Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926

President Roosevelt plays a fife as Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman beat on “House” and “Senate” drums respectively. William Loeb walks behind them with a “railroad rate bill” flag that uses a “big stick” and pitchfork as a flag pole. They are dressed in colonial attire, in a recreation of the famous painting The Spirit of ’76 by Archibald Willard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-21

A number of men are in a “railroad rate bill” train car, including President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Iowa Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, and Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner. Some of them hold “amendment” cards. Caption: Engineer Roosevelt—”Who’s running this train, anyhow?”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-24

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Secretary of War William H. Taft, Elihu Root, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, and Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw also listen to a sound recording from a machine that has a sign that reads, “Drop a penny in the slot and hear the president decline the nomination for 1908.” Caption: President Roosevelt, during his visit in Chicago, on two occasions reaffirmed his declaration that he would not again be a candidate for the Presidency.—News Item.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-12

This cartoon includes depictions of a number of guests at the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Gridiron Club.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-09

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon hides behind the United States Capitol building as President Roosevelt, who rides an elephant, charges toward him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-03

President Roosevelt rides a Republican elephant and uses a “presidential power” spear to direct it forward on the “tariff revision” path. The elephant’s tail is attached to the “speaker’s desk” on which Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon rests.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-15

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Rhode Island Senator Eugene Hale, and others hold up pitchforks to keep a Republican elephant standing up on “the high tariff pyramid.” President Roosevelt sits on the elephant’s head.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-05

In one vignette, David B. Hill jumps into a “Wolfert’s Roost” tree with a sign that reads, “I really couldn’t wait until Jan. 1.” In the second, “the silent voter” sphinx shouts, “Roosevelt!” from a megaphone as Alton B. Parker runs away. In a third vignette, Chair of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou tells Chair of the Democratic National Committee Thomas Taggart, “Kindly make allowances for me, Tom, as this was my first campaign.” In the fourth, President Roosevelt looks at a Republican elephant who holds a scroll that reads, “339 + electoral votes.” The elephant says, “Theodore, you’ve established a hard record for me to keep up with.” In the fifth, Henry Gassaway Davis opens a fence as West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins rushes toward him and says, “Welcome home, pop!” In the sixth, Williams Jennings Bryan looks at a piecemeal donkey and says, “I guess there’s enough to work on.” In the seventh, “Southern democracy” looks at the shoes of “Northern democracy” stuck in a snowdrift and says, “Nothin’ but de feet!” In the eighth, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks through binoculars and says, “Wanted! A few minority members for House committees.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-13

Several articles from the Commercial Advertiser are highlighted. They discuss the “terrible” precedent that President Roosevelt set by inviting the African American educator Booker T. Washington to dinner, and criticize Congress for its conduct during the most recent legislative session.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-03-04

The “G.O.P.” elephant holds a tambourine labeled “Stand Patism” and hands out free baskets labeled “Tariff Graft” containing a turkey, duck, or chicken to ragged figures labeled “Coal Trust, Steel Trust, [and] Wool Trust.” A long line of trust figures await their turn. Joseph Gurney Cannon, Nelson W. Aldrich, Joseph Benson Foraker, and Leslie M. Shaw appear in women’s clothing as the “Republican Salvation Army” singers, singing “There are no flies on Dingley.” A man labeled “Protected Monopoly” stands in the foreground, at the edge of the platform. Caption: Distribution of Christmas goodies by the Republican Salvation Army.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Politics occasionally did intrude in holiday issues of Puck as this centerspread cartoon by J. S. Pughe attests. The Salvation Army was a relatively new force in 1906, but there had been urban missions and soup kitchens in lower Manhattan for generations. Pughe’s venue is a larger auditorium than might have been typical of a Salvationist Christmas food charity, but other stereotypes are there: music with a tambourine, female singers with bonnets sharing their sermons in song.

Joseph Gurney Cannon leads a procession including Nelson W. Aldrich, Joseph Benson Foraker, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Leslie M. Shaw who are carrying the golden ark of the Dingley Tariff, with figures labeled “Trust, Infant Industries, [and] Protected Monopoly” bowing as it passes.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Approximately a decade had passed since the last major revision of tariffs in the United States, when Puck Magazine published this scathing cartoon by Udo J. Keppler. It depicted the sacrosanct regard for high tariffs among Republicans and industrialists (trusts), and specifically the inviolability of the Dingley rates. Those schedules took effect in 1897 after a major Depression during the second Cleveland administration, and prosperity returned, punctuated by good weather, record crop yields, the war with Spain, and a presidential assassination. The five years of President Roosevelt saw unprecedented prosperity.

