newspapers) exposed letters from the files of Standard Oil; the “Archbold Letters,” revealed corruption between the trust and prominent politicians.

The reelection of Ohio Republican Senator Joseph Benson Foraker and allies was derailed, altering the course of those campaigns. Corruption was exposed in the affairs of Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, who also served as campaign manger of Democrat presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Haskell resigned, an embarrassment for the anti-trust candidate Bryan.

In the age of journalistic muckrakers, Hearst’s revelations were not unusual, despite their severity. As a recent aspirant for the Democratic presidential nomination and other offices, and as a sitting Democratic congressman, Hearst had assumed he would receive endorsements from Bryan after his own substantial support through the years; Hearst felt a sense of betrayal that might have motivated his oblique attack on the Bryan camp. In 1908 Hearst created a rival political party, the Independence League, and fielded a presidential candidate, although with negligible success.

The other very surprising aspect of the cartoon derives from the parodied characters, the comic-strip stars Hans and Fritz, the Katzenjammer Kids. Macauley’s political cartoon ran in the New York New York World, a bitter rival of the American, which published the Katzenjammer Kids. In effect — especially since the pranksters are depicted almost favorably, doing a good deed — it was free and favorable advertising for publisher Joseph Pulitzer’s deadly crosstown competition. Finally, Republican President Roosevelt seldom got a favorable nod in the World as in this cartoon; but, more so, Pulitzer’s personal nemesis Hearst is also portrayed favorably. It is a remarkable case of “hands across the aisle.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-24

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