United States. Congress

President Roosevelt posts his message on a wall underneath “Article II, Sec. III,” which says, “He shall, from time to time, give to the congress information of the state of the UNION.”

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C. R. Macauley’s cartoon in the New York World is a remarkable testament of the politics of the day: the closing days of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, the accelerated radicalism of his critiques of American society and its ethical moorings, especially among the monied classes, and, in a larger sense, the treatment of Roosevelt’s policies, and the growing corps of Republican insurgents and progressives as addressed by the nation’s major Democratic newspaper.

As President Roosevelt holds a “dishonest” brand on a stick labeled “special message to Congress,” he chases a man holding “dishonest wealth,” “illegal discrimination,” “watered stocks,” “stock gambling,” and “dishonest corporation methods.” The man says, “The public and the courts be ‘d–d.'” In the background, “Congress” says, “Oh I’m so afraid somebody will be hurt!”

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It can be supposed that cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling composed the wording this cartoon’s title to answer the question some citizens had about whether the Theodore Roosevelt the reformer would have pulled in his claws because of the financial crisis engendered by the recent Wall Street Panic.

President Roosevelt walks into a meeting with “‘my policies’ band” drum and a “message to Congress” cymbal, disrupting the speaker, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes.

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If President Roosevelt had an ulterior motive in timing the release of a major policy paper on the same day that New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes had announced an important speech bearing on his own immediate political future, The New York World saw through it, and cartoonist C. R. Macauley delineated the “coincidence” in clear terms.

“Miss Columbia” dressed in the “present currency system” asks President Roosevelt, working in a fabric shop, “Can’t you hurry those new goods?” Roosevelt points to the sign: “New elastic goods will be received in December from Congress.”

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Arthur L. Bowen’s drawing in the Chicago Daily Journal was more an editorial cartoon than a political cartoon — illustrating a current situation rather than advocating or attacking a partisan position. But as such it explained well what researchers might understand about the financial crisis that precipitated and followed the Wall Street Panic that commenced several weeks earlier.

President Roosevelt sits atop a “judiciary” bear as the “administration” bear holds a “big stick” and the “House” and “Senate” bears look on. A snake labeled “corporate influence” slithers underneath the judiciary bear.

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Cartoonist Joseph Harry Cunningham, never in the first rank of his cartooning contemporaries, drew this cartoon of President Roosevelt in the Louisiana canebrakes, only after the president emerged from the Louisiana canebrakes after two weeks of hunting black bears, and resumed his speaking tour.

President Roosevelt points to a small “prison door” with a man labeled “Congress” by his side. In the background is a police officer chasing a “corporation criminal” that has millions of dollars. Inside the prison is a “man who stole $3.00” and a “pickpocket.” Caption: President Roosevelt — “You see, we want that door cut larger so that when we catch one of those big fellows we can put him inside and not let him loose with the public.”

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President Roosevelt’s complaint, pictured in Jay N. Darling’s cartoon, was and is a cliche in debates about the American criminal justice system — that small-time criminals are incarcerated but, frequently, major lawbreakers “use the system” or evade major penalties and jail time.

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie, peace advocate and sponsor of the upcoming International Peace Congress at the Hague, holds a shepherd’s hook labeled “Peace Congress” and reaches up to grab the “naval program” horn dangling from a moon featuring President Roosevelt’s likeness.

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Andrew Carnegie had been persuaded to be the principal supporter of the Second International Peace Conference at Hague, set for October 1907. Since the first conference in that Dutch city, nominally convened at the invitation of Russia even as it planned its own military buildups, Carnegie had sold his steel and related enterprises, and became arguably the world’s richest man. With that increased fortune, and more time to himself, the canny Scots-American pursued interests from simplified spelling to establishing “free libraries” to promote peace.

A man labeled “59th Congress” sits on a trunk of “Dead Bills.” In the foreground is a book, “Record of Things I Should Have Done.” On the left is a teddy bear with a net looking at a “lame duck” saying, “My meat!” On the right is a “Dep’t Clerk” reading a paper, “U.S. Report–Great Era of Prosperity–Everybody in it But…” Meanwhile, President Roosevelt tells Uncle Sam, “I’m deeply interested in that trunk!” and Uncle Sam replies, “Me too!”

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Clifford Kennedy Berryman had transferred from the Washington Post across the District to the Evening Star only months before this cartoon was published, and it seemed to coincide with the cartoonist’s improvements as a caricaturist and conceptualist. Historically, however, the cartoon mischaracterizes the accomplishments of the 59th Congress, which was about to adjourn.

A man labeled “3rd term rumor” comes in a revolving door to shake President Roosevelt’s hand as another man labeled “59th Congress” leaves.

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On election night of 1904, President Roosevelt made a clear statement that would not accept the nomination for a successive term four years hence. He never qualified this pledge. As time progressed he made it clear, especially to fellow Republicans who aspired to the presidency, that his choice of successor was William H. Taft.

President Roosevelt, George F. Edmunds, and Secretary of State Elihu Root all hold boards behind their backs labeled “Ship Subsidy.” Meanwhile, a man labeled “Congress” walks toward them holding a book that reads, “O, long may it wave” and “My country ’tis of thee.”

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The federal government’s attitude toward the building of large ships — for military as well as maritime trade use — was a thorny subject at the time of Jack H. Smith’s cartoon.

