Moses (Biblical leader) in rabbinical literature

President Roosevelt, dressed like Moses, comes down the hill with “drastic inspection laws” in the shape of the Ten Commandments. He kicks the “beef trust” golden calf, while Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, dressed as a “high priest,” puts his hands up. The golden calf is on an altar of “potted ham,” “potted chicken,” “corned beef,” and “canned goods.” Meat packers surround the statue.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-06

William Jennings Bryan, as Moses, beams rays of “Radicalism” and “Conservatism,” and holds his own version of the Ten Commandments. Among the small group of followers in the background are James K. Jones and Tom Loftin Johnson.

comments and context

Comments and Context

On August 30, 1906, the twice-rebuffed Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan ended the months of speculation about his intentions for 1908. He and surrogates, since he returned from a lengthy world tour, and teased — albeit with little subtlety — about his habitual ambition to be president.

The “Dem. Party” donkey with six followers places “Cleveland’s cradle 1884” into a river. Pyramids are visible in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon by Joseph Keppler Junior mirrors very closely — down to the poses and scenery — a Puck cartoon by Bernhard Gillam almost exactly 20 years previous. In both cartoons, the Democratic Party was desperate for a Moses to lead from the political wilderness. The party in 1883 had been out of national power for 33 years; at the time of this cartoon they had not occupied the White House for six years. Grover Cleveland had been the only Democratic president since before Abraham Lincoln. In fact, it is Cleveland’s name inside the empty cradle.

Moses, holding the Ten Commandments, is confronted by an angry mob of capitalists, businessmen, and politicians, some shaking their fists at him. Caption: Chorus of “Conservatives” – Dangerous, socialistic, un-American doctrines!

comments and context

Comments and Context

This powerful indictment of endemic corruption at the upper levels of American society was drawn by Udo J, Keppler, whose father Joseph (founder and chief cartoonist of Puck) had addressed the same issues with classic drawing like They Can’t Stand the Light, showing United States Senators shrinking from spotlights in the dark. But his son’s cartoon — of this evergreen subject — encompassed more than political corruption.