Another horrible outrage
Subject(s): Congresses and conventions, Fire hose, Foraker, Joseph Benson, 1846-1917, Hanna, Marcus Alonzo, 1837-1904, Presidents--Attitudes, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
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Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna is tied to the ground and has an “Ohio State Convention” funnel in his mouth. President Roosevelt holds a “Roosevelt indorsement” hose that Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker is about to turn on. Caption: Roosevelt to Foraker—”Turn on the water, Joe.”
Comments and Context
Cartoonist Stewart presented a rather hyperbolic depiction, yet basically accurate as to the issues, of the recent “dirty laundry” within the Republican Party over President Theodore Roosevelt’s potential re-nomination a year after the cartoon’s publication; and Senator Mark Hanna’s ill-concealed ambition for the presidency.
Hanna’s fellow Ohio senator, Joseph B. Foraker, was a rival who was known to have presidential aspirations himself. And he maintained prickly relations with Roosevelt, as far back as the 1880s. The prospects of these three Republicans were cleverly tangled when Foraker proposed that a state political convention endorse Roosevelt’s reelection. Hanna was obliged to vote, and sought to distance himself by abstention, writing to the president that he was “sure he would understand his position.”
Roosevelt understood. He cabled back — and released the text to the public — “I have not asked any man for his support. I have had nothing whatever to do with raising the issue as to my indorsement. Sooner or later it was bound to rise; and inasmuch as it has now arisen, of course those who favor my administration and my nomination will indorse them, and those who do not will oppose.”
It was a checkmate, or, as Stewart drew it, an early version of water torture. Hanna, who also was Republican National Chairman and would have found a candidacy somewhat awkward, unexpectedly died in early 1904, making the issues, and such cartoon attention, superfluous.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1903-05-27
Creator(s)
Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
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:
Another horrible outrage. [May 27, 1903]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302138. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945. Another horrible outrage. [27 May. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302138.
APA:
Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945., [1903, May 27]. Another horrible outrage.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302138.
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 13, 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.
