Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925

Theodore Roosevelt and three potential presidential rivals are depicted as different species of flowers. A female figure labeled Columbia (likely representing the U.S.) is watering the Roosevelt flower, Beautii Americanus Teddyum, with a can labeled 1904. The flower names given to the rivals portray them in a negative way. They are Groverum Third Terminus (Grover Cleveland), Sixteen to Oneicus Rubberum (William Jennings Bryan), and Peanutti Politicus Dave Hillum (David B. Hill).

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-15

Charles M. Pepper reports on the political situation in New York, specifically focusing on the upstate region. Overall indications are that the Republicans will be very successful in the state, with the Democrat Alton B. Parker failing to inspire support in rural voters there. It is likely that Elihu Root will be nominated as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, although he has expressed that he is not interested in the nomination.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-14

Charles M. Pepper observes that the Republicans will probably receive more votes than the Democrats in New York. The article compares William Jennings Bryan to Judge Alton B. Parker and discusses the Gold Democrats.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-15

In a speech given in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Vice Presidential candidate Roosevelt emphasizes the successes of the current McKinley administration. He criticizes free silver and the platform of William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt asserts that a stable currency is the most important factor in sustaining the prosperity of the nation. Roosevelt also discusses the issue of trusts and industry, the ongoing war in the Philippines, and compares the current campaign to that of 1864 when Abraham Lincoln was re-elected.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1900-09-07

On the occasion of his inauguration, the New York Times re-examines President Roosevelt’s record of the past three years, and asks, can the nation expect an even bolder Roosevelt in the years to come? Roosevelt’s policies and actions of the past three years are subjected to a critical analysis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-04

The article discusses why the English press favors the Democratic ticket. Other topics discussed on this page include “Navy Plank Struck Out,” “‘Artful’ Judge Parker,” “Judge Parker Against Palmer and Buckner,” “Democratic Lightning Change Artists,” “The Irish World on Protection,” and “Chairman Cortelyou’s Alleged Prophecy.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-11

William Jennings Bryan says Theodore Roosevelt’s business plan failed and article goes on to discuss Roosevelt’s article in The Outlook.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1911-11-18

Article discusses Theodore Roosevelt and his nomination by the Republican party for president, William Jennings Bryan, and includes praise for Roosevelt.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1904-04-22

The article compares and contrasts the campaigns of William Jennings Bryan and Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1912-09-28

A large donkey sits on its haunches, wearing a Rough Rider hat and spectacles, and smiling like Theodore Roosevelt at the diminutive figures of Alton B. Parker and William Jennings Bryan. Caption: The Democratic Donkey is beginning to look like somebody.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This Puck cover cartoon is typical of the best by Udo J. Keppler — a clever observation that stands the test of time; simplicity that requires few captions; and master caricatures.

William Jennings Bryan, as Romeo, hangs off a balcony, speaking to an old woman labeled “Democracy” as Juliet, with “Nurse Grover” Cleveland standing behind her. The full moon in the upper left is labeled “Free Silver.” Standing in the bushes below is William Randolph Hearst. Caption: Romeo — Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear, that tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops- / Juliet — Oh, swear not by the moon, that twice inconstant moon! / Romeo — All right, I’ll cut it out! It’s a dead one anyway!

comments and context

Comments and Context

A sign of more literate times is this Puck cartoon based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. More than a riff on “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” cartoonist Udo J. Keppler assumes readers’ familiarity with other characters from the play, as well as current politics.

James K. Jones posts a campaign poster labeled “Conservatism” for William Jennings Bryan, covering up an earlier campaign poster showing Bryan and labeled “In His Roaring Farce Free Silver,” which covers an even earlier poster for Bryan labeled “Populism.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

James K. Jones was a former Confederate soldier, congressman, United States senator from Arkansas, and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Recently retired when this cartoon appeared, he tried to assert his relevance, or continuing political assignments, as a spokesman for William Jennings Bryan.

Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin is being performed. At center, William Jennings Bryan appears in the role of Lohengrin, Knight of the Swan, who has just arrived, to the delight of “Miss Democracy,” standing on the left, in the role of Elsa, and to the chagrin of Perry Belmont and Thomas Fortune Ryan, standing on the right, who are playing the roles of Friedrich of Telramund and his wife Ortrud. James K. Jones plays the role of the King, seated on a throne on the left beneath a shield labeled “Jefferson.” A large supporting cast appears on each side.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Through its life, and especially in its early years, Puck assumed its readership was familiar with classical references, especially German operas (the magazine originally was a German-language weekly, and published a German edition for many years).

