Col. Bryan runs against the lawnmower
President Roosevelt drives a “White House lawnmower” down “Taft Ave.” that has a sign: “Keep off the grass.” William Jennings Bryan runs away and says, “And I thought that I was running against Taft.”
Comments and Context
Cartoonist P. B. McCord made two salient points about the 1908 presidential campaign in this drawing. The first is that the canvass of Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan virtually was bereft of issues; that is, to attack William H. Taft was to attack the policies of the incumbent, President Roosevelt. And “keeping off the lawn” of Taft meant a somewhat electoral argument, as Roosevelt remained overwhelmingly popular with Americans.