Voting

Marcus Braun expresses disappointment that President Roosevelt will not record his voice for the gramophone archive of Berlin and addresses other issues in William Loeb’s letter. Braun also informs Loeb of the various Republican Leagues he has formed in order to organize voters for the upcoming election. Braun recommends that Loeb organize the foreign press bureau and suggests hiring Max Stern to ensure as many voters as possible turn out for Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-08

James Sullivan Clarkson asks Benjamin F. Barnes to bring to President Roosevelt’s attention correspondence regarding the process of naturalization. Because of a law requiring a person to be naturalized ninety days before voting in an election and the limits on how many naturalization cases the court can handle each day, Clarkson suggests that Roosevelt increase the number of workers in the Naturalization Bureau.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-14

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt between January 1879 to December 1883. Notable events include Theodore Roosevelt’s engagement and marriage to Alice Hathaway Lee, his appointment to the New York State Legislature, and his first visit and buffalo hunt in North Dakota.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1884 to December 1891. Notable events include the deaths of Alice Lee Roosevelt and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s time on his ranch, the completion of Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s engagement and marriage to Edith Kermit Carow, Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt’s birth, the “Great-Dieup” of cattle in North Dakota, and the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

William N. Tilchin examines the variety of people drawn to Theodore Roosevelt, and he notes that most embrace a particular aspect of his life or career while there are others, himself included, who he characterizes as “all-in Rooseveltians” who adopt Roosevelt’s thinking whole. Tilchin admits that he approaches each election and his voting choices from this position, and he asks which candidates meet the test of adhering to positions staked out by Roosevelt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2020

Joseph Schwarz argues that the recent increase in socialist votes during the recent election sustains Theodore Roosevelt’s judgment as a leader and statesman. Roosevelt’s repeated warnings against the advance of socialism have gone unheeded. In the future, when the socialist vote is running into the millions, the Republican and Democratic parties will call Roosevelt to the presidency. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-13

John E. W. Thompson will be voting for Theodore Roosevelt. Thompson wrote to Judge Alton B. Parker asking Parker to publicly announce his belief in the equal rights of all races. Parker replied that he would take Thompson’s suggestion into consideration. Consequently, Thompson concludes the amendments to the Constitution were in jeopardy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-14

Thomas Goode Jones writes a response to former Alabama governor B. B. Comer’s statements on Alabama’s administration from 1890-1894 and gives his own recollection of events. The article is published in “The Montgomery Advertiser”.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-17

There are twenty-three constitutional amendments up for vote at the October 10, 1911 California state special election.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-19

Joseph Schafer lists the totals of several different votes, including on a university appropriations bill and the election of a senator.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-29

Charles J. Bonaparte comments on how Maryland will vote in the upcoming presidential election between President Roosevelt and judge Alton B. Parker. Bonaparte believes the race will come down to the success of the Democratic managers in manipulating the vote totals and the attitudes of independent Democrats. Bonaparte himself believes that Maryland should vote for Roosevelt, as Parker’s campaign is working with Senator Arthur P. Gorman of Maryland and former New York Governor David B. Hill, and will be beholden to them as his “twin sponsors.” There has been much more natural support for Roosevelt from independent factions than there has been for Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-28

This cartoon shows Alton B. Parker at the voting booth in 1896, 1900, and 1904. In 1896 and 1900, he holds a “ballot (for free silver).” The captions for the first two read, “I voted for Bryan and Free Silver in 1896—” and “And again in 1900—” The last caption for 1904 reads, “But of course I regard the Gold Standard as irrevocably established.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-26

President Roosevelt holds a “presidential nomination 1904” paper and rides a Republican elephant with a “Cortelyou halo” that pulls a “campaign fund band wagon.” New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge ride smaller elephants while Secretary of Commerce and Labor George B. Cortelyou holds a “reform in elections” stick. Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw and Attorney General and recently appointed Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox are dressed as jugglers. The entire party walks toward the Republican National Convention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-17

William H. Taft and J. S. Sherman sit atop the Republican elephant that stands on a washed-out bridge with President Roosevelt. The “Democratic votes” river beneath them is rising as they look at Washington, D.C., in the background. Taft says, “What’s the matter, Teddy?” Roosevelt replies, “Never saw the river so high since Cleveland was elected!!”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Two days before national balloting for the presidency, Democratic political cartoonists like James Calvert Smith plied their trade, intending to persuade and encourage readers through wishful thinking more than policy prescriptions or party planks. Of course Republican cartoonists were doing the same thing; the practice was old as the profession itself.

