“Branding season almost over”

President Roosevelt uses a “liar” brand on the bottoms of men in the “Ananias Club.” Delavan Smith has just been branded. As Roosevelt holds William MacKay Laffan, the president says, “You for the front rank.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Theodore Roosevelt seemed readier than most presidents to counter lies and attacks with vivid responses. It was his nature, partly; but he was also subject to some allegations more serious than many presidents. Late in the 1908 presidential campaign the Indianapolis News& and the New York World printed stories that claimed corruption related to the negotiations and purchases of rights in Panama.

Specifically it was charged that Roosevelt’s brother-in-law Douglas Robinson and Charles Phelps Taft, brother of then-candidate William H. Taft, had illegally profited. The charges were never proven, and never repeated by those newspapers; but “questions” about Panamanian “money” were kept alive on front pages.

The Indiana reformer and Roosevelt supporter William Dudley Foulke urged the president to refute the allegations, but Roosevelt demurred, not wanting to dignify them. But they spread as a campaign issue; and other papers like the New York Sun repeated the stories.

Roosevelt finally wrote a lengthy letter addressing the matter, and released it to the public. Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World — which often trafficked, as a “yellow journal,” in sensationalist and false news at the time — increased its campaign of innuendos, and ;Roosevelt’s government sued for libel.

In this cartoon, Roosevelt is branding as liars Delavan Smith of the Indianapolis News; and William MacKay Laffan of the New York Sun, who had long been an irritant of Roosevelt.

The “Ananias Club” was Roosevelt’s mythical home for liars to which he would consign offenders. Its name was inspired by the New Testament figure who, with his wife Sapphira, lied to the nascent church about their tithe offerings; and were struck dead by the Holy Spirit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-08

Creator(s)

Allan, Archibald G., 1868-1944

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