Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926

President Roosevelt rides out of the “Republican National Convention” with a “vice-presidency” flag. Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks toward him and wears a sign that reads, “Free trade is my pet—”Bob” LaFollette is my ideal—I dearly love the lilly whites—Long live 16 to 1—Down with the canal!—Say, you ought to see the other side!” Caption: Extremity to which Uncle Joe might finally have been driven.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-21

At the “Republican National Convention,” President Roosevelt presses a button that controls Frank Swett Black who holds a “nominating speech that approves T. R.” New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell sit beside each other on the stage while Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon receives shocks. Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge holds up “the platform.” Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks is on a wire and wears a sign that reads, “great vice-presidential slide for life.” All the delegates are puppets who vote for “Roosevelt.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-21

Chairman of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou rides a Republican elephant with Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks that is about to land on a “nomination” pad. The elephant has just passed through a “Chicago convention” that President Roosevelt holds up. Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks on and cheers. William Jennings Bryan rides a Democratic donkey, holds a “St. Louis Convention” sign, and has a “16-2-1” feather in his hat.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-27

A cannon labeled “Uncle Joe” sits beside a “Congress for the people” flag. On the ground are two cannon balls: “Cuban reciprocity” and “generous but saving appropriation for public service.” House Minority Leader John Sharp Williams is labeled “the minority,” holds a firearm, and stands beside a dog that says, “Nothin’ doin’.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-10

Various men hold up resolutions. John D. Rockefeller holds a can of “Standard Oil” can and a paper that reads “Resolved that I’ll still do business in Missouri. John D.” President Roosevelt holds his big stick and a paper that reads “Resolved that I’ll abandon the Ananias Club.” President-elect William H. Taft reads a “my policies” pamphlet. Caption: Taft might forget Roosevelt. Herbert S. Hadley sits on top of a goblet with “the lid” and holds a paper that reads “Resolved that I will take off the lid. Hadley.” Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon smokes a “gag rule” cigar. Caption: Cannon must swear off using the same old brand. Andrew Carnegie holds a paper that reads, “Resolved that I’ll refuse to reveal any more secrets of the steel trust. Carnegie.” Arthur N. Sager holds a paper that reads, “Resolved that I’ll absolutely refuse to run for mayor.”

Comments and Context

Edward McBride’s cartoon in the reliably, and highly partisan Democrat, newspaper the St. Louis Republic features seven prominent figures referring to major news stories, disputes, and scandals. Rather than attacking the figures or seeking to persuade readers, the cartoon’s publication date reveals that it simply was a humorous treatment of New Year’s resolutions.

It then was common, and to an extent still is among political commentators and cartoonists to exploit holidays for their thematic preoccupations– in fact, sorts of holidays for themselves. The humorous New Year’s resolutions (or, sometimes, “the Millennium has come!”) presented an opportunity to show prominent figures doing things opposite of their normal pursuits.

President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich walk out of the “National Treasury” with “aid for Italy” money bags.

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Comments and Context

Foreign aid as we know it today was never a major part of the national government’s attention or priorities, and even in President Roosevelt’s era the source of American monies sent overseas was largely the work of charities and church organizations.

Uncle Sam attempts to drive the “U. S.” wagon as “the Roosevelt administration” horse and “the Cannon Congress” horse fight with one another. Caption: “Hey there, pull together, can’t ye?”

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Comments and Context

The Roosevelt administration horse snorts and races forward; the (Joseph Gurney) Cannon Congress refuses to move. In fact Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s depiction of the obstreperous horse could have been labelled the “House and Senate;” Old Guard Senate leaders like Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island were hardly less recalcitrant than Speaker of the House Cannon was, as Uncle Sam urged the wagon on.

President Roosevelt walks out of a room with an “Ananias Club” door holding L. White Busbey in his right hand and Minnesota Representative James A. Tawney on top of his big stick in his left hand. Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon reads a “6000 word message to Congress” and is confused. Edward Henry Harriman and William Jennings Bryan watch from the door.

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Comments and Context

The dispute over the Secret Service’s expanded duties was a controversy that subsumed other matters between President Roosevelt and Congress at the end of his administration; and technically it was the dispute itself, and not the Secret Service, that was the issue in Washington (and in political cartoons).