William Jennings Bryan, as a farmer, drives a wagon packed high with farm produce labeled “Popularity” past a signpost labeled “to 1908 Market.” The wagon is drawn by a diminutive donkey struggling to pull the weight. Caption: Can he keep his vegetables fresh till he gets there?

comments and context

Comments and Context

William Jennings Bryan let the country know he had returned from a world tour in late 1906, just in time to rescue America and run for president again two years hence. The sarcasm redolent in that sentence was prominent in Puck‘s treatment of the Commoner’s broad hints, and it was a skeptical reaction shared by many journals, even supposed Democratic organs like Puck and even many Democrats, but the party had few other potential leaders of national stature.

William Jennings Bryan, as Moses, beams rays of “Radicalism” and “Conservatism,” and holds his own version of the Ten Commandments. Among the small group of followers in the background are James K. Jones and Tom Loftin Johnson.

comments and context

Comments and Context

On August 30, 1906, the twice-rebuffed Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan ended the months of speculation about his intentions for 1908. He and surrogates, since he returned from a lengthy world tour, and teased — albeit with little subtlety — about his habitual ambition to be president.

The Democratic Donkey, as a woman, sits in a pew in a church with William Jennings Bryan preaching “Jeffersonian Simplicity” from a pulpit. On Bryan’s left are Alton B. Parker, Henry Watterson, and William Randolph Hearst, and among those on his right are New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., former Representative Tom Watson of Georgia, Representative John Sharp Williams of Mississippi, and Senator “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman. All are preaching except Hearst, who righteously looks up to the heavens. In the background, the sun illuminates a stained glass window labeled “Our Thomas” and showing Thomas Jefferson. In a far corner of the church, Grover Cleveland is asleep. Caption: The Democratic Donkey (drowsily) — He-e-e Haw! What a lot of ways to be saved!

comments and context

Comments and Context

If “politics makes strange bedfellows,” the calendar can make them even stranger. Puck Magazine, generally and justly considered a Democratic journal for most of its life, placed itself in agreement with many of the policies of the new president, Theodore Roosevelt, after the assassination of President William McKinley. That is, until the presidential election year of 1904.

At center a valentine card features President Roosevelt as Cupid. Around the outside are other valentines featuring two European leaders, American industrial and political figures, a Russian admiral, a writer identified only as “Tom,” and a Wall Street con artist.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Whether it was a cartoonist’s creative crutch every year, or readers’ happy expectations, the easy formula of imaginary Valentine’s Day cards for political figures was a frequent feature in Puck and other satirical weeklies of the day. Frederick Burr Opper drew many of these over his years at Puck in the 1880s and ’90s.

President Roosevelt, as a Roman emperor, rides in a chariot being pulled by an elephant ridden by George B. Cortelyou. Three captives are tied to the back: William Jennings Bryan, Alton B. Parker, and Populist candidate Thomas Watson. Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks rides in a smaller chariot with Henry G. Davis as a captive in tow. Next to them Benjamin B. Odell carries a banner labeled “G.O.P.”, except that the “P” has been crossed out and replaced with a “T.” Near Roosevelt’s chariot Secretary of State John Hay bears a standard that says “S.P.Q.R.” (acronym for a Latin phrase which means “The Senate and People of Rome”), except that the “Q” has been crossed out and replaced with a “T.” At the front of the parade, holding the elephant’s trunk, is Speaker of the House Joseph G. Cannon. In the foreground, William H. Taft is carrying a large club. An African American man appears in the lower right foreground.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Joseph Keppler Junior, owner and chief political cartoonist of Puck magazine, departed from his generally light treatment of Theodore Roosevelt to cast the triumphant Republicans in severe caricatures, including the exultant Roosevelt himself. This center-spread cartoon appeared only days before the inauguration; and the issue’s from cover was graced with a mild, even favorable, depiction of Roosevelt.

William Jennings Bryan, walking along railroad tracks and following a sign “To Salt River,” drags a carpet bag which contains a gold cross, crown of thorns, bellows, and possibly a megaphone. Following him are Arthur Brisbane who is carrying a doll-like William Randolph Hearst, James K. Jones, Charles A. Towne, Richard F. Pettigrew, and Gardner F. Williams.

comments and context

Comments and Context

In the 1904 Democratic convention, the remnants of Bryanism — remaining supporters and a few old platform planks — and William Jennings Bryan himself were routed. The conservative but obscure Judge Alton Brooks Parker was the party’s presidential nominee, and the traditional views of leaders like former president Grover Cleveland were ratified in the platform.

Judge Alton B. Parker pulls a donkey to safety across a bridge constructed of planks labeled “Conservatism, Sanity, Tariff Reform, [and] Anti-Trust.” Falling into the chasm are William Jennings Bryan, hanging onto the “Financial Plank,” and David B. Hill. The donkey’s bridle is labeled “Telegram.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

In 1904, presidential candidates did not attend their nominating conventions. The ritual included informing the candidate by telegram and the candidate’s acceptance by telegram, followed by transmission of the platform, and delegations visiting the candidates’ homes for the”formal” notifications and acceptance speeches.