President Roosevelt looks over a fence at a farmer labeled “Congress” chopping the roast off a pig: “salary increase.” The rest of the pig is labeled, “inheritance and income tax,” “big warships,” “Panama Canal legislation,” and “currency reports.” He smokes a pipe as he says, “I’ll take this roast home. The rest will go in the smokehouse.” In the background stands “The Congressional Smokehouse” with a sign, “The Long Cure Process Used.” Four cuts of meat are in there: “Philippines Tariff Bill,” “Ship Subsidy,” “Santo Domingo Treaty,” and “Immigration Bill.”

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The underlying point, or contemporary pertinence, of cartoonist Kirk L. Russell’s cartoon is in its title — “Planning a Raid On the Smokehouse” — despite not portraying President Roosevelt as anything but a casual observer over the fence.

President Roosevelt stands with a big stick in his hand looking ahead to dishes that are running away. One is labeled, “Arrangement of Courts.” Behind him are several broken dishes, “Precedent No. 6–The president never leaves the United States,” “The president should not smile,” “The president should not bust trusts,” “Precedent No. 4–The president should not work hard,” “Precedent No. 10–The President sends few messages to Congress.”

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A type of challenge for historians and researchers is represented by this cartoon. When an inferior political cartoonist addressed a contemporary issue, it is sometimes difficult to discern the intention of the drawing.

Jack Smith was the political cartoonist of the Washington Herald, a daily that was founded in 1906, and fought for its share of the morning market in the nation’s capital. It would have a tortuous but somewhat influential career, with owners including Frank Munsey, Cissy Patterson (of the McCormick-Patterson family, publishers of the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News), and William Randolph Hearst. It eventually merged with the evening Times; then absorbed by Eugene Meyer’s Washington Post.

President Roosevelt holds a gun labeled “Simplified” and cartridges on his belt labeled “The New Way”: “Tho,” “Tapt,” “Thru,” “Topt,” “Blest,” and “Fixt.” Opposite is a man labeled “Congress” with a belt labeled “The Old Way” and cartridges labeled “Though,” “Tapped,” “Through,” “Topped,” and “Blessed.” The two are firing words at the feet of the “Public Printer” – “Dropt,” “Ript,” “Mixt,” “Mixed,” and “Ripped” – who jumps into the air to avoid getting shot. A diminutive Andrew Carnegie stands in the foreground.

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Cartoonist “Scar” (Alonzo W. Scarborough) of the newly energized New York Globe drew memorable cartoons about Theodore Roosevelt in his second term. As with many cartoonists, the Republican Scar milked the Simplified Spelling matter for all it was worth. In fact it was not worth much, except as a curious distraction in a very contentious political year.

This cartoon depicts President Roosevelt every day of the week. Monday “Writes a message to Congress,” Tuesday, “Another message,” Wednesday, “A message,” Thursday, “A message,” Friday, “Again, a message,” Saturday, “Still another message,” Sunday, “At rest” as he sits in a rocking chair reading the message.

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That many political cartoonists drew observational drawings of Theodore Roosevelt: hard at work; a fount of energy; a polymath with varieties of interests; exemplar of the Strenuous Life; doing an average person’s allotment of work before breakfast; engaged in physical, mental, athletic, and recreational activity; is because that is, virtually, how Roosevelt’s days went. The president, as a thematic preoccupation by himself, was irresistible to cartoonists on deadlines.

An apprehensive boy labeled “Congress” looks at a club hanging on the wall labeled “TR Big Stick.” Caption: “He will be a good boy.”

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Cartoonist T. K. Hedrick was ambiguous in this example of his iconic one-column commentary drawings. To be judged according to the eye of the beholder is whether President Roosevelt’s famed Big Stick awaits being utilized, or perhaps has grown twigs from disuse. The “boy” — Congress — appears to be undecided about whether to even touch, much less wield, the Big Stick.

A squid-like entity labeled “The Trusts” sits on a seat labeled “Congress.” Caption: “On the anxious seat.”

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The anxiety of the creature in the cartoon of “H” is palpable. In 1906 — with the press, the courts, the Administration, and many senators and congressmen incited against the trusts, there was reason for anxiety.

President Roosevelt holds “the message” football and looks at Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and President Pro Tempore of the Senate William P. Frye, who face one another.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-03

In one vignette, “Congress” shaped like Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks at President Roosevelt. Caption: That he has three more days of grace. In another, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Secretary of War William H. Taft, and Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw hold a paper that reads, “President’s anti-third term declaration.” Caption: That it is irrevocable. In a third vignette, a man with a pickaxe sweats and smiles. Caption: That the president has gone. In the fourth vignette, “Dorsey” looks at a sign that reads, “Dismissal of colored troops—25th Infantry.” Caption: That he wasn’t in it. In the fifth vignette, William Jennings Bryan sits in a chair. Caption: That the N.Y. democracy did so splendidly.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-29

President Roosevelt holds a suitcase, binoculars, and a fan as he says, “Now for a Panama peep!” Behind him are several animal pelts: “R.R. rate legislation,” “meat trust victory,” “N.Y. state,” “60th Congress,” and “1st Ohio Dist.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-09

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon holds a gavel and holds the docile lamb of the “House” under his thumb. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt holds a big stick behind his back and watches as an unruly “Senate” goat eats the “railway rate bill.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-01