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President Roosevelt has been under pressure from financial and political interests, but has already agreed that the cabinet position belongs to William H. Taft. Roosevelt is put off by such attempts to influence his decisions and is disgusted by the role some newspapers, including the Sun and the Journal, have tried to play in the process.
1903-08-24
Theodore Roosevelt stands at an open window, greeting a group of men singing Christmas carols. The carolers are John D. Rockefeller, Joseph Benson Foraker, Henry H. Rogers, Edward Henry Harriman, David J. Brewer, and James Roscoe Day.
Cartoonist L. M. Glacken’s Christmas Day cover drawing in Puck featured a frequent theme of the day — a frequent practice, now largely moribund, of carolers singing hymns and Christmas songs house to house. The “Outs,” they sometimes were called, especially when not invited indoors for warmth and refreshments.
Theodore Roosevelt stands on a hill in the background, as two large bears labeled “Interstate Commerce Commission” and “Federal Courts” break up a crowd of Wall Street capitalists and stock market manipulators, causing them to scatter in all directions. The men include Charles S. Mellen, William K. Vanderbilt, Henry Huttleston Rogers, J. Pierpont Morgan, James J. Hill, George Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, James McCrea, William H. Newman, Edward Henry Harriman, and Joseph Benson Foraker.
Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, and Puck magazine, editorially, stretched theology, or at least the province of Biblical allusions, in this cartoon “Elisha Roosevelt.” The brief passage from II Kings 2:23-24 recounts the story of Israelite prophet Elisha, having succeeded Elijah and seeing him bodily taken into the clouds, is unsure of his ability to be God’s anointed prophet.
A sword labeled “Nomination” is stuck deeply into a tree, where Theodore Roosevelt and Jacob A. Riis are resting on a large branch. Roosevelt is grinning like the Cheshire cat. On the far right are Albert Baird Cummins and Charles Evans Hughes, and on the left are several other potential candidates for the upcoming presidential election, including Philander C. Knox, Joseph Benson Foraker, Charles W. Fairbanks, Joseph Gurney Cannon, William H. Taft, Albert J. Beveridge, and George B. Cortelyou. Caption: Who is the hero with the strength to draw it out?
Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler actually knew, or was virtually assured of the answer to the question posed by his drawing, “Who has the strength to draw it out?” President Roosevelt had been public and persistent in his desire that Secretary of War William H. Taft succeed him. Politicians, reporters, and cartoonists especially, as was their wont and avocation, promoted the possible ambiguity of Roosevelt’s refusal to run again.
Theodore Roosevelt, as a doctor, examines Philander C. Knox, as other potential candidates for the upcoming presidential election await their turn: Charles Evans Hughes, Joseph Benson Foraker, Charles W. Fairbanks, George B. Cortelyou, Joseph Gurney Cannon, [and] William Loeb as a dog. William H. Taft, already examined, has a paper labeled “Passed T.R.” extending from his pocket. On the wall in the background is a chart labeled “The Perfect Man” showing a profile view of Roosevelt.
Despite his declaration on election night 1904 that “according to the wise custom” that a president serve only two consecutive terms (not a constitutional stricture until the 1940s after his distant cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fourth election), President Roosevelt contended with the persistent suspicion, or belief, or hope that he would rescind the pledge to retire in 1909.
A group of men make a surprise nighttime visit to Theodore Roosevelt, wearing pajamas, at Oyster Bay. Edward Henry Harriman carries a basket of lemons, James Roscoe Day carries a basket of “More Lemons,” Bellamy Storer carries a cake labeled “From Dear Maria” (his wife Maria Longworth Storer), Benjamin R. Tillman carries a watermelon, Chester I. Long carries a platter of “Welsh Rabbit” (possibly a reference to Herbert Welsh), and Joseph W. Bailey carries a bunch of bananas. Joseph Benson Foraker stands in the background, tipping his hat to Roosevelt.
This cartoon by Udo J. Keppler is an excellent summary for historians — and prescient commentary at the time — that despite President Roosevelt’s popularity throughout the United States, in 1907 he had a handful of nagging problems, a host of political opponents, and many looming challenges.
