Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848-1909

Silas McBee editorializes on several topics, including the idea that upcoming Jamestown Exposition is not only a time for antiquarian interest in the past but a foundation for a wider vision that will allow the Church to continue growing in the United States and adapting so it can achieve that growth, and the importance of the construction of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and the need for its art and architecture to reflect the lives of its people. In the “Chronicle and Comment,” McBee discusses President Roosevelt’s statements about railroad regulation and the recent financial instability; as well as a recent charge, which McBee terms “preposterous,” that Roosevelt would make or withhold a nomination because of a financial gift from Edward Henry Harriman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-13

The Albany Evening Journal editorializes on President Roosevelt’s criticism of the men on trial for the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg as “undesirable citizens.” While Roosevelt denies that his comments reflect on the men’s guilt of the specific charge, and are merely related to their general conduct, the editors note that this argument is not likely to convince those who believe Roosevelt’s remarks will influence the outcome of the trial against the defendants.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-14

Eugene V. Debs condemns President Roosevelt for his actions in regards to the arrest of Charles H. Moyer, Big Bill Haywood, and George A. Pettibone. Debs claims that Roosevelt is a tool of the “Mine and Smelter Trust” and denounces him as a coward.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05

An article describing the “unusual” President Roosevelt, and the ways in which Senator Thomas Collier Platt inadvertently contributed to his becoming president. The two politicians, though quite different, mostly had a functional working relationship, but Platt never intended to help put Roosevelt in such a high position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907

President Roosevelt confides in Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer the reason for Henry Clay Frick’s dissatisfaction, information he learned from Frank B. Kellogg. Frick had requested that Kellogg postpone the trial on the Edward Henry Harriman suit and was “greatly irritated” when Kellogg said that not only was such a postponement impossible but it was also improper for Frick to make the request. Kellogg feels certain that Frick planned to use the time for dealings on the stock market.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1908-07-02

Kermit Roosevelt outlines Robert Harry Munro Ferguson’s upcoming visit. Roosevelt has been busy at school and Theodore Roosevelt is planning for an African safari.

Collection

Arizona Historical Society

Creation Date

1908-06-02

Harper’s Weekly cover shows Theodore Roosevelt holding a bowling bowl labeled “Nomination 1908.” A sign above the pins reads “Favorite Sons.” Pins are labeled with the names of the following states: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Another sign lists people that are warned off the premises. Jack London is one of those individuals.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

Creation Date

1907-06-01

President William H. Taft, as Saint Patrick, wears a miter with the spectacles and grin of Theodore Roosevelt on it. Carrying Roosevelt’s big stick wrapped in “His Policies,” he strides ashore toward lizards, snakes, and frogs labeled “Aldrich, Cannon, Rockefeller, Harriman, Land Grafter, Ship Subsidy, Beef Trust, [and] ‘Preserved’ Food.”

Comments and Context

Barely weeks into his Administration, President William H. Taft is in Puck Magazine’s honeymoon phase, depicted in the cover cartoon by L. M. Glackens as a Saint Patrick who legendarily drove snakes from Ireland. Taft, caricatured as almost thin — anyway, not of the roly-poly corpulence in campaign cartoons — and earnestly about good deeds.

The snakes in the cartoon are Nelson W. Aldrich and Joseph Gurney Cannon, bosses, respectively, of the Senate and House; monopolists John D, Rockefeller (oil) and Edward Henry Harriman (rails); and several trusts.

President Roosevelt is depicted as a cannon, aiming at a locomotive-automaton labeled as railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman. Harriman, the target, is missed by Roosevelt. Harriman stands atop a pile of money with a Napoleonic hat.

Comments and Context

Reproduced from the original artwork, this cartoon was probably drawn for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or New York World, both Pulitzer newspapers. Alfred Joseph Frueh eventually drew some of the most striking and popular theatrical caricatures in American art, notably for Life and The New Yorker.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

A chef labeled “Special Privilege” holds a large platter on which rests a huge turkey with the face of Theodore Roosevelt. He is about to place the platter on a table around which sit several men labeled “Cannon, Rockefeller, Archbold, Haskell, Payne, Dalzell, Elkins, Sherman, Foraker, Harrimen, Day, Rogers” and Nelson W. Aldrich.

Comments and Context

The “Teddy-Turk” cartoon by Udo J. Keppler in Puck was the magazine’s strongest — in fact one of its only — comments on the election just concluded.

