Bag punching

“Congress” gets hit with “the come-back punching bag” in the shape of President Roosevelt’s face. In the background are various pain relievers: “first aid to the battered,” “lotion,” “pain relief,” “cordial,” and “salve.” On the ground is a “plaster” and a book entitled “Hitting for Amateurs in 6 Easy Lessons.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Luther Daniels Bradley’s cartoon appeared only days after President Roosevelt sent a message to Congress in response to its three-part, awkwardly composed rebuke of his actions and manners in the dispute over investing the Secret Service with more powers.

President Roosevelt, dressed in a Harvard boxing uniform, hits a boxing bag labeled “States’ Rights.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

President Roosevelt’s recent speech to the Harvard Union: ostensibly on athletics, although largely devoted to football, was enough of a thread for the cartoonist “June,” whose real identity is lost to posterity, on which to hang a political-cartoon idea.

Photograph of unknown Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee practicing boxing with a punching bag in the Roosevelt Recreational Demonstration Area.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1939-1941