Minnesota Representative James A. Tawney and Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon use a crosscut saw and Iowa Representative Walter I. Smith uses a hatchet to cut “Roosevelt’s big stick” into pieces. “Congress” holds a gun to a “Secret Service” dog and says, “Halt” while a group of men look on: Edward Henry Harriman, a “gov’t grafter,” a “trust,” a “gov’t land grabber,” and a “timber thief.” The United States Capitol building is in the background.

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Comments and Context

An inevitable aspect of lame-duck politicians is that opponents generally can be freed of threats of retaliation. As President Roosevelt essentially made himself a four-year lame duck by declining in advance to succeed himself with the election-night announcement in 1904, he brought a challenge upon himself. Uniquely, much of the reform president’s opposition came from within his own party, the Republicans’ Old Guard.

A variety of individuals jump for joy: Uncle Sam, President-elect William H. Taft, Vice President-elect J. S. Sherman, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Iowa Governor Albert Baird Cummins, President Roosevelt, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, and the Republican elephant.

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Comments and Context

Sometimes the very simplest concept and presentation is the most effective. Jay N. “Ding” Darling proved that many times over his career — most notably in his eulogistic cartoon on the death of Theodore Roosevelt. Astride a horse and headed up a ghostly trail to Heaven, Roosevelt turned and waved to readers.

President Roosevelt looks at Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon who holds a “Congress” suitcase and says, “Come on and get busy. This’s my last chance at you!” The United States Capitol building is in the background.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-03

President Roosevelt reads a sign that several school boys show him: “Resolved that we are too big to be spanked. It injures our dignity and besides people might begin to think we needed it.” Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon holds the sign, and a number of Representatives and Senators are behind him. Caption: A revolt in the district school.

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Comments and Context

Researchers reading President Roosevelt’s last Annual Message, from early December 1908, and be startled by a short passage in the midst of many claims of policy achievements, and a host of prescriptions for the coming months and years. There was a brief please for Congressional approval to expand the functions, and the funding, of the Secret Service. The nation, the government, and concomitant challenges of investigation and law enforcement had all increased in the century’s first decade.

On the left side, President Roosevelt holds a “message” firearm that shoots projectiles at “The Capitol.” Caption: The president’s message was loaded after all. On the right sign are two different vignettes: a scene of men looking at papers with the caption of “scene in Senate after hearing of the Secret Service paragraph” and a drawing of Vice President-elect J. S. Sherman. At the bottom, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon bangs two gavels at different times and damages them. Caption: Speaker Cannon smashed gavels in rapid succession.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-16

President Roosevelt wears a life vest and pulls out rope from the “Administration’s Support” bucket to extend a “Hot Air” life preserver into the ocean of “Taft’s Campaign.” Assisting to let out the line are New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Secretary of Commerce Oscar S. Straus, and Secretary of State Elihu Root. “Democratic Opposition” lightning strikes above.

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Comments and Context

By its masthead in 1908, the Rochester, New York, Union and Advertiser boasted of having the largest circulation in a relatively small market. The paper was established in 1826 as the Daily Advertiser and from 1856 as the Rochester [sometimes Daily in its title] Union and Advertiser, but was published fitfully. It major competitor was the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. In 1922 William Randolph Hearst invaded the market in a major way with his Rochester Journal. Cartoonist Philip W. Porter either drew for the Union and Advertiser and hopped to other cities in the region (his cartoons appeared in the Boston Traveler in 1910 and the Boston Traveler in 1913) or his work was syndicated.

President Roosevelt dives off his big stick to rescue a man in water holding a “14 feet thro’ the valley” flag and crying, “Help!” “Congress”—depicted as Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon—is lying on his back in the water. Roosevelt says, “If he won’t save him, I will!”

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Comments and Context

“Infrastructure” is a contemporary term for what was once a common topic of national debate. In fact expanded its borders and settlements and trade largely through conscious efforts of the national government to build roads and bridges — usually (as befits federal involvement) between states.

In the first cartoon, William H. Taft with a large “R” on his shirt charges ahead of Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes. Taft says, “They can’t catch me.” In the second cartoon, William Jennings Bryan with a large “D” on his shirt charges ahead of Minnesota Governor John Albert Johnson and George Gray. Bryan says, “What an easy snap.” Caption: Winners of the trial heats.

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Comments and Context

With two weeks to go until the Republican National Convention in Chicago, and another three weeks after that before the Democrats would gather in Denver to nominate their presidential candidate, cartoonist John Colman Terry dismissed the somewhat hyperbolic suspense that fellow artists invested in commentary about the nominations. Barring genuine surprises, two Williams — Taft and Bryan — would be their parties’ nominees.

