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This cartoon shows Alton B. Parker at the voting booth in 1896, 1900, and 1904. In 1896 and 1900, he holds a “ballot (for free silver).” The captions for the first two read, “I voted for Bryan and Free Silver in 1896—” and “And again in 1900—” The last caption for 1904 reads, “But of course I regard the Gold Standard as irrevocably established.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-26
President Roosevelt is nearly eye-to-eye with “Chicago strike hornet’s nest” as he holds a “candidate Roosevelt” hat and a “trust buster” stick.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-31
![[Roosevelt at hom]e plate to knock out a home run](https://theodorerooseveltcenter.s3.amazonaws.com/TRC/LC/thumbnails/476/0600/Crop476-0600/0696b-a.jpg)
President Roosevelt stands at the “Presidency” plate on a baseball diamond, holding a bat labeled “Honest & Upright Government.” David B. Hill is poised to pitch him a “Tricky Politics” ball. “Gray,” William Jennings Bryan, and Grover Cleveland are in the outfield, while “Williams, Captain” talks with catcher Alton B. Parker. August Belmont, as bat boy, carries a “$” bag of bats labeled “Trusts” and “Interest.” Behind Roosevelt in the dugout are his teammates, Chauncey M. Depew, Albert J. Beveridge, Joseph Gurney Cannon, John Hay, George B. Cortelyou, “Black,” and vice-presidential candidate Charles W. Fairbanks. In the stands in the background are kings and other interested fans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08
Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna stands beside a sign that reads, “1904 Resolved that I will not be a candidate against Teddy but at the same time I will hold off the Ohio convention to see which way the wind is blowing. Mark.” Hanna puts his hand on Perry S. Heath’s head and says, “Nice little guy.” Heath holds papers that read, “Hanna for president talk.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12
Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna wears a sign that reads “I am not a candidate” on the front and “But I am willing to be one; trust contributions received here” on the back.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-14
Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna holds a recently blown out candle and tiptoes away from a “1904 presidential boom” crib as President Roosevelt, who is in a picture frame, looks on. A baby bottle has spilled on the floor with the label of “newspaperiety.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-22
President Roosevelt covers his ears as cuckoo clock chimes four o’clock and Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna pops out and says, “Coo! Coo! Not a candidate!” four times.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12
Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, in a burglar’s mask, uses an “ambition” stick attempting to pry open the entrance to the “Tomb of Political Hopes,” which he believes to be the White House. He has “plans” in his top hat as well as a bag labeled “M. Hanna. White House.”
The cartoons of Luther Bradley usually were more reserved and even dignified than this example, but he apparently was so struck by the absurdity, and futility, of Senator Mark Hanna’s efforts to subvert President Theodore Roosevelt’s path to re-nomination, that he deployed exaggeration and graphic hyperbole.
Hanna’s presidential ambitions were guarded, and wrapped in denials, and professions of loyalty to the president or at least the open process of the national convention’s processes, that he seemed to believe that the public and the party believed him. But, as Bradley’s cartoon shows, Hanna’s aspirations were apparent.
Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna stands on a “ship subsidy” and holds “my defence of labor” as he attempts to use the Republican elephant’s trunk as a phone, saying, “Central! Hello! Central!” The elephant looks at President Roosevelt who waves, bearing “stories,” “speeches,” “interviews,” and “specimens” and says, “Ah there, Teddy!”
Luther Bradley’s cartoon refers to the publicized and futile efforts of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna to make himself relevant to the broader Republican Party at this time, reaching beyond his base as a senator still identified with his ally, the late President William McKinley, and as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was engaged in an ill-concealed and delicate campaign to wrest the 1904 presidential nomination from the incumbent, Theodore Roosevelt.
That ambition was being thwarted at the time of this cartoon’s publication, but Bradley correctly identified the gambits employed by Hanna. He was, for instance, heavily indebted to shipbuilding interests who potentially were campaign contributors (Ohio ports on Lake Erie were centers of steel manufacturing and ship construction). The cartoon’s acknowledgement of Hanna’s earnest attempts to prove himself a “friend of labor” is ironic since he largely lives in history by portrayals of another caricaturist, Homer Davenport. The Hearst cartoonist frequently pictured “Dollar Mark” Hanna as a bloated plutocrat with his foot on skull of “Labor.”
William H. Taft wears a suit made of “T. R.” tags and asks J. S. Sherman who is hiding in a hole, “Where have you been Jimmy boy?” Sherman replies, “Dare I come out?” In the background is a “Hearst volcano” with “letters” and “accusations.”
Virtually every political cartoonist, whether pro-Taft or anti-Taft, had fun at his expanse; the broad aspects of William H. Taft were irresistible to caricaturists. But credit must be paid to an otherwise pedestrian cartoonist, Joseph Harry Cunningham of the Washington Herald, for adding some extra graphic stereotypes; it is surprising that they were not adopted by other cartoonists, or survived the presidential campaign.
President Roosevelt roasts William Jennings Bryan over a fire made of “Bryan’s letters to Roosevelt” and “Standard Oil correspondence.” Off to the side is a container of “Standard Oil” with the tag, “kindness of Gov. Haskell.”
Once again — as had become common in the 1908 presidential campaign — a commentator characterized the contest as between Democrat William Jennings Bryan and not Republican William H. Taft, but Bryan and the policies and person of President Roosevelt. And relatively early in his career, the Des Moines Register and Leader cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling was among the most prescient of commentators.
President Roosevelt shoots a revolver at William Jennings Bryan’s feet as Bryan jumps up to avoid the shot. He says, “Oh, I say! This isn’t fair, is it?”