It is a tribute to President Roosevelt’s power and influence that Puck‘s post-mortem commentary would neither mention nor portray the candidates in the late campaign, president-elect William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan. Neither is there a mention of any issues of the campaign… beyond Puck‘s targeted enemy of both parties and all citizens, “Special Privilege.”

Theodore Roosevelt sits on a bench, resting a mallet labeled “My Policies” on his right knee. A large jar labeled “Republican Convention,” which he has just corked, lies on the bench next to him. On shelves behind him are bottles that he has corked: on the bottom shelf Alton B. “Parker Esopus Pickle,” Cipriano “Castro” which has popped its cork, and “Portsmouth Peace”; on the middle shelf George B. “Cortelyou,” James Roscoe “Day,” Charles Evans “Hughes,” Joseph Gurney “Cannon,” Robert M. “La Follette,” “Chan”[…], Philander C. “Knox,” and [unlabeled] Charles W. Fairbanks; and on the top shelf “Bowen,” Chester I. “Long,” “Bellam[y] Storer,” Edward Henry “Harriman,” “J. London,” [and] “Seton Thompson” (i.e. Ernest Thompson Seton).

Comments and Context

“A perfectly corking time!” — very close to another joyful expostulation of the time, “BULLY!” This cartoon appeared just as the Republican presidential nominating convention gave its prize to William H. Taft, just as President Roosevelt had wished and hoped and manipulated for almost two years. His work to anoint a successor was often behind the scenes but also, as befit Roosevelt, could be quite open and public too.

Roosevelt, after seven and a half years, had mixed feelings about leaving the office at age 50, younger than many presidents were when they assumed the office. “No man,” he admitted and frankly asserted, “more thoroughly enjoyed being president as much as I did.” Yet the always-restless Roosevelt had immediate plans to explore “Darkest Africa” as few white men ever had done; and there beckoned uncountable activities including those he mastered before the presidency — historian, author, speaker, and so forth. Yet he would miss, and knew he would miss, being at the center of power, and influencing events as White House denizen.

Theodore Roosevelt asks William Loeb to find the letters at Sagamore Hill and submit them to the committee. He also requests that Loeb search for evidence that Roosevelt wrote to Mr. Sheldon and William H. Taft protesting against contributions from the Standard Oil Company before the 1908 election. Loeb should also testify about the Edward Henry Harriman incident and the meetings with John D. Archbold if he recalls them.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-09-11

Theodore Roosevelt has decided that it would be better for him to take the letter books to the committee. William Loeb can submit copies and should travel to Oyster Bay, New York, to find and examine the letter books. Loeb should not copy the letters from Frank B. Kellogg related to political contributions from the Standard Oil Company. Roosevelt will submit these letters himself. Roosevelt does not believe that Loeb was present at the John D. Archbold interviews but he was present during the Edward Henry Harriman interview. He recalls Harriman requesting funds from the National Committee for Mr. Higgins’s election, as well as requesting that Chauncey M. Depew be appointed Ambassador to France. Roosevelt asks if Loeb’s recollection of the meeting is similar.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-09-15

At the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Theodore Roosevelt is passing the pike of “Policies” to William H. Taft, as “The New Mahout,” sitting on the “G.O.P.” elephant. Seen through the left lens of Roosevelt’s spectacles, labeled “Before Taft is Nominated,” are James J. Hill, J. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas Fortune Ryan, John D. Rockefeller, Edward Henry Harriman, Joseph Gurney Cannon, Joseph Benson Foraker, and Nelson W. Aldrich looking very somber. Seen through the right lens labeled “After Taft is Nominated,” the same group is cheering. In the lower right, Roosevelt refuses another curtain call. On the lower left he offers “Taft Bitters” to a cowboy. Across the bottom is Roosevelt’s familiar toothy grin.

Comments and Context

Forsaking harsh criticism of the Republican Party, or President Roosevelt or the imminent nominee William H. Taft, the nominally Democratic magazine Puck instead had it cartoonist L. M. Glackens devote this Convention Issue’s centerspread drawings to topical humor and light commentary.

Cleverly framing the genre cartoons in a motif of Roosevelt’s trademark pince-nez spectacles and toothy grin, Glackens perhaps subconsciously wished to hold on to cartoon icons as long as possible before Roosevelt retired.

Moses, holding the Ten Commandments, is confronted by an angry mob of capitalists, businessmen, and politicians, some shaking their fists at him. Caption: Chorus of “Conservatives” – Dangerous, socialistic, un-American doctrines!

