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A “Medicinal Spring” with water labeled “A Clean-Cut Progressive Platform” flows from a stone figure shaped like Theodore Roosevelt. “Sherman, Woodruff, Wadsworth, [and] Barnes” are standing by the spring, holding glasses, with dubious looks on their faces. Caption: You can lead them to the waters, but can you make them drink?
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-09-21
President Taft sits on the seashore with a cluster of seashells around him that are labeled “H. Taft, Sherman, Knox, Aldrich, Ballinger, Root, [and] Cannon.” He is holding two labeled “Chas. Taft” and “Wickersham” to his ears, listening for the sound of waves. A large wave, labeled “The People” and showing the face of Uncle Sam, rolls toward shore. Caption: Shells give a good imitation; but, just for a change, why not listen to the real thing?
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-07-27
A wave labeled “Republican Voters’ Revolt” crashes into the dining room of a ship where “Cannon, Payne, Taft, Knox, Sherman, Root, Aldrich, Woodruff, Dalzell, Crane, Wickersham, Lodge, Parsons, Hitchcock, Depew, Hale, Elkins, Ballinger, Smoot, Penrose, [and] Cox” are dining, and upsets a dish of “Party Plums,” as well as a bottle of “Stalwart Grog.” Caption: “We were crowded in the cabin, / Not a soul would dare to sleep; / It was midnight o’er the waters, / And a storm was on the deep.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-04-20
President Taft, as Alexander the Great, is accompanied by James S. Sherman, Sereno E. Payne, Nelson W. Aldrich, Joseph G. Cannon, and George W. Wickersham. They stand before Uncle Sam, shown as Diogenes. Uncle Sam sits at the base of an overturned dome in the shadows cast by Taft and the others who are blocking his sun. The sun shows the face of Theodore Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-04-27
In the left background, “Mount Sam” is erupting, spewing lava labeled “Revolt Against Cannonism, Havens’ Victory in New York, Indiana Upheaval, Increased Cost of Living, Demand for Lower Tariff, Democratic Gains, Consumer’s Revolt, [and] Western Insurgency” which is flowing toward an area labeled “Republican Majority in Congress.” In the left foreground, Nelson W. Aldrich and Eugene Hale flee the scene, while Joseph G. Cannon stands firm as the “Foss Landslide in Massachusetts” races toward him. On the right, President Taft with “Lodge, Root, Depew, Crane, [and] Payne appeal to a shrine containing a diminutive “Saint Ted.” On the far right, James S. Sherman is praying. Caption: Appeals to a patron saint to stop its flow.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-05-11
A ship labeled “Republican Machine,” with Nelson W. Aldrich at the helm and Henry C. Lodge, Joseph G. Cannon, Boies Penrose, James S. Sherman and Chauncey M. Depew hanging on, is starting to tip over in advance of a huge wave labeled “The Ultimate Consumer.” Riding the crest of the wave is a ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, with Theodore Roosevelt standing at the bow or forecastle. Caption: At the height of the storm, an added terror.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-03-02
A comet labeled “Allds Investigation” strikes a planet labeled “Albany Legislature,” causing it to explode among planets labeled “Aldrich, Penrose, Payne, Vreeland, Dalzell, Cannon, Hitchcock, Woodruff, Ballinger, Root, Platt, Depew, Parsons, Sherman, Bliss, Black, Cortelyou, Odell, Lodge, Hale, [and] Elkins.” A lone planet showing the face of Theodore Roosevelt hovers on the far right. Caption: A comet that has cut loose in the Republican constellation.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-03-09
President Taft, as a rooster, has members of his flock labeled “Tawney, Ballinger, Aldrich, [and] Cannon,” as well as J. S. Sherman, under his wings. In the background, on the left, the sun labeled “Progressive Policies” rises. Caption: But the sun will rise whether he forgets to crow or not.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-04-13
A modern version of the sale of Manhattan Island is being acted by unidentified legislators masquerading as Natives and New York businessmen. Among some familiar faces are James S. Schoolcraft representing the Natives, and lurking in the background of businessmen is John D. Rockefeller. Caption: Respectfully submitted to the Float Committee of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-08-25
William H. Taft and William Jennings Bryan, as Native Americans, sit by their tepees. Taft is heating his full dinner pail over a small fire, and Bryan is beating on a drum labeled “Discontent.” J. S. Sherman and John W. Kern are sitting on the ground among a group of others standing in the background.
“Making Medicine” is the first major political cartoon in Puck by the illustrator and cartoonist Will Crawford who, like the magazine’s owner and chief political cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, was a proponent of Indian rights, a student of Native American lore, and eventually an honorary member of tribes. Frequently, therefore, Crawford used Native American traditions, customs, and dress in his cartoons; virtually never is disrespect.
