Political parties--Platforms

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.

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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.

Theodore Roosevelt writes to John Callan O’Laughlin commenting on the “miserable showing” of the Progressive leaders.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-07-09

Theodore Roosevelt reports to John Callan O’Laughlin that the clause in the currency platform has been changed.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1912-07-31

Judge Alton B. Parker pulls a donkey to safety across a bridge constructed of planks labeled “Conservatism, Sanity, Tariff Reform, [and] Anti-Trust.” Falling into the chasm are William Jennings Bryan, hanging onto the “Financial Plank,” and David B. Hill. The donkey’s bridle is labeled “Telegram.”

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In 1904, presidential candidates did not attend their nominating conventions. The ritual included informing the candidate by telegram and the candidate’s acceptance by telegram, followed by transmission of the platform, and delegations visiting the candidates’ homes for the”formal” notifications and acceptance speeches.

An old woman labeled “Miss Democracy” rides on the Democratic donkey along a dirt road labeled “Political Pike.” A banner labeled “S and S” (Safe and Sane) hangs from the donkey’s neck. In the background, the Republican elephant labeled “G.O.P.”, ridden by George B. Cortelyou, is leaning against a tree. Caption: The Elephant — Well, gee whiz! Who’d have thought it?!

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Cartoonist Pughe’s depiction of the Democratic Party’s happiness, and Puck‘s own confidence, over the transformation of Populist ideology and return of conservative values, reflected facts, but the reality was short-lived as well as futile. Theodore Roosevelt’s Republican Party was moving closer to reform views first advanced by William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic presidential candidate in 1896 and 1900) and, overall, was overwhelmingly popular with citizens.

Puck stands on a ballot box between President Roosevelt, who has one foot on the “Constitution,” is waving a sword labeled “Militarism” in a threatening manner above his head, and is holding regal robes and a crown with his left arm, and Alton B. Parker, who has one foot on a sword labeled “Militarism” and is holding aloft the “Constitution.”

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Approximately three weeks before the presidential election, Puck Magazine and cartoonist Joseph Keppler Junior made clear its presidential endorsement. President Roosevelt’s “militarism” had mainly been displayed in his Spanish-American War service and his muscling tactics in dealing with Columbia over the projected canal… and bother were stands that Puck itself consistently had maintained. Yet Puck traditionally was a publication that supported Democrats (and sometimes was supported itself by Democratic interests), so it returned to its base in 1904.

Alton B. Parker as “Little Bopeep” sits on a rock labeled “Esopus,” tending a flock of sheep labeled “Gold Democrat” with their tails labeled “Vote.” The sheep are entering a pasture labeled “Democratic Fold – Four Years of Clover.” A ribbon tied to the shepherd’s crook states “Gold Standard.” Includes verse: Little Bopeep has lost her sheep, / But she doesn’t have to mind them. / Let ’em alone and they’ll come home / And bring their tails behind them.

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This cartoon is a textbook example of wishful thinking. Puck had advocated for years that an alternative be found in the Democratic Party — a conservative who advocated in the Gold Standard and “Sound Money,” instead of the radical Populist William Jennings Bryan, the presidential standard-bearer in 1896 and 1900.

The Republican elephant collapses under the weight of Republican and/or Roosevelt policies, including a large crown labeled “Imperialism,” a “Big Stick,” a basket labeled “Odellism,” a mail pouch labeled “Postal Scandals,” a box of “Gloves & Gaunts,” a large cannon labeled “Militarism,” a question mark labeled “Philippines,” a disk labeled “Extravagance,” a thick wad of papers labeled “High Protection” bound together by “Dingley Schedules,” and finally a bloated man labeled “Trusts.”

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Keppler’s cartoon, published on the eve of the 1904 presidential election, is a lesson in iconography and couching political points in graphic arguments of logic. The piles of bad policies and negative issues, however, were not onerous to the elephant — the Republican Party of 1904. Indeed, Roosevelt’s foreign policy, the domestic economy, and even his position on trusts (scarcely as beneficent as Keppler’s caricatured smile would indicate) were wildly welcomed by most Republicans. Indeed, if Uncle Sam, rather than the Republican Party, had been depicted in this cartoon, he might not have felt such a load either.

Puck, as a professor, shows a slide of the germs infecting the Democratic Party. Shown are William Jennings Bryan labeled “Bryanism,” William Randolph Hearst who is labeled “Yellow Journalism,” a man labeled “Anarchism” and an old man labeled “Populism,” and a firebrand labeled “Platforms” with flames labeled “Chicago” and “Kansas City.” “Free Riot” and “Free Silver” also appear among the germs on the slide. Caption: Puck — Gentlemen, we have here the most dangerous germs in the body politic.

