Theodore—Gee Whillikins, I wish it would hurry up and be March 4th!

President Roosevelt sits at a desk and holds several books “Problems of Gov’t,” Presidency,” and Constitutional Government” as he looks down at his “African hunting outfit.” Uncle Sam asks, “Theadore, what are you doing?” In the background, “Congress” reads a “tariff” book. Caption: Theodore–Gee Whillikins, I wish it would hurry up and be March 4th!

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling, despite his certified adulation of Theodore Roosevelt, nevertheless was able to tweak his heron and depict him as a schoolboy impatient for summer vacation of Christmas morning, or, his adventure of a lifetime, the large-scale exploration and hunting trip to Africa. The safari was planned to engage the president, almost immediately after leaving the White House, for nearly a year.

The humorous presentation of Roosevelt probably mirrored many observers’ imaginations, but Roosevelt was one of America’s great multi-taskers. He surely read books on geography and natural history (a field in which he was a world-class expert), he mounted an expedition of hundreds of hunters and porters, arranged funding and museum support, and was as busy with the actual work of government and politics as during any time of his presidency.

(Cartoonists traditionally borne the opprobrium, often well founded, of being poor spellers. One can note that even with the president’s familiar first name, the artist misspelled it Theadore in Uncle Sam’s speech balloon.)

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-30

Creator(s)

Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962

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