“James”
Joseph Gurney Cannon hands a shoe labeled “Stand Pat” to J. S. Sherman, who is shining shoes labeled “Conservatism, Reactionary, Special Privileges, [and] Vested Interests.” Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, peers through an open door.
Comments and Context
During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, immense shifts of public opinion occurred throughout America. On myriad issues — trusts, corruption, reform, foreign policy — their were titanic changes in all classes and all parts of the country. It was a time of major changes in the economy, in immigration, in socialization, in manners and morals, and whether Roosevelt managed the fluid attitudes of America, or was propelled by them himself, is a question whose answer likely is “a combination of both,” yet the president was proud that he anticipated aspects of potential social unrest and acted in ways that prevented them from becoming crises.
Society might have changed in may ways, but in corners of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, Roosevelt dealt with limits to his persuasion. “Reactionaries” and “Stand-Patters” stood their ground on matters like high tariffs and conservation, only reluctantly yielding to Roosevelt’s reforms. Their numbers were decreasing, as “insurgents” in the House and rebellious reformers in the Senate grew in numbers.