President Roosevelt admires his painting of William H. Taft—”my candidate for president”—and says, “Nice work.” There is a picture of “James S. Sherman for vice-president” on the wall, which Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon points at and says, “Oh! I don’t know — he’s one of us.”

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Comments and Context

This cartoon by Joseph Harry Cunningham was published four days after the closing gavel of the 1908 Republican National Convention. It presents an accurate depiction of the convention results, as well as the relative positions of the candidates, the president, and the Old Guard party stalwarts, who are represented by Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon.

Joseph Gurney Cannon looks at William Jennings Bryan seated on a chair and says, “You remind me of Joab of the Old Testament.” Bryan opens a Bible and replies, “Just you wait! I’ll find a name that’ll fit you!” A donkey in the background says, “Bill knows his book all right!”

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Comments and Context

Clifford Kennedy Berryman’s cartoon characterizing a speech by Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon illustrates several aspects of an earlier time in American history. The speech by Cannon criticized Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

In the first cartoon, William Lorimer holds up some cash and tells Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, “Betcha million you’re wrong, Joe!” Caption: He will bet on the Speaker’s decisions. In the second cartoon, Lorimer holds up cash as he watches President Roosevelt play tennis and says, “Betcha million he misses the ball!” Caption: A fine chance to wager a few on Teddy’s game. In the third cartoon, Lorimer plays crap with two men and says, “Fade you for a million!” Caption: What a chance on the crap games!” In the fourth cartoon, Lorimer looks at a horse race from the dome of the United States Capitol and says, “Fifty million on Azelina!” Caption: He can see the Bennings races from the dome of the Capitol. In the fifth cartoon, Lorimer points to an umbrella a man is holding and says, “Betcha million it don’t rain today!” Caption: Betting on the weather.

Comments and Context

Ferdinand G. Long, who drew for several newspapers in the United States and England, but most regularly for the New York World (where he created Sunday and daily strips including the seminal Mr. Peewee) drew this daily political genre-cartoon for the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph in 1908. Unfortunately its title was clipped off by the scrapbook compiler at Theodore Roosevelt’s White House. The Telegraph (1864-1918) was a minor newspaper but with an Associated Press franchise, the reason that publisher Cyrus Herman Kotzschmar Curtis purchased it, then killed it, in 1918.

The five vignettes, without the cartoon’s published caption, appear to address William Lorimer, the corrupt Republican United States congressman from Illinois. He was a notorious gambler and reputed influence-peddler and briber. When associate was later asked about charges against Lorimer, he said that he supposed “a million dollars,” spread around, would not have changed an election’s outcome. In fact Lorimer would be elected United State senator — by the state legislature; in the days before direct election of senators — and was subsequently expelled from the senate for having bribed his way into office.

“Hot air” comes out of the “Rep. National Committee” as a bright sun in the shape of President Roosevelt’s face shines. A Republican elephant with “Standard Oil exposure” tied to its tail and “my policies” tied to one leg kicks Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. Foraker says, “I got mine, boys.” On the side is a “steamroller” and Frank H. Hitchcock, who has a “big can” tied to his suit, running away and saying, “I’m the original fall guy.” J. S. Sherman uses a net to attempt to capture a “vice presidency” bug and says, “I’ve got it!” while Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon stands on a stump, holding a “gag rule” gavel and a “Speech in Kansas,” and says, “And no one can boss me, d—n it.” Finally, William H. Taft rides Roosevelt’s big stick in circles and says, “I’m the heir to the Roosevelt policies and the best friend labor ever had.”

Comments and Context

In a genre drawing that might have made Breughel, or Bosch, seem modest, political cartoonist Edward McBride dipped his pen in venom as well as ink, and indicted a panoply of Republicans during the campaign of 1908. There is more malice than logic in the representations, and many characters are depicted engaged in pursuits that seem ad hominem.

President Roosevelt, for instance, is the sun warming the whole scene, and (presumably) cursing despite his toothy grin. Most of the drawings are self-explanatory, but a couple notes might be helpful. Senator Joseph Foraker of Ohio had recently been scorched by revelations from purloined letters in the Standard Oil files of corruption between the senator and the corporation. The exposure damaged his campaign for reelection.