President Roosevelt casts a “vote for Root” in the voting book for “U.S. Senator from New York.” He says, “Root must be sent to the Senate!”

comments and context

Comments and Context

In 1908, United States senators were still elected by state legislatures, as per the Constitution, not by popular vote. To modern eyes, this cartoon would suggest that President Roosevelt was casting his ballot, or intending to do so, for Elihu Root as senator from New York. In fact it was the strong imputation of Roosevelt’s preference that inspired Edward Joseph McBride’s cartoon.

William Jennings Bryan, riding a donkey, and President Roosevelt and William H. Taft, riding an elephant, tug on the arms of the “labor vote.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

To the extent there was a “Labor Vote” in 1908 it was indeed a target of both parties, and it began in an important way to trend Democrat. Previously, union members, a growing percentage of laborers, were attracted to Socialist candidates or Democrats. In the latter case it was as much suspicion and hostility toward corporations, trusts, and “Eastern financial interests” as affection for Democratic policies.

On the eve of the election, vignettes on New York and presidential politics are presented. At the upper left, candidate for Governor of New York Lewis S. Chanler stands tall as two men, including Charles Francis Murphy, look on and say, “Hero.” Caption: Chanler takes a stand at last: He says he is opposed to the shot-gun license law. Opposite this, a banner reads: “We are willing to be regulated but not by Governor Hughes. Charlie Murphy is good enough for us. The Franchise Grabbers’ Anti-Hughes Club.” At the bottom, John D. Rockefeller with a “$29,000,000 fine” tag says, “I think I’ll vote for you, Mr. Taft.” William H. Taft raises his hands in the air and says, “Don’t.” Looking on, William Jennings Bryan smiles and says, “Oh I’m so happy” while President Roosevelt says, “Don’t let him tell you that, Bill. Soak him one. It’s a plot.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Arcane issues of 1908 presidential politics, and even the minutia of New York State affairs, permeate this informal but clever group of vignettes by Floyd W. Triggs, published on election eve. 

President Roosevelt pours a basket of “votes” into the top of “ballot box Taft” in the shape of William H. Taft’s face. His mouth is spewing out votes.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist James Calvert Smith, who later in his career, as a magazine gag cartoonist, signed his work simply “Calvert,” borrowed a cartoon convention for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer‘s J. H. Donahey, placing a T and an R in Theodore Roosevelt’s spectacles, as if readers might not identify the president.

Voters watch as August Belmont points to an illustration of Alton B. Parker who wears a “trusts” chain around his chest on the side of a circus tent. Verbiage reads, “The Democratic giant guarantees to break the chain by chest expansion.” In Parker’s hands are two weights, “sound money” and “clean politics.” Similarly, Henry Gassaway Davis holds a barrel that reads, “millions for the purification of politics. Not.” Verbiage around him reads, “The Hercules of West Virginia.” David B. Hill sits by a “ballot box” and holds a paper that reads, “After this performance, I shall retire from the show business. D. B. Hill.” Several men hide in the tent, including Parker, who holds a “political graft” weight; Thomas Taggart, who holds “gambling trust magnate” cards; Davis, who holds a “West Va. Coal Trust price” rock; Grover Cleveland; and Arthur P. Gorman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-15

Alton B. Parker sleeps in a bed and awakes from a nightmare of a hydra-headed monster: “militarism,” “violation of the Constitution,” “the race issue,” “the spirit of war,” and “imperialism.” A “voter” brings Parker an “election verdict” pill.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-25