“Line busy!”

Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna stands on a “ship subsidy” and holds “my defence of labor” as he attempts to use the Republican elephant’s trunk as a phone, saying, “Central! Hello! Central!” The elephant looks at President Roosevelt who waves, bearing “stories,” “speeches,” “interviews,” and “specimens” and says, “Ah there, Teddy!”

Comments and Context

Luther Bradley’s cartoon refers to the publicized and futile efforts of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna to make himself relevant to the broader Republican Party at this time, reaching beyond his base as a senator still identified with his ally, the late President William McKinley, and as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was engaged in an ill-concealed and delicate campaign to wrest the 1904 presidential nomination from the incumbent, Theodore Roosevelt.

That ambition was being thwarted at the time of this cartoon’s publication, but Bradley correctly identified the gambits employed by Hanna. He was, for instance, heavily indebted to shipbuilding interests who potentially were campaign contributors (Ohio ports on Lake Erie were centers of steel manufacturing and ship construction). The cartoon’s acknowledgement of Hanna’s earnest attempts to prove himself a “friend of labor” is ironic since he largely lives in history by portrayals of another caricaturist, Homer Davenport. The Hearst cartoonist frequently pictured “Dollar Mark” Hanna as a bloated plutocrat with his foot on skull of “Labor.” 

In Bradley’s cartoon, Hanna futilely uses the Republican elephant’s trunk as a new-fangled telephone; but the elephant still flirts with Roosevelt, returning from an extensive speaking tour and “swing” through many states, laden with trophies and accumulated favors.             

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06

Creator(s)

Bradley, Luther Daniels, 1853-1917

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