A man labeled “Consumer” walks with crutches labeled “Free Oil” and “Free Hides,” and is heavily wrapped with bandages labeled “Free Valerianic, Free Cerium, Free Acorns, Gambier, Fossils, Free Orange Peel, Free Spunk, Coir, Rennets, Free Aniline Salts, Ipecac, Divi-Divi, Free Manganese, Free Turtles, Rags, Plumbago, Insects, Tonquin, Teeth, Free Brazilian Pebble, Free Pulu Litmus, [and] Free Rope ends.” He has just been discharged from the “United States Congressional Clinic” where “Matron Taft” stands at the door and doctors “Sherman, Payne, Aldrich, [and] Cannon” watch from a window as they clean their medical instruments.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-08-25
President Taft leads the Republican elephant in circles, creating a rut. Among those riding the elephant are Joseph G. Cannon, Nelson W. Aldrich, and James S. Sherman.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-11-10
Waiters Joseph Gurney Cannon and J. S. Sherman turn away a man labeled “Average Citizen” and a woman at the “Hotel Prosperity” dining room because all the tables have been reserved. Signs on the tables read “Reserved for Wool Interests, Reserved for Coal Trust, Reserved for Steel Trust, Reserved for Senator Aldrich and Party, Reserved for Cold Storage Interests, Reserved for Sugar Trust, Reserved for Ice Trust, [and] Reserved for Franchise Grabbers.” Caption: The Head Waiter — Sorry, sir, but all our tables are reserved.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-12-29
An annoyed Uncle Sam sits against a full moon with his hands over his ears. He is caught between the noise of the “G.O.P. Salvation Army” with William H. Taft on the bass drum and James S. Sherman on the cymbals, and “The Bryan Volunteers of America” with William Jennings Bryan also on the bass drum, Samuel Gompers on the cymbals, John W. Kern singing, Alton B. Parker with a large bell, and Henry Watterson with a tambourine, among others. Uncle Sam has papers labeled “Agricultural Prospects” and “Industrial Reports” spread across his lap, “Crop Forecast” in his pocket, and is sitting on papers labeled “Resumption of Business.”
In 1880, Joseph Keppler, founder of Puck and father of Udo J. Keppler, who drew this cartoon, published a similar drawing of partisans of Ulysses S. Grant as the “Political Army of Salvation” — annoyingly singing, banging drums, and parading on behalf of a third term for Grant.
Puck arranges portrait paintings on a gallery wall, placing “C. E. Hughes” and “J. Johnson” side by side. Among the other portraits are William Jennings Bryan, Charles W. Fairbanks, William H. Taft, Mayor Tom Johnson, and J. S. Sherman. Caption: The Hanging Committee — These two would look well in a strong light.
Puck, claiming his role as the eponymous magazine’s spokesman-mascot, asserts preferred choices for the upcoming presidential race. New York’s new and reform-minded Charles Evans Hughes is endorsed despite his short time in public life, and President Roosevelt’s endorsement of William H. Taft. On the Democratic side, Puck endorses Minnesota Governor John A. Johnson, respected but relatively unknown; and less known today. Johnson was beginning his third term as governor (and would die the following year).
Joseph Gurney Cannon hands a shoe labeled “Stand Pat” to J. S. Sherman, who is shining shoes labeled “Conservatism, Reactionary, Special Privileges, [and] Vested Interests.” Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, peers through an open door.
During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, immense shifts of public opinion occurred throughout America. On myriad issues — trusts, corruption, reform, foreign policy — their were titanic changes in all classes and all parts of the country. It was a time of major changes in the economy, in immigration, in socialization, in manners and morals, and whether Roosevelt managed the fluid attitudes of America, or was propelled by them himself, is a question whose answer likely is “a combination of both,” yet the president was proud that he anticipated aspects of potential social unrest and acted in ways that prevented them from becoming crises.
Society might have changed in may ways, but in corners of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, Roosevelt dealt with limits to his persuasion. “Reactionaries” and “Stand-Patters” stood their ground on matters like high tariffs and conservation, only reluctantly yielding to Roosevelt’s reforms. Their numbers were decreasing, as “insurgents” in the House and rebellious reformers in the Senate grew in numbers.
Theodore Douglas Robinson has been cheated out of an electoral victory by Mr. Petrie and the administration. Robinson has the support of the Republicans of Herkimer County, New York, and Theodore Roosevelt believes that the administration’s opposition to Robinson is foolish.
1911-10-03
President Taft climbs a mountain labeled “White House Glacier” with members of his campaign committee hanging from ropes attached to his waist. On the left are “Crane, Penrose,” and the Republican elephant, and on the right are “Sherman, Barnes, [and] Root,” who is driving a piece of heavy machinery. Caption: What can Taft do? They are his guides and he is tied to them.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1912-10-02
Two little children labeled “Taft” and “Sherman” are crying because they have lost their way. Vice President Sherman, as a little girl, is holding the string to a pull-toy which is an elephant on a base with wheels. Caption: Pitiable plight of little Willie and Jamey.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1912-10-09
President Taft, wearing a suit of armor, holds a standard labeled “Campaign of the Full Dinner Pail.” A squire labeled “Sherman” is placing the helmet with plume labeled “W.H. Taft” over his head. Another squire labeled “Penrose” is drawing back the opening of the tent through which Taft can enter the fray.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1912-10-16