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Photograph showing Theodore Roosevelt being sworn in as President of the United States by Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller with many onlookers seated behind them.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1905-03-06
In the first vignette, President-elect William H. Taft walks into the “White House” and waves good bye to President Roosevelt who carries his big stick. In the second, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks walks away from the “Capitol” holding a jar of “buttermilk” and “to Indiana.” In the third, New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt sits at an “Express Co.” desk and writes “memoirs.” In the fourth, Colorado Senator Henry Moore Teller walks out of the Senate saying, “I’ve been there 30 years.” Caption: Senator Teller will take a rest. In the fifth, Secretary of State Elihu Root sits down in a chair labeled “New York Senatorship” and says, “I guess I’ll take it easy now!” In the sixth, Philander C. Knox climbs into a “State Dept” chair. In the seventh, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker holds a “lawyer” piece of wood and walks “to Cincinnati.”
A month before the change of administrations in Washington portended at least one change in St. Louis too: The Republic’s cartoonist Edward Joseph McBride drew a cartoon about national affairs that was not typically partisan or bitter.
A “Congress” groundhog jumps in the air as it sees President Roosevelt’s face in its shadow. Meanwhile, Roosevelt’s face is depicted on the sun. Caption: Weather forecast for Washington: Continued storms and colder until March 4.
One of the political cartoonist’s best friends is the calendar –not usually when it concerns deadlines, because daily cartoonists often address clocks and stop-watches when ideas are sparse — but as holidays, events, and anniversaries present themselves as “hooks” for concepts.
President Roosevelt leans on his big stick with “On Hunting in Africa” strapped around his shoulders. He looks across the “Potomac” at the United States Capitol Building and “T. R.’s presidential” and “twilight zone” as the darkness of “March 4th” descends.
F. Victor Gillam, after leaving Judge magazine, a reorganized and Republican version of Puck magazine that was led by his older brother Bernhard, freelanced for a variety of newspapers. As a consistent Republican partisan with Judge — it was he who invented the iconic campaign symbol of the Full Dinner Pail to boast of Republican Prosperity — it is odd that his subsequent career was with Democratic or independent papers. This drawing, for instance, is more of an editorial cartoon, not a political cartoon attacking nor attempting to persuade, merely inviting readers to be as pensive as President Roosevelt, as the Administration’s days dwindled down to a precious few.
On March 4, 1905, President Roosevelt is inaugurated in Washington, D.C., with much celebration and fanfare. Roosevelt rides in an open landau on Fifteenth St. NW, escorted by mounted Rough Riders. Secret Service men and detectives walk on either side of the carriage. Roosevelt tips his hat to the crowd. Sitting beside him is Senator John C. Spooner of Wisconsin, Chairman of the joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Opposite, but not clearly visible, are Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts and Representative John Dalzell of Pennsylvania, members of the committee. Second sequence consists of long shots of Roosevelt taking the oath of office on a platform erected on the east front of the Capitol. Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller administers the Presidential oath of office, and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court James Hall McKenney holds the Bible. The platform is decorated with plants and garlands and a large banner with the American eagle on it hangs from the center of the railing. West Point cadets and Annapolis midshipmen are assembled below the platform.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1905-03-04