Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951

A number of men sit or stand in a “political waiting room—the presidential possibilities and impossibilities”: President Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Arthur P. Gorman, Alton B. Parker, William Randolph Hearst, Chicago Mayor Carter H. Harrison, Missouri Senator Francis Marion Cockrell, and George Gray. The date—March 4, 1904—is on one wall while another wall has a sign that reads, “Smoking allowed.” Roosevelt reads “How to Ketch a Catamount” while Cleveland’s book—”Fish I Have Caught”—is upside down. There are some hand-drawn additions by “REL.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-04

President Roosevelt wears an olive branch crown and rides in a chariot followed by “Trusts,” “Morgan,” “Foraker,” “Bryan,” “Rockefeller,” “Tillman,” “Harriman,” “Haskell,” “Hearst,” “Pulitzer,” “Congress,” a “stork,” “undesirable citizens,” “grafters,” “muckrakers,” and “nature fakirs.” A dove tries to escape the “peace” cage.

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As the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt drew to a close — seven years and several months, instead of the normal eights years, as Roosevelt assumed office upon the death of President William McKinley — cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling drew a valedictory summation of the president’s triumphs.

President Roosevelt pushes off the “big stick” and says, “Don’t flinch; don’t foul” as he leans on Timothy L. Woodruff who leans on George Rumsey Sheldon who leans on Secretary of State Elihu Root who leans on J. S. Sherman who leans on Frank H. Hitchcock who ultimately leans on William H. Taft who is fighting against William Jennings Bryan. On the other side William Randolph Hearst pours a “Standard Oil” can and says, “I’ll make ’em slip.” Meanwhile, Norman Edward Mack leans against Herman Ridder who leans against William James Conners who leans against Charles Francis Murphy who leans against John Worth Kern who leans against Bryan. Uncle Sam referees.

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It was impressive cartoon that readers of the Brooklyn Eagle beheld in the Election Day edition of the paper. It was, properly, not partisan or biased toward a candidate or party, published as it was on Election Day when political argumentation traditionally ceased.

William Jennings Bryan pushes William H. Taft away from the “ballot majority” as Samuel Gompers, Thomas E. Watson, and William Randolph Hearst try to get their hands in. President Roosevelt comes running with the “big stick.”

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The Atlanta Georgian never was that city’s major newspaper but fashioned itself into a Muckraking and reform journal, crusading against the convict-lease system, child labor abuses, and such. Four years after this cartoon ran — a reflection of its extreme political partisanship — William Randolph Hearst bought it and added it his growing chain of papers. The city’s major voice, The Constitution, was allied with publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

William Jennings Bryan attempts to ride a bucking donkey that has a “Standard” oil can attached to its tail. In the background, President Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst cheer.

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Albert Turner Reid was one of the breed of cartoonists whose signatures routinely were more elaborate than their drawings. From his home base in Kansas he drew for several publications throughout his career; and was widely reprinted. He had a handsome style and a flair for caricature, if not for accurate animal locomotion.

Uncle Sam holds a switch behind his back as William Jennings Bryan, President Roosevelt, Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, and John Worth Kern, who all have bloody faces, point at William Randolph Hearst, who has a bloody hand. Caption: “He began it, teacher.”

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One of the hidden gems of the era’s political cartoons (1890s-1920s), and an unjustly obscure artist-commentator today, is W. A. Carson of the Utica Globe. The newspaper itself was a pioneer enterprise in American journalism, and is no less — and less unjustly — neglected today.

Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst is depicted as “the big can” with the spout labeled “Standard Oil disclosures” dancing beside “the big stick,” which features President Roosevelt’s face.

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Somewhat obscured by the passage of time is the biggest issue in the 1908 presidential election, certainly the major controversy of the campaign: the Archbold Letters. Not the tariff, not government regulation, not conservation, America’s battleship program, the Panama Canal, nor the recent stock-market panic.

William H. Taft wears a suit made of “T. R.” tags and asks J. S. Sherman who is hiding in a hole, “Where have you been Jimmy boy?” Sherman replies, “Dare I come out?” In the background is a “Hearst volcano” with “letters” and “accusations.”