The “Tariff Reform” ship is mired in a sea of ice, around which are many glaciers in the shape of the heads of Joseph Gurney Cannon, Leslie M. Shaw, Nelson W. Aldrich, and Joseph Benson Foraker. Other glaciers are labeled “Trust” and “Monopoly.” The “Philippine Free Trade” ship has wrecked on a large block of ice labeled “Protected Trust” and only the hull remains. Survivors from “Tariff Reform” drag a sled labeled “Mass. Revisionists” up a mountain labeled “Stand Pat,” toward a rainbow labeled “Fair Trade.”
One cartoon can pack a lot of history and details of a vital historical controversy. In this case, cartoonist J. S. Pughe addressed the progress of (or challenges to) tariff reform, which had been a burning political issue for more than a generation in the United States.
A group of senators (labeled Aldrich, Frye, Spooner, Penrose, Tillman, Bailey, Foraker, and Elkins) dressed as Native Americans perform a war dance around a totem pole with the face of President Theodore Roosevelt carved at the top. A drum labeled “The Press” is in the foreground while “Tom” and “Chauncey” stand in the background. Caption: Recent despatches from the Washington reservation report that the Senator Indians are again on the war path.
Udo J. Keppler — after his father’s death known as Joseph Keppler, Junior — was an owner and chief cartoonist on Puck magazine. Rather neglected by history, and not as celebrated as his father, he arguably was the better artist, and a potent editorialist. During the first decade of the century, while the venerable Puck went downhill in circulation, the political viewpoints of Keppler and his staff evolved from conservative Democrat to Rooseveltian reformist to insurgent to radical-progressive.
President Roosevelt praises his son-in-law Representative Nicholas Longworth’s interview and wishes the “professional Taft leaders” had Longworth’s sanity and judgment. He does not feel Joseph Foraker’s speech very telling but admits to knowing nothing of its effect in Ohio.
1907-04-11
President Roosevelt writes his son-in-law Representative Nicholas Longworth that Senator Foraker is doing all the damage he can with “negroes” and that the Democrats on the committee will take such an extreme position the “negroes” will realize where their “real friends are.” Roosevelt asks Longworth to write to Julius Fleischmann to invite the Fleischmanns to dinner on Roosevelt’s behalf.
1907-06-26
President Roosevelt gallops on a Republican elephant towards the White House while being cheered on by Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. Sitting on the fence pouting is Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who was a presidential hopeful in 1904. Foraker is yelling, “Rah! for Roosevelt” while waving his hat and holding a banner which reads, “Ohio State Convention Boom.” Caption underneath the cartoon has Hanna stating, “I can’t see Anything in that to Make a Fuss Over.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-05-15
Secretary of War Taft tells President Roosevelt that he hopes to bring about a compromise between Governor Myron T. Herrick and Senator Joseph B. Foraker from Ohio concerning the upcoming Republican National Convention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-08
Charles Dick suggests delaying action on postmaster appointments in Ohio until the United States Senator from Ohio Mark Hanna has recovered from typhoid fever.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-11
Senator Hanna from Ohio discusses post office appointments. Hanna suggests that they choose the Roosevelt delegates to the Republican National Convention “from among our friends.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-30
Richard A. Anthony writes to President Roosevelt to urge him to speak out against Senator Joseph Benson Foraker’s bill concerning the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. Anthony describes his discussion with Lawrence F. Abbott concerning Roosevelt’s Panama policy and comments favorably on Roosevelt’s policy towards labor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-01
William O’Connell Bradley writes that numerous delegates in Kentucky are supporting Mark Hanna, while claiming to support President Roosevelt. Bradley has sent four letters concerning post offices and has enclosed newspaper clippings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-20
The Commercial Tribune favors no presidential candidate and will support the choice of the Republican Party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-08
There is growing uncertainty regarding President Roosevelt’s nomination at the Republican National Convention. Some states are sending uninstructed delegates and Senator Hanna is a popular opposition candidate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01
Ferdinand Jelke discusses the status of Cincinnati newspapers concerning President Roosevelt’s nomination as Republican presidential candidate in 1904, and the support of the Ohio delegation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-28
J. H. Woodard discusses politics in Ohio, asserting that President Roosevelt is the only Republican who can be elected president in 1904.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12-14