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A man, possibly Joseph Pulitzer, dressed as a jester and holding papers labeled “Income Tax Law,” stands before a woman labeled “Democracy” sitting in a chair labeled “Congress.” “Democracy” holds a quill pen in her hand and appears to be pondering whether to sign the bill. In the background, a man with a ballot box for a head and with one finger raised tells her not to sign the bill.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1894-02-07
David B. Hill as the animal trainer Carl “Hagenbeck” performs a circus act with trained animals labeled “Murphy, Pugh, Chandler, Peffer, Morgan, Coke, Higgins, Stewart, Teller, Cullom, [and] Hoar.” Hill is standing at center with a bag of “Peanut Politics” at his feet. He holds a whip in his right hand and a string in his left, which is attached to a ring in the nose of “Murphy” as a dancing bear. “Pugh” as a monkey sits on the floor. The other animals are standing on short pedestals arranged around the rear of the cage.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1894-02-07
President Cleveland stands on the edge of a cliff on the “high road” labeled “Good Government Road,” holding the end of a broken bridle to a donkey that has fallen off the cliff. The donkey is still wearing a portion of the bridle labeled “53rd Congress.” Caption: An Ass, being led along the high road, suddenly started off and bolted to the brink of a deep precipice. When in the act of throwing himself over, his Leader used his best endeavors to pull him back. The Ass, persisting in his effort, the Leader let him go, and remarked sorrowfully: “Well, I’ve done my best for you; – it’s your funeral, not mine!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1894-12-26
Thomas B. Reed stands on a low platform labeled “Maine,” looking through a bent and crooked telescope, labeled “Presidential Aspirations,” at the White House in the distance. A diminutive “Joe Manley” slips a gavel labeled “Speaker of Next House of Representatives” from Reed’s left hand.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1894-09-12
A large group of members of the Fifty-fourth Congress are pictured. Many are dressed as natives, with some wearing grass skirts. Most are armed with spears or clubs, while some have shields. Four are reading the “Reminiscences of John Sherman,” one turns the crank on a spit where John Bull is being roasted, and Thomas B. Reed is standing on a platform on the left. A statue labeled “Jingoism” appears at center. Grover Cleveland appears in effigy with several spears or arrows stuck in him. Joseph G. Cannon sits on the floor on the right.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1896-05-27
A gigantic, well-dressed pig labeled “Protection Glutton” confidently strides into Congress carrying a paper that states, “We demand a prohibitory tariff on all imports, in the interest of the suffering laborer, the down-trodden farmer, and the struggling infant industries of the country.” Among the Congressmen present are Thomas B. Reed, Nelson Dingley Jr., Matthew Quay, Garret A. Hobart, and possibly Mark A. Hanna.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1897-01-13
Theodore Roosevelt is glad to see the meeting of the big business interests take place in Washington, D.C. Roosevelt believes in a strong relationship between Congress and the people who are so impacted by the legislation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-01-15
President Roosevelt speaks to a crowd in Wheeling, West Virginia. After thanking and praising native Senator Nathan B. Scott for the introduction, Roosevelt discusses how America is living in a period of unparalleled prosperity and advancement in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. However, that prosperity comes with its own problems, namely those related to the rise of large, interstate corporations. He encourages the crowd to reject patent solutions or revolutionary reactions to the problems introduced by trusts. Rather, he asserts that the country must evolve, with the federal government regulating corporations, gaining facts and encouraging publicity but not opposing corporations as such. He compares the need to adapt the law to address trusts with the evolution of military arms and tactics; the means may change, but the need for citizen courage, honesty, and character remain.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-06
President Roosevelt briefly speaks at a banquet in Dubuque, Iowa. He discusses his opinions of Iowa’s representatives in Congress, Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, and Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-02
President McKinley rides on the back of a large tortoise labeled “Congress,” its body bound with ribbons labeled “Demands of Populists,” “Concessions,” “Demands, East, West, North, and South,” “Demands of Silverites,” and “Demands of Monopolists.” McKinley is holding a whip labeled “Administration.” They are making slow progress on the road “To Prosperity.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1897-05-05
President McKinley addresses an audience from a stage in a theater. Behind the curtain, an overturned hat labeled “Aldrich” lies on the stage next to a man holding papers labeled “Committee on Finance,” kneeling before another man who is about to strike him with a club labeled “Demands of Western Senators.” Two other “members of the cast” are engaged in a fist-fight.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1897-06-16
Judge Alton B. Parker, the Democratic nominee for the presidency, gave a speech about the Fourteenth Amendment which neglected to address the political consequences surrounding suffrage and discrimination. Rather, Parker focused on whether or not the Supreme Court would void legislation that aimed to “fetter and degrade State Governments.” The writers of the article point out that the second section of the amendment allows Congress to make laws ensuring equal protection for black and white voters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-08
Resolutions adopted by the National Afro-American Council, asking President Roosevelt and Congress to pass laws protecting African American constitutional rights and lives.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-06
A sword labeled “Removal of Duties on Meat” is suspended by a chain labeled “Republican Congress” above a bull labeled “Meat Trust” feeding from a dish filled with coins labeled “Arbitrary Profits.” Caption: Unlike the sword of Damocles, which was suspended by a hair.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-02-23
President Taft, as a photographer, works in a darkroom illuminated by a small red light labeled “Public Support,” developing glass plates labeled “Progressive Measures.” One labeled “Tariff Reform Plate” is “Botched.” He is using “Cannon Developer” and “Aldrich Fixing Bath,” which he gets from bottles shaped like the heads of Joseph Cannon and Nelson W. Aldrich. Caption: An amateur photographer who spoils good plates by using bad chemicals.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-03-02
President Taft, as a hen, sits on eggs labeled “Reform Measures” on a nest that is infested by rats labeled “Cannon, Aldrich, Gallinger, [and] Smoot.” Caption: If the trustful hen doesn’t wake up, there’ll be nothing left but the shells.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-03-30
The “Black Horse Cavalry,” under the leadership of “Woodruff” wearing the red suit of the Devil, is about to charge through a valley toward the “People’s Heavy Artillery,” with the “Taft National Battery” on one side and the “Hughes State Battery” on the other. Overlooking the scene is a cloud with the face of Theodore Roosevelt. Caption: Woodruff’s Albany Dragoons have a hunch that “some one has blundered.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-04-06
A richly dressed man stands in the street in a neighborhood of lavish homes, with two large bags of money hanging at his sides, labeled “Profits as Attorney at Law” and “Profits as Claim-Agent.” A smaller bag, labeled “Salary,” hangs at his waist.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-02-14
Uncle Sam sits at a table in the “Congressional Lunch Rooms.” He is being served a large sausage labeled “Tariff Bill” by a waiter labeled “Republican.” Another waiter labeled “Democrat” is standing on the left. Caption: That’s one of those things which no fellow can find out.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-03-21
A woman labeled “Business Interests” is drowning in a pond of silver coins labeled “85 cents.” She is wearing waterwings labeled “Patent Air-Bladder” and “Life Preserver,” “Makeshift Silver Certificate,” and “85-Cent Legal Tender Dollar,” from which air is escaping through several punctures. The U.S. Capitol is in the background and a long line of congressmen are departing “Homeward.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-03-11