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Virtually every political cartoonist, whether pro-Taft or anti-Taft, had fun at his expanse; the broad aspects of William H. Taft were irresistible to caricaturists. But credit must be paid to an otherwise pedestrian cartoonist, Joseph Harry Cunningham of the Washington Herald, for adding some extra graphic stereotypes; it is surprising that they were not adopted by other cartoonists, or survived the presidential campaign.

President Roosevelt holds his big stick and starts to jump into a disagreement between Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, and William Randolph Hearst.

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Comments and Context

Shortly before this cartoon was published, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst made a rare public speech — rare, that is, except for appearances in several of his own political races — in which he revealed the contents of letters stolen from the files of Standard Oil president John D. Archbold.

President Roosevelt, who holds a big stick, and William Randolph Hearst, who holds a lit match, watch as Senator Joseph Benson Foraker and Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell are pushed into the sky as the “Standard Oil” container explodes open.

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Comments and Context

There are several remarkable aspects to this cartoon by C. R. Macauley, published in the midst of the 1908 presidential campaign. The first is the representation of a bombshell in the campaign, largely forgotten by history. In September, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (himself in an Ohio speech — not via editorials in his newspapers) exposed letters from the files of Standard Oil; the “Archbold Letters,” revealed corruption between the trust and prominent politicians.

President Roosevelt addresses William Randolph Hearst as William Jennings Bryan looks at their marbles game, which includes marbles labeled “tariff revision,” “regulation of R.R.,” “popular election of Sen.,” “popular election of judges,” “ship subsidy,” and “public ownership.”

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It is wholly inadequate to identify William Randolph Hearst by first invoking the motion picture Citizen Kane, yet for many people since his death in 1951, that character provides the touchstone, and it is a gross caricature. Hearst’s father George was a prospector who made a fortune from silver claims and other mineral and land opportunities in the West. He rose to attain a vast fortune and secured a seat in the United States Senate. When his son, “Willie,” was expelled from Harvard, George gifted him with the San Francisco Examiner, hoping that a newspaper career would keep him busy, and maybe out of mischief.

President Roosevelt celebrates his forty-ninth birthday with a variety of friends. In the upper left hand corner at the piano are New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes and Thomas Fortune Ryan singing, “Oh let us be joyful.” Booker T. Washington tells Henry Watterson, “Henry, I hope you’ll come down and visit me at Tuskegee.” Senator Joseph Benson Foraker says to Secretary of War William H. Taft, “I heard a good story today, Will.” Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks look at a picture of George Washington, and Fairbanks says, “That picture makes me sad. It reminds me of cherries.” William Randolph Hearst, James Roscoe Day, and Secretary of State Elihu Root look at a book of “Snapshots in New York.” William Jennings Bryan and Grover Cleveland play a game of checkers, and Bryan says, “After you, Grover.” J. Pierpont Morgan watches over the game with his hand on Bryan’s back. Henry Huttleston Rogers, F. Augustus Heinze, and Thomas William Lawson sit together. Lawson says, “Rogers, my boy, you must come over to Boston and visit me.” John D. Rockefeller points at Kenesaw Mountain Landis’s chest while President Roosevelt presents a bouquet to James J. Hill as William J. Long looks on. Finally, James T. Harahan, Edward Henry Harriman, and Stuyvesant Fish read “Snap Shots Along the Illinois Central.” Harriman remarks, “Very nice album, Stuyvesant, is it not?”

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Comments and Context

There are contexts behind this cartoon by John T. McCutcheon of The Chicago Tribune that might not be apparent to modern researchers. The first is somewhat evident by reading the dialog balloons between figures in the pairings or clusters. Almost appropriate for an April Fool’s cartoon instead of something closer to Halloween is the ironic juxtaposition in every case — political opponents or business rivals exchanging niceties. In fact, insights might be gained by reading the nature of their “about-face” encounters.

Eight men sleep in a bed with sweat on their forehead as they all dream about “third term sentiment.” The men include Ohio Senator Theodore E. Burton, Benjamin B. Odell, South Carolina Benjamin R. Tillman with a pitchfork, William Randolph Hearst, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Edward Henry Harriman, and John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil.

