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President Roosevelt and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks ride on an elephant that carries a “protection and prosperity” flag and wears a sign that reads, “‘The National Republican’: The organ of the G.O.P.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-04
A Republican elephant stands on its hind legs as it lifts his trunk. President Roosevelt stands on top of the elephant’s trunk. Uncle Sam holds a whip and holds up his hand.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-07
President Roosevelt sits at a table with an elephant and a donkey playing cards. Roosevelt hands one card to the elephant, which is sweating. On the wall is a sign that reads, “The square-deal club.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-12
![[T.R.’s railroad rebate special]](https://theodorerooseveltcenter.s3.amazonaws.com/TRC/LC/thumbnails/477/0100/Crop477-0100/0124a.jpg)
A Republican elephant sweats as he tries to remove a “senatorial opposition” rock in front of the “R.R. Rebate Special” train driven by President Roosevelt. A cow labeled “beef trust” is upside down with an arrow through its stomach while the donkey on the train says, “Get busy, Bolivar!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-12
President Roosevelt holds up a “rebate bill” to a Republican elephant. A Democratic donkey looks on and says, “That’s a good thing.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-10
Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon hides behind the United States Capitol building as President Roosevelt, who rides an elephant, charges toward him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-03
President Roosevelt rides a Republican elephant and uses a “presidential power” spear to direct it forward on the “tariff revision” path. The elephant’s tail is attached to the “speaker’s desk” on which Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon rests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-15
President Roosevelt rides an elephant and tries to lasso a number of locomotives: “freight lines,” “rebate system,” and “Beef Trust Refrigerating Line Car Co.” A “small shipper” man lies on the ground.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-25
Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Rhode Island Senator Eugene Hale, and others hold up pitchforks to keep a Republican elephant standing up on “the high tariff pyramid.” President Roosevelt sits on the elephant’s head.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-05
President Roosevelt watches a Republican elephant chase a “democracy” bird from the front of the “White House.” Caption: The Only Bird of National Repute Chased Recently From the White House Grounds.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-30
In one vignette, Henry Gassaway Davis puts his hand on West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins’s shoulder. Caption: Mr. Davis—That it’s all in the family. In the second, an elephant holds President Roosevelt’s hold “to victory.” Caption: G.O.P.—That it had a strenuous leader. In the third, William Jennings Bryan sits by a grave with a headstone that reads, “Safe & Sane Democrat 1904.” Caption: Mr. Bryan—That it wasn’t his friends. In the fourth, Missouri Senator Francis Marion Cockrell stands by “national esteem” wreaths outside the “White House.” Caption: Mr. Cockrell—That it’s an ill wind, etc. In the fifth, Henry Watterson sits in a rocking chair on a boat bound for Europe. Caption: Mr. Watterson—That there’s another country. In the sixth, a badly beaten donkey stands up by a sign that reads, “Under no circumstances will I again be a candidate for the presidency. T. Roosevelt.” Caption: Democracy—That there’s a ray of sunshine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-24
An “independent voter” pats President Roosevelt on the shoulder as Alton B. Parker looks on. In the background is an elephant, a donkey, and a barn with a sign that reads, “Wanted: a manager for this farm—four years—10 salary—independent voter.” Caption: Independent voter selects a manager for Uncle Sam’s farm for the next four years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-12
President Roosevelt rides a Republican elephant over Alton B. Parker and a Democratic donkey. The “prosperity” sun can be seen in the background.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
President Roosevelt rides a Republican elephant decorated with several bells, a “Roosevelt” megaphone, and a “big stick.” Roosevelt sits in a seat with the names of various states.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
New York Senators Thomas Collier Platt and Chauncey M. Depew led a durbar procession, which includes President Roosevelt, who holds a paper that reads, “the presidency compliments of the people,” sitting on a Republican elephant. Democratic party leaders, including Arthur P. Gorman, David B. Hill, Alton B. Parker, August Belmont, and Henry Gassaway Davis, watch from the side. Uncle Sam bows toward the procession.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-29
President Roosevelt holds a “big stick” and directs a coach driven by a Republican elephant and a “working man” forward. Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks and four “trust” men sit in the carriage.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-09
Theodore Roosevelt, dressed in a Rough Rider outfit, marches while holding a pile of speeches in one hand and a rope attached to the trunk of a parading “circus” elephant in the other hand. The elephant is pulling a large wagon labeled “prosperity” and is filled with a strapped-down bundle labeled “Western Votes.” The elephant itself is wearing an “Uncle Sam” hat and has a large blanket over its back labeled “G.O.P.” as well as four discs hanging off the bottom of it. The four discs are labeled “Larger Navy, Panama Canal, Anti-Trust Laws, and Monroe Doctrine.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-05-04
President Roosevelt, drawn as a volcano, erupts and spews a dark cloud labeled “Tax on Wealth,” which causes an elephant labeled “G.O.P.” to race for safety. On the left is a mountain shaped like Charles W. Fairbanks, looking very stoic.
The spring of 1906 saw the most radical level of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, and certainly his boldest and most radical initiatives to date. Yet an examination of his agenda reveals the distinctive Rooseveltian formula for advancing his positions — and possibly his formula for the success he enjoyed. That formula was to anticipate challenges that faced the country, incorporate solutions proposed by advocates, and in the process, soften the extremes but preserve foundational principles. In other words, compromise while moving forward. Roosevelt always thought, and said, that reform was the surest palliative against revolution, and all aspects of his public career — administrative, party leader, writer — worked toward that view of civic life, or as he came to call it, “social and industrial justice.”
The “Democratic Party” donkey and the “Republican Party” elephant sit on a porch. A stork carrying a bag labeled “Dr. Stork” is coming around the corner of the building. Caption: Will it be an elephass or a jackaphant?
A mid-summer cartoon — Puck almost palpably enjoyed a few weeks of politics, scandals, and muckraking on hiatus — addressing, with added humor, common speculation that the two political parties were growing similar to each other, or perhaps switching their identities.
James W. Alexander, president the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and generically labeled “Life Insurance Company,” drowns in a sea of papers labeled “Exposure, Bribery, Syndicate Profits, Dummy Deals, Wholesale Graft, Fake Transactions, Juggled Reports, ‘Yellow Dog’ Funds, Rake-off, [and] Investigation.” He is holding in his raised left hand a “Receipt for Campaign Funds Republican Nat’l. Com.” The “G.O.P.” [Republican] elephant dashes over a bluff on the coastline, losing a top hat and halo labeled “Geo. B.” Out at sea, lightning flashes labeled “Publicity.” A bouquet of flowers labeled “J.H.H.” (James Hazen Hyde, the vice president of Equitable, who had recently been ousted from the company’s board) has been tossed meaninglessly before Alexander.
Icons abound in this cartoon, but their meanings would have been clear to headline-followers in 1905. In the middle of the Muckraking Era, when public feelings rose high against Big Business and corporate corruption, the insurance industry — a “Trust” of a few major firms — was rocked by financial scandals and a high society sex scandal involving the heir to the Equitable Life fortune.