Did Haskell touch second?

In this detailed cartoon, a variety of individuals try to figure out if Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell—who has run off—touched second base, which has a container of “oil” on it. Uncle Sam stands in the center of the diamond and says, “It’s a draw.” A large group of people congregate just off the first-base line, including William H. Taft, Samuel Gompers, William Jennings Bryan, Norman Edward Mack, William Loeb, President Roosevelt, William F. Sheehan, Alton B. Parker, and George von Lengerke Meyer. A variety of people are around the field: Charles Francis Murphy, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, New York Lieutenant Governor Lewis S. Chanler, William James Conners, and Patrick Henry McCarren. John D. Rockefeller, John D. Archbold, Henry Huttleston Rogers, and James Roscoe Day all watch from the side. In another section of the audience, the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant fight. A handwritten note is included: “Mr. President: This is so good I have to send it to you.”

Comments and Context

Frequently political cartoons have a subtext related news events, gossip about figures being caricatured, and the shadowy realm of the interests and agendas of publishers. All these factors were play in the genre scene composed by cartoonist Thomas E. Powers, nominally about Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell.

Haskell was also Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, with financial responsibilities in the presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan. “Touching second base” or not, as the oil can with Standard Oil’s dollar sign, sits on the base that Haskell clearly avoids, is the nub of the cartoon.

Powers the cartoonist was serving the public as he addressed the issue, and he noted the arguments, defenses, attacks, and gossip-mongering of figures related to the issue. But he also supported his publisher, William Randolph Hearst, who only weeks before had publicly exposed the malign political influence of Standard Oil money, specifically as had been directed to Haskell and Senator Joseph Benson Foraker of Ohio.

A further explanation of the cartoon’s subtext is that Hearst had presidential ambitions. He was thwarted as a Democrat in the 1908 contest, and felt betrayed by the party and its candidate Bryan. He founded a party, the Independence League, and fielded a nonentity from Massachusetts — a businessman with a previous grievance against Standard Oil.

Hearst’s machinations scarcely helped the Independence League; but they helped the visibility and circulation of newspapers in his chain. They derailed the political career of Foraker, a veteran of Ohio politics. Mostly they caused turmoil in the Democratic Party. Bryan had only recently paraded his political probity by promising to avoid contributions from corporations, and to publicize any donation exceeding one hundred dollars.

The names, comments, and particular groupings of myriad other figures — including Rockefeller and Henry Huttleston Rogers of Standard Oil; and the former’s successor John D. Archbold, whose stolen letters ignited the scandal — informed the reader, and history, about fuller aspects of the controversy, even through sarcasm and humor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-25

Creator(s)

Powers, Thomas E., 1870-1939

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