Roosevelt: “Poo, poo! Why, I could get a bigger roar out of Congress any day by just sending in a special message.”
Subject(s): Africa, Big game hunting, Lions, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Safaris, United States. Congress
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President Roosevelt chuckles as he holds his gun and watches a lion roar in Africa. Caption: Roosevelt: “Poo, poo! Why, I could get a bigger roar out of Congress any day by just sending in a special message.”
Comments and Context
Cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling drew one of his favorite subjects, Theodore Roosevelt, in a clever pastiche of a humor cartoon and a prescient political comment. At the time of the cartoon’s publication there were only two months before Roosevelt would embark, headed for a year-long African safari. His attention, as with most cartoonists and many citizens, was on that exotic expedition.
Roosevelt’s prowess as a hunter, stateside, was well established. A former rancher and founder of the Boone and Crockett Club, he was also the author of several books and many articles — for publications ranging from children’s magazines to scholarly journals — on hunting and natural history.
So a cartoon of Roosevelt confronting a lion would have instant relevance and proper context. Cartoonists mostly had been predicting wild animals in flight at the mention of Roosevelt’s name. Ding invested a humorous aspect — an exaggerated roaring beast — but shows Roosevelt insouciant, and even chuckling. The context is the prolonged, bruising battle with Congress, in fact still raging at this time, over the Secret Service expansion.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1909-01-24
Creator(s)
Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Page Count
1
Production Method
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Roosevelt: “Poo, poo! Why, I could get a bigger roar out of Congress any day by just sending in a special message.”. [January 24, 1909]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302071. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962. Roosevelt: “Poo, poo! Why, I could get a bigger roar out of Congress any day by just sending in a special message.”. [24 Jan. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302071.
APA:
Darling, Jay N. (Jay Norwood), 1876-1962., [1909, January 24]. Roosevelt: “Poo, poo! Why, I could get a bigger roar out of Congress any day by just sending in a special message.”.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302071.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
