A very heavy wash

President Roosevelt rolls up his sleeves as he looks at a pile of “U. S. Post Office Department” clothing that reeks of “scandal,” “corruption,” and “fraud.” The washtub is labeled “White House,” and the washboard is the “administration.” On the shelf, and in the president’s hand, is “strenuous soap.”

Comments and Context

Thanks in part to reforms initiated by Theodore Roosevelt, both as Civil Service Commission in the 1880s and ’90s, and as president, the Post Office gradually diminished its status as an institution of patronage and corruption as much as mail delivery. At one time every postmaster in every town, and other officials, were political appointees who depended upon victorious politicians who dispensed favors… and could be depended upon, in turn, to financially support their party benefactors.

For generations this system was a way of life in American politics; and the Postmaster General was in a way the most powerful figure in a president’s cabinet.

Even after reforms, never complete, during Roosevelt’s Administration rumors of major scandals involving bureaucrats and even (!) Congressmen blossomed into the open. The Post Office’s internal Attorney General, James Noble Tyner, had served in many positions since the Administration of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes, and despite age, paralysis, and loss of his faculties — or because of those factors — much of the malfeasance happened under his virtual nose.

The scandal grew to almost mythic proportions when it was revealed that Tyner’s wife snuck into his office and stole a bundle of presumably incriminating documents from his safe.     

These facts formed the basis of Charles Green Bush’s excellent graphic summary of the situation facing President Roosevelt. One of the cartoon’s most remarkable aspects is what Bush did not depict. His newspaper, the New York World, was invariably and virulently anti-Roosevelt; it was the de facto and semi-official organ of the national Democrat Party. Yet Bush pictured Roosevelt as making a sincere effort to clean up the mess in Washington; and did not — as the paper frequently stooped to do — imply Roosevelt’s participation in the scandal.    

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06-08

Creator(s)

Bush, Charles Green, 1842-1909

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)

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