Volcanic eruptions

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.

comments and context

Comments and Context

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.”

President Roosevelt extends the sympathy of the American people for the calamity that has befallen the island of Martinique (eruption of the Mount Pelée volcano).

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-05-10

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Unknown

Language

English

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-05-11

A crowd of capitalists on Wall Street flees a volcano labeled “Common Honesty” erupting in the background. They are carrying packages labeled “Secret Rate Schedules, Rebate Agreements, Watered Stocks, [and] Frenzied Accounts.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Udo J. Keppler’s apocalyptic cartoon was inspired the perennially popular Last Days of Pompeii, the 1834 novel by Edward Buler-Lytton. Public interested frequently was revived by every new excavation and discovery in the ancient city in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. In 1908 an Italian film, and a longer Italian spectacle in 1913, thrilled international audiences.