Ruffled!

President Roosevelt sits on a throne, wearing a “Theodore I” crown” and holding a “my policies” big stick. There is a carpet labeled “G.O.P.” leading up to the throne. A small Frank H. Hitchcock stands beside a small steamroller on the carpet. Roosevelt asks Hitchcock, “Can’t you run that steam-roller any better?”

comments and context

Comments and Context

“Ruffled!”, the political cartoon by Edward Joseph McBride of the staunchly Democratic St. Louis Republic, was strangely prescient in its unconscious forecasting of a situation — even to its informal terminology — that attended the Republican nomination and election campaign four years in the future.

In this cartoon, President Roosevelt demands that the party’s national chairman, Frank H. Hitchcock, employ a “steamroller” to energize the campaign of William H. Taft. Four years later the Taft forces controlling the presidential nominating convention employed what were negatively characterized as “steamroller” tactics to deny the seating of Roosevelt delegates, and other biased rulings. Those steamroller actions — attended by imitative hissing and “toots” from the galleries and Roosevelt delegates — led to the bolt of many delegates and the formation of the Progressive Party.

On September 16, 1908, two weeks before this cartoon was published, Roosevelt wrote blistering letter to Hitchcock. He criticized the handling of the campaign, the insufficient exposure of candidate Taft, the overdue resignation of Senator H. A. du Pont (which Roosevelt had advised be forced earlier, so the party would seem pro-active in the face of corruption allegations), and matters pertaining to New York State politics and the direction of Governor Charles Charles Evans Hughes’s reelection campaign.

Rarely was Roosevelt ever so condemnatory of a party official, and the letter reflects both his concern with the party’s fortunes, and his identity as a party leader with skills at tactics, organization, and foresight.

The letter was marked personal, but Roosevelt surely made his thoughts known and, increasingly, and pressure on Hitchcock as a functionary. McBride’s cartoon acknowledges the president’s not-so-personal opinions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-03

Creator(s)

McBride, Edward Joseph, 1889-

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