Lamont, Daniel Scott, 1851-1905

A cherub labeled “1894” smashes a bottle of champagne as he launches a large, modern ship, the Ship of State, under the banner “Tariff Reform,” with Grover Cleveland and members of his cabinet standing on the bow waving their hats. In the background, the specter of “1893” hovers over a sailing ship labeled “McKinley Tariff.” Among those with Cleveland are Walter Q. Gresham, John G. Carlisle, Richard Olney, and either Daniel S. Lamont or Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1893-12-27

President Cleveland stands next to a large “Reform Buzz-Saw” labeled “Pat. 1884 by G. Cleveland” at a sawmill, where three members of his cabinet “Manning, Whitney, [and] Bayard” are milling lumber labeled “For the Improvement of the Custom House” and “Props for the Navy.” A carpenter’s square labeled “Honesty” rests against some boards at Cleveland’s feet. A group of newspaper editors, congressmen, and a dog labeled “Blaine’s Pup” have entered on the left. Among them are “Dana, McLean, Vance, Eustis, Reid, Beck, Evarts, Sherman, Medill, [and] Edmunds.” They are standing just outside the “Secretarys Office” where Daniel S. Lamont is sitting. Through the open door is visible a wagon loaded with large logs labeled “Mormon Question, Silver Question, Tariff Ques, [and] Coast Defences.” Caption: Foreman Cleveland (kindly but firmly) “Boys, don’t monkey with the buzz-saw!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1886-02-03

Responding to Oswald Garrison Villard’s letter concerning the promotion of General Leonard Wood, President Roosevelt explains how he and Secretary of War Elihu Root make decisions about promoting men in the Army, arguing that promotions should not be based on seniority alone. To illustrate his point, Roosevelt discusses his plans for the two vacant brigadier general positions.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1903-07-17

Charles M. Pepper reports on the political situation in New York, specifically focusing on the upstate region. Overall indications are that the Republicans will be very successful in the state, with the Democrat Alton B. Parker failing to inspire support in rural voters there. It is likely that Elihu Root will be nominated as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, although he has expressed that he is not interested in the nomination.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-14

Several men, identified as “Hill, Jones, Olney, Clark, Bailey, Shepard, Watterson, [and] Lamont,” carry planks of lumber which are identified as Democratic policies from previous election platforms and proposed new planks. As they construct the new “Democratic Platform,” Puck points to a plank they have forgotten, “Tariff Reform,” which sits on a platform in the background on the right. In the background on the left stands William Jennings “Bryan” holding a “Free Silver” plank of rotten wood. Caption: Puck — You are neglecting the only plank you ever did win with, – and the only one you ever can win with!

Comments and Context

Ever since President Grover Cleveland devoted his Annual Message to downward tariff revision (and the result of high tariffs, government surpluses, which Cleveland regarded as immoral) the Democratic Party was generally the party of low tariffs and free trade. Former Speaker of the House Samuel J Randall was one Democrat who generally favored high tariffs. But the implied point of Keppler’s cartoon is not that the Democratic Party cooled on the issue of tariff rates, but that “new” issues like anti-imperialism and standard positions on civil service reform provided the middle ground between the hoary populism of William Jennings Bryan and the tired arguments for tariff reductions could attract voters. Generally, they did not: the Democrats would lose the 1904 presidential election, to Theodore Roosevelt, by record margins.

 

William Jennings Bryan stands with the Democratic Donkey with bandages labeled “1896” and “1900.” They are watching David B. Hill, sporting a feather in his cap labeled “I’m a New Dem.”, getting into an automobile labeled “The New Democracy” with passengers William C. Whitney, Perry or August Belmont, Jr., and driver Daniel S. Lamont.

Comments and Context

Very seldom did cartoonists depict the Democratic donkey as something that could actually be ridden, or almost so. In Pughe’s cartoon the donkey of two-time standard-bearer William Jennings Bryan has two bad legs: his failed presidential campaigns. The cartoonist seizes upon the opportunity to depict a new-fangled automobile. What likely dismays Bryan is not only the “old versus the new”; three of the four “New” Democrats in the car are industrialists — William C. Whitney, one of the two Belmont brothers, and Daniel C. Lamont. Only David Bennett Hill is the traditional politcian; for two years the former governor aspired to be president — but when he dissented from Bryan’s populism, Hill famously declared “I am a Democrat” (and cartoonists thereafter drew him with a feather in his hat bearing that legend), which is here updated to “I am a NEW Democrat.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

President Roosevelt introduces the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United States to the bearer of the letter, Juliet Lamont, whose husband, Daniel Scott Lamont, was Secretary of War under President Grover Cleveland. He asks that Lamont be shown all proper official courtesy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-26