Pity the sorrows of a strenuous president

President Roosevelt looks out of his office at members of his cabinet standing on stumps: Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar S. Straus, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, Secretary of State Elihu Root, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf, Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, and Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Roosevelt says, “Durn the luck.” Caption: Every member of his cabinet on the stump and he can’t get into the game.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The long-time political cartoonist of the Minneapolis Journal (and remembered as founder of a successful correspondence school of cartooning), Charles Lewis “Bart” Bartholomew pictured a situation that was known to all citizens, and regretted by many, not least President Roosevelt himself. There was a strict precedent and tradition against presidents campaigning in person — with few exceptions for themselves (somehow seen as not dignified), but never for candidates down the ballot lists; and certainly not for candidates in elections where a successor would be chosen.

A man with Roosevelt’s perfervid and indeed strenuous personality easily would be understood to champ at the bit, especially in a campaign where he thought his record and his legacy were at stake. This situation, and the president’s frustration, was evident early in the election year, so it was a bit curious that Bart addressed the theme two weeks before the votes were to be cast. It is true that, in his (unfounded) anxiety about the election’s outcome, he urged all his cabinet secretaries to “hit the stumps,” also relatively rare as a campaign mode.

What Bart did not picture, however, was Roosevelt’s compensation. He might have refrained from campaign speeches and whistle-stop appearances, but the president was as active a campaigner as precedent would allow. He endorsed William H. Taft constantly in correspondence on other matters, made public; he engaged in public controversies with Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan wherein he attacked the Democratic platform and defended his administration’s record; he scheduled events and initiatives that furthered “My Policies,” the core the Republican platform. 

Despite Bart’s depiction of the president’s muzzling, Roosevelt was as active as any supporter of Taft, yet saving the bother of climbing upon stumps or shouting from railroad cabooses.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Creator(s)

Bartholomew, Charles Lewis, 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