Floyd W. Triggs’s cartoon “The Tenderfoot” is brilliant in its simplicity, conveying both the contrast between the personalities of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and President Roosevelt. He made his point without even having to depict Roosevelt except for the label on the pistol, probably superfluous. Oddly, the caricature of Bryan resembles the Bryan of the Wilson years or even of the Scopes Trial fame, more than the relatively robust candidate of 1908.
William H. Taft is the catcher as he catches a ball “from T.R.” William Jennings Bryan swings and misses the pitched ball at the plate. The crowd has various responses: “Oh! Rotten,” “Whoof!!!” “Did Haskell touch 2nd,” “Aw go back t’ the bush league,” and “Who d’ye think y’are? Mike Donlin?”
The baseball setting in this cartoon by Floyd W. Triggs during the 1908 campaign features a memorable caricature of Democratic candidate Bryan missing the ball presumably pitched by President Roosevelt; at least the dark ball in the mitt of catcher William H. Taft, the Republican candidate, is labelled “from T.R.”
President Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan glare at each other. Caption: Roosevelt: “Your ideas are chimerical; your plans and purposes for reform would, if tried, prove ridiculous.” Bryan: “You are prostituting your great office to elect your own choice of a successor. You do not practice the square deal you preach.”
Cartoons, if they appear in traditional placements in newspapers, occasionally are not political. They might be topical, or purely humorous, and are sometimes therefore identified as editorial cartoons. Occasionally, graphic commentary on a newspaper’s front page or editorial page might serve the function of a political cartoon, but not be a cartoon drawing.
Uncle Sam puts his hand on William H. Taft and a shadow of William Jennings Bryan.
In the 1908 presidential campaign, the Brooklyn Eagle was friendlier to the Republican Party than it was previously or subsequently. Like many Democrat-leaning newspapers (or, sometimes, traditionally partisan journals) it simply could not endorse William Jennings Bryan, despite his trademark policy prescriptions having mellowed somewhat.
Henry Watterson puts his hand up to the White House as he watches kings on steamrollers coming out. On the ground is a paper: “If I were a Republican, I should turn my back on a candidate, no matter how personally acceptable, who represents the vicious methods of king rule and the steam roller. H. Watterson.”
This drawing is a prime example of cartoonist Clifford Kennedy Berryman’s stock-in-trade. He was regarded in his lifetime, and by history, as a prominent political cartoonist of his era. He eventually was awarded a Pulitzer Prize (1944) and his son James succeeded him as political cartoonist of the Washington Star. Yet the typical Berryman cartoon was technically an editorial cartoon about political affairs; that is, he usually illustrated a situation or news headline. He commented but seldom attempted to persuade. He infrequently attacked people or policies, and often was described as “good-natured.”
William H. Taft in the shape of the moon uses a “my policies mirror” to get the sun in the shape of President Roosevelt to shine on him. Around the sun are three stars: J. S. Sherman, Frank H. Hitchcock, and Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker. Taft sings, “I care not for the stars that shine.” Meanwhile, on “the earth,” a Republican elephant looks up toward the moon through a telescope. Caption: Presidential firmament.
Unseasoned cartoonists — and the St. Louis Republic’s Edward Joseph McBride did not have a long or distinguished career — often bite off more than they can chew, conceptually, or seldom are able to focus. These are two explanations for the nature of his usual genre cartoons. They are like mother hens, gathering as many topics and issues of a campaign week under its wings, instead of addressing one.
William H. Taft wears a “my policies” button with President Roosevelt’s face on it. Taft’s shadow looks like Roosevelt.
A little more than a week before the presidential election of 1908, the Democratic newspaper St. Louis Republic published this cartoon addressing the relationship between President Roosevelt and the Republican candidate to succeed him, William H. Taft.
On the eve of the election, vignettes on New York and presidential politics are presented. At the upper left, candidate for Governor of New York Lewis S. Chanler stands tall as two men, including Charles Francis Murphy, look on and say, “Hero.” Caption: Chanler takes a stand at last: He says he is opposed to the shot-gun license law. Opposite this, a banner reads: “We are willing to be regulated but not by Governor Hughes. Charlie Murphy is good enough for us. The Franchise Grabbers’ Anti-Hughes Club.” At the bottom, John D. Rockefeller with a “$29,000,000 fine” tag says, “I think I’ll vote for you, Mr. Taft.” William H. Taft raises his hands in the air and says, “Don’t.” Looking on, William Jennings Bryan smiles and says, “Oh I’m so happy” while President Roosevelt says, “Don’t let him tell you that, Bill. Soak him one. It’s a plot.”
Arcane issues of 1908 presidential politics, and even the minutia of New York State affairs, permeate this informal but clever group of vignettes by Floyd W. Triggs, published on election eve.
In the first cartoon, William H. Taft with a large “R” on his shirt charges ahead of Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes. Taft says, “They can’t catch me.” In the second cartoon, William Jennings Bryan with a large “D” on his shirt charges ahead of Minnesota Governor John Albert Johnson and George Gray. Bryan says, “What an easy snap.” Caption: Winners of the trial heats.
With two weeks to go until the Republican National Convention in Chicago, and another three weeks after that before the Democrats would gather in Denver to nominate their presidential candidate, cartoonist John Colman Terry dismissed the somewhat hyperbolic suspense that fellow artists invested in commentary about the nominations. Barring genuine surprises, two Williams — Taft and Bryan — would be their parties’ nominees.