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Comments and Context

The “Third Term” question was for President Roosevelt like a bad penny or a stray dog that he could not shake. He declared on election night, 1904, that he would not stand for re-election in 1908. He made this clear to politicians and friends and, by implication — for instance, by promoting William H. Taft as a favored successor — but seldom reasserted his intentions to the public. He felt that to say it too often — and the demands to do so were incessant — would have weakened the force of the declination or seemed like “protesting too much.” He said it, and that should have been enough.

William H. Taft stands with a gavel in his hand as the delegates select President Roosevelt as the nominee. In the audience are Secretary of State Elihu Root, Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, and New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes. A balloon in the top right-hand corner shows William Jennings Bryan and William Randolph Hearst holding signs that read, “Gov’t Ownership” and “Socialism” respectively as they step on Minnesota Governor John Albert Johnson.

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Whether cartoonist Tyler McWhorter drew this cartoon as a prophecy or a hopeful dream, it was another cartoonist’s speculation on whether President Roosevelt would break his pledge of Election Night 1904 that he would not allow his name to be put into nomination in 1908. With its long caption, it also might have been an illustration for an article, or part of series. In any event the St. Paul Dispatch drawing was pasted in the White scrapbook, and presumably seen by the president.

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon says, “Tariff revision or an extra session!” in one cartoon. The next includes a teddy bear and President Roosevelt reading a paper that says, “Mr. President: Anything you say goes! California.” Another cartoon depicts a government clerk holding a bag that says, “50% salary increase” while Uncle Sam says, “And more if necessary.” The next cartoon depicts William Jennings Bryan saying to William Randolph Hearst, “After you, my dear Willie!” with a sign that reads, “To presidency.” Another one shows South Carolina senator Benjamin R. Tillman depicted with a pitchfork walking toward the White House with a dove of peace. Finally, the last cartoon depicts Senator Joseph Benson Foraker with a sign that says, “Reenlistment” in front of a group of soldiers labeled, “25th Infantry” — the black regiment at the center of the Brownsville Incident.

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When cartoonist Clifford Kennedy Berryman switched, shortly prior to this drawing’s publication, from the Evening Star from the Washington Post, his drawing style improved: a better ability to capture celebrities’ likenesses to place atop little bodies. This cartoon fell back on the erstwhile cartoonists’ annual chestnut — a reliable theme to use once a year, the Valentine cards for politicians — either dream-fantasies or the unlikeliest of scenarios.

President Roosevelt holds his hands back and sweats as he watches a fight in “New York” that includes a Republican elephant, a Tammany tiger, William Randolph Hearst, Charles Evans Hughes, and the “Independence League.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-31

William Jennings Bryan gives a “Big Bryan Boom” bouquet to President Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst. Bryan says, “Gentlemen, I hardly know which to thank for this.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-24

Thomas E. Watson, William Randolph Hearst, and William Jennings Bryan push a wagon full of bricks—”free silver,” “government ownership,” “anti-imperialism,” and “populism”—on a rocky road. It is driven by a donkey that sits down and says, “I must sit down on this push.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-27

In the first vignette, Alton B. Parker knocks on the door of August Belmont. Caption: Mr. Parker—”Did I understand that there was a $50,000 job vacant around here?” In the second, Henry Gassaway Davis holds a large money barrel while President Roosevelt walks away with West Virginia woman. Caption: At last reports Uncle Henry Davis was still holding his own. In the third, “Dr. Bryan,” “Dr. Hearst,” and “Dr. Watson” all attempt to doctor a bandaged Democratic donkey. Caption: The Doctors—”Cheer up, we’ll begin work on you again.” In the fourth vignette, William Preston Harrison walks from the “West Side” to the “North Side.” Caption: William Preston Harrison leaves from again. In the fifth, Parker stands beside William H. Douglas who holds a sign with a shoe on it that reads, “It pays to advertise.” In the sixth, Chicago Mayor Carter H. Harrison stares at a sign that reads, “Wisconsin for Roosevelt . . . 50,000—Illinois for Roosevelt . . . 230,000—Indiana for Roosevelt . . . 60,000.” Caption: The states he promised Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-10

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-10