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Alton B. Parker and a bull dog look up at Joseph Pulitzer who says, “Tell them what you meant. It was gold and hauling down the flag in the Philippines wasn’t it?” Parker says, “Yes, Mr. Pulitzer.” On the blackboard is written, “Resolved I’ll never say another thing till my teacher tells me to. Buster.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-31
Alton B. Parker uses a vaccination made from “pure gold” on William Jennings Bryan. Richard Franklin Pettigrew and two other men walk out.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-30
Uncle Sam looks at a “Wolfert’s Roost” rock that David B. Hill hides behind, holding a “gold standard” trap. Caption: Uncle Sam: “You may catch Bryan but you can’t catch me.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-28
Alton B. Parker wears a “I am a hero” feather as he attempts to step from “Esopus” to the White House. In the water, there are equations: “open shop = union shop,” “free trade = protection,” “gold = silver,” “trust = anti-trust,” “positive = negative,” and “yes = no perhaps.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-19
A Republican elephant with a “sound money” trunk in a boat and a Democratic donkey in a bucket attempt to row to the “White House.” The donkey says, “Lend me your trunk and I’ll beat you!” Uncle Sam holds a revolver and watches.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-13
The “platform committee” tries to close a large “money question” man with a “sound finance” mace into the “chamber of silence.” Behind them is a “compromise” board and a “Democratic platform & resolutions” paper with a “Hill patch” and a “Bryan patch.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08
David B. Hill holds a bag of “silver” beside a “Democratic convention” wall. In the background, William Jennings Bryan is about to use a “free silver” axe as “democracy” kneels down and is tied to a “doubtful money” stake. Caption: Judas Iscariot (Hill) sold his party for a few pieces of silver.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-30
President Roosevelt uses his patented “Roosevelt invigorator” with “necessary measures,” “anti-injunction,” “anti-trust,” and “currency legislation” to blow into the mouth of a “Do Nothing 60th Congress” elephant costume that appears to be on Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon who says, “A storm must be brewing.” Roosevelt’s big stick lies on the ground with the United States Capitol building in the background.
Joseph Harry Cunningham in the Washington Herald almost anticipated a Rube Goldberg invention, in those eponymous cartoon panels with complicated mechanisms that required patient study and ultimately accomplished little. In this political cartoon President Roosevelt works the bellows to inflate an elephant costume with Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon inside.
An illustration of President Roosevelt has images and captions in it, including “settlement of the coal strike,” “protection against foreign labor,” “gold standard,” and “U.S. Supreme Court.” Meanwhile, Alton B. Parker is surrounded by Democratic leaders and is tied down by “sugar trust,” “Standard Oil,” and “rail-road franchise” ropes. Caption: Why Parker “Because he is perfectly safe.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-06
In the first illustration, Alton B. Parker stands tall and looks refined. Caption: After gold telegram. In the second, Parker is shorter and looks more ruffled. Caption: After acceptance letter. In the third, Parker is even shorter and is faded. Caption: At present time. Overall caption: How the Esopus candidate appears as the campaign progresses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-24
President Roosevelt pokes a Republican elephant that is already bleeding from a number of other spears adorned with flags bearing messages pertaining to currency. It is also shackled by a “fraud” and “graft” ball and chain. Roosevelt says, “Hang it!! Some some activity, I don’t care for your pain!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10
Uncle Sam looks skeptically at a “Democratic coin” with Alton B. Parker’s face on it. “Anti-protectionism,” “anti-patriotism,” “anti-expansion,” and “anti-prosperity” are on the four parts of the coin and “doubtful money” is on the bottom.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-15
Several Democratic leaders pull at ropes tied together. Senator Arthur P. Gorman and Representative William Bourke Cockran pull against each other on the “tariff question,” William Jennings Bryan and Grover Cleveland pull against each other on the “money question,” and August Belmont and William Randolph Hearst pull against each other on the “trust question.” Caption: Think of Gorman agreeing with Cochran on the tariff question. Think of Bryan agreeing with Cleveland on the money question. Think of reconciling the words of their platform and their candidate on the Philippine question. Think of Belmont harmonizing with Hearst on the trust question.—Senator Beveridge’s Tomlinson Hall Speech.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-10
Voters watch as August Belmont points to an illustration of Alton B. Parker who wears a “trusts” chain around his chest on the side of a circus tent. Verbiage reads, “The Democratic giant guarantees to break the chain by chest expansion.” In Parker’s hands are two weights, “sound money” and “clean politics.” Similarly, Henry Gassaway Davis holds a barrel that reads, “millions for the purification of politics. Not.” Verbiage around him reads, “The Hercules of West Virginia.” David B. Hill sits by a “ballot box” and holds a paper that reads, “After this performance, I shall retire from the show business. D. B. Hill.” Several men hide in the tent, including Parker, who holds a “political graft” weight; Thomas Taggart, who holds “gambling trust magnate” cards; Davis, who holds a “West Va. Coal Trust price” rock; Grover Cleveland; and Arthur P. Gorman.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-15
Uncle Sam points to three “Republican policy” blocks: “sound finance,” “commerce at home and abroad,” and “industries.” Over top of the blocks are three headings: “$700,000,” “For the world’s peace,” and “Prosperity.” Caption: Uncle Sam—With facts like these, the result of Republican rule, who wants a change? Not I!
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-12
James Speyer asks William Loeb to tell President Roosevelt that he hopes no steps are taken regarding currency reform until he and the president have had a chance to talk about it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-08
A compiled publication that features Governor of New York Charles Evans Hughes’s full speech highlights, select sentences of importance, and supporting quotations from other politicians. In his speech, Hughes outlines the Republican Party’s successes in promoting the nation’s welfare. William H. Taft is a highly qualified candidate who will prevent injustices and ensure continued progress. Democrat candidate William Jennings Bryan’s unsuccessful 1896 campaign illustrates not only his failures but those of his party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-05
William E. Chandler expresses his complete confidence that the Republicans will be victorious and President Roosevelt will win reelection. Thanks to Alton B. Parker’s blunder in sending a telegram about the gold standard, the only thing that could cause Roosevelt to lose is the perception that he is taking too much money from magnates like J. Pierpont Morgan, Edward Henry Harriman, and Henry Clay Frick.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-10
Daniel Edgar Sickles urges his fellow veterans to vote for President Roosevelt, rather than Judge Alton B. Parker, in the upcoming election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-07
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Henry Cabot Lodge about his concerns regarding the butchers’ strike and the Colorado matter. Roosevelt acknowledges that Alton Parker made a skillful political maneuver by coming out in favor of the gold standard during the last moments of the Democratic Convention, and Roosevelt reviews his political strategy for the rest of the campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-14