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Puck prided itself on being independent, but had generally supported Democrats since its founding in 1876. Around the time of this cartoon, with the 1904 Democratic presidential nominating convention weeks away, the magazine proved its partisan bona fides — at this time a conservative streak of democracy — by offering avuncular advice by a magic-lantern lecture.

In a battle scene, President Roosevelt is about to make a final charge on “Fort Democracy” labeled “Peace, Constitution, [and] Prosperity.” Performing various functions in Roosevelt’s camp are “Foraker,” “Morton” spying from a balloon, “Allison” raising a flag labeled “Up with the Trusts,” “Woodruff” attending to wounded T.C. “Platt,” “Higgins” and “Odell” with cans of money from a box labeled “Groceries N.Y. State,” “Cortelyou” sharpening a sword, “Shaw” with binoculars, “Bliss” and “Fairbanks” loading a small cannon labeled “National Committee Gun,” and “Rockefeller” with a hod full of money bags labeled “Standard Shot.”

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This cartoon by J. S. Pughe was the closing salvo, so to speak, in the campaign of Puck, a leading Democrat publication, in the 1904 presidential campaign. As such, it is surprisingly mild and generic. President Roosevelt is the only figure denigrated by caricature, and the cartoon shows neither the Democratic candidate, Judge Alton Brooks Parker, nor any real representation of his party’s substantive platform positions. Beyond the assertion that the Republican Party contained rich men devoted to using their wealth in an election, the crowded cartoon diverted its focus to smaller issues and controversies.

An ostrich labeled “Republican Party” tucks its head in a hole labeled “‘Stand Pat’ Policy” as a tornado advances from behind with dark clouds labeled “Tariff Reform.”

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The Republican Party’s attitude toward tariff reform is depicted in this cartoon by Pughe as one of foolish or willful neglect, with sure disaster as the price. Yet with President Roosevelt at the helm, it is generally the case that avoidance of dealing with the tariff issue was a calculated risk.

William Jennings Bryan, his hat falling to the ground and with one foot braced against a water trough, tries to pull a donkey labeled “Democracy” to the trough where the water is labeled “Bryanism,” the trough is labeled “Kansas City Platform,” and the pump is labeled “Populism.”

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This simple cartoon by Joseph Keppler encapsulates the situation the Democratic Party found itself in between the presidential elections of 1900 and 1908. Very simply, William Jennings Bryan, the young Nebraska congressman, had dominated the party and its councils since his “Cross of Gold” speech electrified the nominating convention in 1896 and catapulted him into the presidential candidacy. The force of his personality, and his startling agenda of Populist reforms, likely played equal roles in his leadership.

William Jennings Bryan, as a parrot, chatters at an old woman labeled “Democratic Party.” He is perched on a stand labeled “Dead Issues” with a food dish labeled “Populism,” and squawking “The Moral Issue!! Free Silver!! Kansas City Platform!! [and] 16 to 1.”

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The clear message of this cartoon by Pughe, Puck‘s go-to animal artist in most cases, is that William Jennings Bryan, Populist firebrand who stormed the Democrat Party in 1896 and held it in thrall for eight years, had clearly worn out his welcome, especially after two failed presidential runs.

An elephant labeled G.O.P. holds a double-barrel shotgun in its trunk, pointed toward itself. The barrels are labeled “Trust Issue Tariff Reform” and “1904.”

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Likely without knowing it, Puck and cartoonist J. S. Pughe exactly pictured the conscious policy of President Theodore Roosevelt. For a generation, the political parties had tinkered with the tariff and import duties. Seeking to please various segments of industry, or farming interests, or interest groups with their own agendas, the tariff had become a bugaboo that often turned and “bit” the parties passing new laws and rates.

The “Republican Party” elephant walks on “Senate” and “House” stilts, on a path covered with eggs labeled “Monopoly, High Tariff Excuses, ‘Bad Trusts,’ Labor Question, Post Office Scandal, [and] Protected Trusts.” A paper attached to the elephant’s tail states “Tariff Reform.” A sign in the background points “To Washington 1904.”

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The Republican elephant, drawn by Puck‘s go-to animal cartoonist J. S. Pughe, is the focal point of this cartoon that is frankly a generic concept, rare for Puck, rather than an accurate portrayal of events or analysis of issues. The cartoon’s implication is that the party in June of 1903 and a year from the national presidential convention, avoids dealing with a myriad of issues. In fact, except for plainly viewing the tariff as an issue with no urgency to address, the eggs are labelled with issues, positions, and accomplishments that President Roosevelt and the Republican Party were quite willing to discuss with voters.

