Puck, v. 60, no. 1551 | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

The martyr

Theodore Roosevelt, with halo, kneels on a burning pyre and is tied to a stake labeled “III Term” by tapes labeled “Popularity / Party / Pressure.” A crowd of on-lookers cheers in the background. Caption: “I can conceive of a situation that would compel Mr. Roosevelt, no matter how painful it might be, to accept a third term.”–Attorney-General Moody.

Comments and Context

There have been many martyrs and saints burned at the stake through history. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs documents many; there was the famous torching of Joan of Arc, and during the Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and subsequent periods of religious accountability, opposing factions burned people with regularity.

The endless game

A game of chess is being played on the “[Depar]tment of Police” board, between a hand labeled “Political Pull” showing a cufflink labeled “Brass Check” and a hand labeled “Reform.” Some of the squares are labeled “Race Track, Suburbs, White Lights, Gambling District, Goatville, Financial District, Tenderloin, Red Light District, Lonely Beat, [and] Hell’s Kitchen.” The chess pieces are police officers, some in plainclothes, labeled “Crooked Captain, Inspector, Sleuth, ‘Fixed’ Captain, Honest Captain, Grafting Captain, Honest Inspector, Plainclothes Man, [and] Sergeant.”

Comments and Context

A dozen years before this cartoon — when Theodore Roosevelt had assumed his position as president of the Board of Police Commissioners in New York City, and continuing through his tenure — corruption among the police ranks was rife. Startling revelations mostly were instigated by the municipal reformer Reverend C. H. Parkhurst, followed by a 10,000 page report by the Lexow Committee (chaired by state senator Clarence Lexow) exposing countless abuses by the Lexow Committee.