Santa Claus, labeled “G.O.P.,” reaches to place the “Star of Hope” on top of a Christmas tree trimmed with lemons, marble hearts, a stuffed bear “From Teddy,” two “Little Big Sticks” and a “Big Stick,” a ball of “Promises,” and three balls labeled “Gas, Guff, [and] Wind.” On a nearby table is Joseph Cannon as a “Joe in the Box,” a “Home made frosted cake from Uncle Joe’s Pantry,” and a book of “Fairy Tales by Uncle Sam.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

J. S. Pughe’s cover cartoon directly addresses a crisis in America’s handling of the Philippine Islands as an American territory, during an important moment of policymaking. The matters at hand were important to the Filipinos, of course: trade, tariffs, and economic sovereignty.

President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to discuss barriers to electing Secretary of War William H. Taft to the presidency. He cites the defection in the black vote, big business, the labor’s unhappiness with the Republican Party, the unemployed, and the fact Taft is an Unitarian. Roosevelt also talks of Kermit’s start at college, their trip to Africa, and his first month back at the White House.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1908-10-20

President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit to share a Hindustani proverb given him by a friend which expresses Roosevelt’s views about preparing in advance for war. He describes springtime at the White House and his time with Edith. He adds that he is glad the social season is over. He may have some tussles with Congress, if the Speaker tries to obstruct business, but the Republican Party has a good record of getting work done. Roosevelt says the USS Mayflower has run aground but he will be sure Kermit has a boat for his Mississippi River trip.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1908-03-08

President Roosevelt talks of riding horses with Dan Moore and Ted. Ted has a boil on his neck but is still teaching his Sunday school class. Roosevelt has also been boxing with Granville Fortescue. Ethel has been sick, but Alice, Archie, and Quentin are fine. Edith feels the strain of the social season and Roosevelt is driven nearly mad by the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives Joseph Gurney Cannon.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1905-02-05

A large hot air balloon with Theodore Roosevelt’s face flies a banner of “Republican Congressional Candidates” and carries a basket overflowing with election hopefuls (and a small conventional balloon labeled “Cannon’s Boom,” referring to a short-lived effort to have Joseph Gurney Cannon contest the 1908 presidential nomination. On the ground, Samuel Gompers is using a sling-shot in an effort to shoot down the balloon.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Campaigns for the presidency and seats in Congress were much, perhaps mercifully, shorter in the Roosevelt Era. The cartoon by Udo J. Keppler marks the October commencement of the elections in November.

Several small boats race on a calm sea for the “Nomination Stake Boat.” In the boats are William H. Taft in the “Gnat” under the banner “Buckeye Y.C.,” Joseph Gurney Cannon in the “Scat” under the banner “Danville Y.C.,” Charles W. Fairbanks in the boat “Ice King” under the banner “Big Darby Y.C.,” Leslie M. Shaw in the boat “Pshaw,” and Elihu Root in the boat “Root.” The face of Theodore Roosevelt fills the sun, smiling down on the becalmed racers.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler allowed himself a “dog days of summer” theme in 1906 — no Congressional bills, no scandals, no party squabbles — but characteristically infused it with news and political aspects, and it comes down through the years as informative; and humorous, with a number of subtle references.

President Roosevelt, wearing royal robes, holds on his shoulders a diminutive William H. Taft wearing a crown. Among the throng in the background are Charles W. Fairbanks, Leslie M. Shaw, Thomas Collier Platt, and Joseph Gurney Cannon.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Only two weeks previous, cartoonist Udo J. Keppler had drawn a cartoon showing the putative 1908 presidential aspirants among Republicans, drifting on a listless sea. The only man in a boat looking happy was William H. Taft. He still looks happy in this cartoon, portrayed differently, as a cherubic heir apparent.

A group of children play on the lawn in front of the “Home for Infant Industries.” They are labeled “Sugar Trust (eating “Dingley Baby Food”), Clothing Trust, Tobacco Trust, Steel Trust, Beef Trust, Paper Trust, [and] Coal Trust.” Some are playing in a rough manner with dolls labeled “Small Dealer, The Public, Independent Producer, [and] Consumer.” Another doll, “Cattle Raiser,” has been tossed aside. In the background on the left, a woman labeled “Dingley Tariff” is sitting in a chair with a child on her lap. In the left foreground, Joseph Cannon is speaking to Theodore Roosevelt, who holds a paper labeled “Tariff Revision.” Caption: Uncle Joe Cannon — Oh, Sir, you would not turn these helpless, half-grown babes out into a cruel world, would you?

comments and context

Comments and Context

Joseph Gurney “Uncle Joe” Cannon, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was often characterized — as were most politicians of the day — as representing interests or trusts as much as districts of constituents or states.

Several vignettes illustrate the difficulty of catching a vice presidential candidate, including offering some “Possible Premiums,” such as a “Cabinet Portfolio,” a “Carnegie Hero Pension,” use of the “Vice Pres’ yacht Tailenda,” and a “10 years lease for pedestal in the Hall of Fame.” Caption: What’s the matter with the Vice-Presidential Chair?

comments and context

Comments and Context

As the presidential nominating conventions of the political parties approached in 1904, Puck asked a question regarding the vice presidency that was not only humorous but legitimate. The country had been without a vice president since Theodore Roosevelt succeeded the assassinated William McKinley in September of 1901.