William Jennings Bryan, as a pope wearing robes and a tiara labeled “16 to 1,” sits on a throne on a low pedestal labeled “Kansas City Platform.” Two Swiss guards stand next to him. The one on the left is labeled “Jones,” and the other on the right is labeled “Stone.” Caption: But Democrats have lost faith in his infallibility.

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As midterm elections loomed in 1902, William Jennings Bryan sought to assert his primacy in Democratic party councils. He had twice been beaten for the presidency, so his support — and support for his issues, for instance the bimetallic plank in the 1900 (Kansas City) platform — was vital. The vassals behind Bryan are two of his more loyal supporters: Senator James K. Jones of Arkansas was Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and William J. Stone (at the time a year away from being elected to the United States Senate from Missouri) was a contributor to Bryan’s magazine The Commoner. In 15 years’ time Stone would be one of six senators to vote against declaring war on Germany.

Thomas Jefferson, laughing, sits on a bench, holding papers that state “Dem. Doctrine, 1901 ‘We oppose, with Jefferson, the conspiracy of National Expansion'” and “New York State platform – 1902 – ‘The Dem. Party stands for Jeffersonian Principles’ also National ownership of coal mines.” Other papers, touting Jeffersonian Principles, are on the ground at his feet. Caption: Thomas Jefferson — How my principles have changed! They’re not a bit like they were when I knew them!

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The exigencies of national politics, or any political necessity, such as many Democrats felt in 1902 after years in the “political desert” and in the face of a popular president, Theodore Roosevelt, can be understood with less sarcasm than Keppler’s cartoon displays. However, the cartoon’s thrust is legitimate, even if Thomas Jefferson himself had “flip-flopped” on the issue of “national expansion.” He had opposed the policy until he favored it with the Louisiana Purchase. In truth, the contradictory sentiments attributed to Jefferson in the cartoon’s papers, and positions of the New York Democratic Party, confirm the common political practice of making ancient doctrines and mythic figures fit a current situation.

A man labeled “Republican Party” picks up the clothing of a man labeled “Democratic Party” who is swimming in the “Democratic Issue Pond” which is labeled “Socialism, Bryanism, Populism, Free Silver, Anti-Expansion, [and] Jeffersonian Simplicity.” At the upper right is a scene twenty years earlier, in which a man labeled “Democrat” picks up the clothing of a “Republican” swimming in the “Republican Corruption Water.”

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Puck refers to Puck for a history lesson, and it makes a perfectly valid observation based on a cartoon by the senior Joseph Keppler 20 years earlier. Political parties frequently evolve in their positions; it is rather less frequent that two established parties largely trade their beliefs, and in such a relatively short time. It is true that in President Cleveland’s time, the Democratic Party was in many ways the more conservative of the two. After Populism, Bryanism, and reactions to economic ills, the Democrats grew radical. Ironically, under Theodore Roosevelt and the insurgents in the nation’s cities and Progressives in Congress, the Republicans — or those in one wing — quickly absorbed or adapted many of the recent Democratic positions. Also somewhat notable about Pughe’s cartoon is that Puck recognized these shifting trends so early: oftentimes such evolution is clear in hindsight.

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!

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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.

A tattered old man labeled “Silver Republicans” runs into the open arms of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, “Chairman of Rep. Natl. Com.” Behind Hanna is a building flying the banner of “McKinley & Sound Money” and with a cow labeled “Prosperity” looking out an open window.

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A fact largely forgotten by history is that on the great issues of the end of the 19th century in American politics, the two major parties were not clearly divided. Before President Cleveland’s decisive Annual Message on the tariff in 1887 (still the lone State of the Union message devoted to one subject), there were protectionists and free-traders in each party. Until the radical platform of William Jennings Bryan and the McKinley prosperity, there were a sizable number of “Silver Republicans” who resisted the gold standard of East Coast and Wall Street Republicans. The 1878 Bland-Allison Act was a bipartisan, bi-metallic measure vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, but overridden by Congress.  McKinley himself flirted with silver coinage around 1890, and Ohio Senator John Sherman’s name was on a Silver Purchase Act, which Cleveland believed precipitated the Depression of the 1890s. By 1900, the silver-coinage issue was dead, both for apostate Republicans as this cartoon illustrates, and for the country as a whole.