Comments and Context

This powerful indictment of endemic corruption at the upper levels of American society was drawn by Udo J, Keppler, whose father Joseph (founder and chief cartoonist of Puck) had addressed the same issues with classic drawing like They Can’t Stand the Light, showing United States Senators shrinking from spotlights in the dark. But his son’s cartoon — of this evergreen subject — encompassed more than political corruption.

In fact only four of the major, identified figures are national politicians; the majority are business leaders, a magazine editor, and even a university president. Keppler unwittingly reinforced the view that lawlessness and compromised morality had spread throughout American life.

Theodore Roosevelt appears as “Mikado Roosevelt” with a large cast of characters standing behind him: “Pish Tush Root,” “Landis,” “Pooh Bah Taft,” “Burroughs,” “Heney,” “Cortelyou,” “Steffens,” “La Follette,” “Folk,” “Garfield,” “Riis,” “Loeb,” and “Koko Bonaparte,” who is holding a large sword labeled “Department of Justice.” John D. Rockefeller labeled “Flim-Flam Business,” and Edward Henry Harriman labeled “Flim Flam Finance,” are kneeling on the stage awaiting execution. Caption: “My object all sublime / I shall achieve in time — / To let the punishment fit the crime — / The punishment fit the crime. — / And make each prisoner pent / Unwillingly represent / A source of infinite merriment, / Of infinite merriment.”

Comments and Context

Cartoonists in Puck and rival magazine like Judge and Life, as well as newspaper political cartoonists, frequently turned to operas, mythology, and Shakespeare for metaphorical and allegorical setting for their cartoons. Despite their current popularity, the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan seldom inspired the cartoonists to parody.

J. S. Pughe of Puck made an exception in the first week of January, 1908. In a rather tortured casting of political reformers and Muckraking journalists as characters from The Mikado, they dance as two condemned men (behind the costumes, John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil; and railroad baron Edward Henry Harriman) nervously await their fate.

Uncle Sam walks down a street in an unsavory neighborhood, with signs for such establishments as “Railroad Pool Parlor $1000.00 an Hour,” “Flim-Flam Bar,” “Impure Food Café ‘Coaltar & Glucose prop. Regular Adulterated Dinner 25 cents’,” “Harriman’s Place ‘All 5¢ Drinks 10 cents’,” “Rockefeller’s Rest ‘Free Hot Guff All Day’,” and even a sign for “Chop Suey.” Caption: His New Year resolution.

Comments and Context

Surely one of Frank A. Nankivell’s best-drawn cartoons for Puck, this arresting cover drawing, with eye-catching perspective and a personality-intense Uncle Sam, is as much about the previous several years in America as it is about a “New Year Resolution.”

The years of President Roosevelt’s second term were in some ways like an earlier time in America called the Era of Good Feelings — expansion, prosperity, peace, an exciting realization of inventions and innovations. Yet undertones were there for people who were aware. Roosevelt was, and his urgency to anticipate problems and avoid crises was a major component of his leadership skills. Almost year by year since 1904, turmoil arose in some fashion.

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.

Comments and Context

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.

The carolers in the Glackens cartoon certainly were on the “outs,” at least at the window of President Roosevelt. History has remembered Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, veteran of several brutal disputes with fellow Republican Roosevelt, most recently over the Brownsville Affair and black soldiers; Edward Henry Harriman, railroad trust magnate whom Roosevelt recently branded an “undesirable citizen”; and Standard Oil’s twin leaders John D. Rockefeller and Henry H. Rogers, recently avoiding the penitentiary over corporate misdeeds.

President Roosevelt is most appreciative that Anna Roosevelt Cowles sent him the information about Edward Harriman.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1902-09-15

A stone wall labeled “Rotten Finance” is constructed with stones showing the faces of many businessmen and financiers, including John D. Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Edward Henry Harriman. On the ground, in front of the wall, is a broken egg labeled “Confidence.” Caption: Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall; / Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall. / All the Street’s horses and all the Street’s men / Can’t put Humpty back again.

Comments and Context

Almost two months into the financial crisis known as the Wall Street Panic in 1907, Puck magazine addressed the situation. It was late, but with trenchant commentary that compensated. Indeed, during the crisis that was precipitated by the unsuccessful takeover of a copper company, a web of under-capitalized and over-extended companies, trusts, and banks became evident.

Banks failed, the Stock Exchange itself was threatened, and confidence, so much a hallmark of the McKinley and Roosevelt years, was shaken in the minds of investors and the public at large.