Mr. Hanna refuses to play second fiddle in the administration orchestra
Subject(s): Herrick, Myron T. (Myron Timothy), 1854-1929, Orchestra, Republican elephant (Symbolic character), Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Vice-Presidential candidates
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President Roosevelt holds a “presidency” violin and sits in a seat beside a chair labeled “Mark.” A Republican elephant holds a “vice-presidency” violin out to Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who walks away and says, “Here’s where I ‘stand pat.'” Meanwhile, Myron T. Herrick exits via stage right.
Comments and Context
When President Theodore Roosevelt was the beneficiary of Senator Joseph Foraker’s “checkmate” of fellow Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna’s stillborn pursuit of the 1904 presidential nomination, there was speculation in the press about subsequent relations between the president and Senator Hanna.
On the surface the pair had worked together as good party men, but there was little secret about Hanna’s past assessments of Roosevelt as “that damned cowboy” and a “madman.”
There was speculation — evidently with little foundation — that Roosevelt offered the vice presidency in a second Roosevelt Administration. In the first place, presidential candidates at the time seldom had a voice in that choice; conventions and party graybeards engineered such picks. Also, Hanna, thwarted in his putative aspiration was unlikely to accept a “second fiddle” role. Finally, the martyred William McKinley had been Hanna’s best friend, and the vice presidency under a man he tried to keep from that role in 1900 seemed beyond the realm of reality.
Hanna did ask a favor of Roosevelt after his aspirations ended. He desired to resign as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The president accommodated; and after a perfunctory offer to manage Roosevelt’s reelection campaign, the men returned to the nation’s business. Ironically, much became moot when Hanna died on February 15 of the election year 1904.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1903-06-23
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:
Mr. Hanna refuses to play second fiddle in the administration orchestra. [June 23, 1903]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302182. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945. Mr. Hanna refuses to play second fiddle in the administration orchestra. [23 Jun. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302182.
APA:
Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945., [1903, June 23]. Mr. Hanna refuses to play second fiddle in the administration orchestra.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o302182.
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.
