Since the mid-nineteenth century, American newspapers have used political cartoons to provide a unique commentary on current events. From 1884 to 1912, Teddy Roosevelt was the subject of many of these cartoons. As his political career progressed, so did his portrayal in these drawings. These changes not only show the evolution of Roosevelt, but also of the Republican (and later the Bull Moose) party.
In most of the cartoons ranging from 1884 to 1899 highlight either Roosevelt’s investigation of politics or the reforms which he brought to both the national and New York government. This makes sense, because in those years he was pretty much getting started as a politician. Once he reached a high level of the New York political scene, he began going after corruption. This is made clear in the cartoon in which Roosevelt is preparing to fight a man outside the Tammany Hall Saloon. Tammany Hall was the name of New York’s Democratic political machine, and this machine was known to be corrupt. One of Roosevelt’s first jobs was on the US Civil Service Commission, and this group was in charge of eliminating the spoils system and eliminating corruption, so this cartoon makes a lot of sense.
As Roosevelt got into his vice-presidential and early presidential years, many of the cartoons were centered around his time as a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War. One of the depictions from 1900 shows Roosevelt on a horse with the caption “Vice-Presidential Possibilities: The Rough Rider.” Roosevelt is dressed in his military uniform, but is sitting next to a typewriter and a telephone (with wires in the background). Although the aim here is to remind the public of his heroic past, the office-like elements make Roosevelt look more official an...
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...win over the American people, they simply weren’t interested in a third term. A final cartoon shows an elephant outside of the Republican Convention. This elephant has been beaten up and ripped in half. This portrays the split that occurred between the conventional Republicans (led by Taft) and the Bull Moose Party (led by Roosevelt) that ultimately led to Democrat Woodrow Wilson’s easy victory in that year’s election.
Since their invention, political cartoons have provided for an interesting perspective on politicians and their actions. This is certainly true in the case of Theodore Roosevelt, as his portrayal in these cartoons mimicked the stages of his career. From his rise to fame as a Rough Rider to his “Big Stick” foreign policy to his demise and failed attempt at a third term, Roosevelt’s public image could always be monitored by looking in the local paper.
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most influential people in the early 20th century. His leadership style, his reforms, and his personality shaped an America that was rapidly becoming a world power. Theodore Roosevelt is admirably remembered for his energetic persona, his range of interests and achievements, his leadership of the Progressive Movement, his model of masculinity and his “cowboy” image (). He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive Party of 1912 (). Before becoming President, he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of government (). Roosevelt’s achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician. His legacy lives on as one of greatest leaders in American history.
Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough traces the early life of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. McCullough examines Theodore's love of the outdoors, his health problems, and his family relations. He also discusses Theodore's time at Harvard University, his first marriage, and his entrance into politics. These experiences helped shape and influence Roosevelt's later years, as President of the United States and other political positions.
Roosevelt was the Democratic president from 1933 through 1945. During this time there were two wings of the Democrat party. The first wing were the southern, native-born, white, rural Protestants. The second wing were the northern, immigrant, urban, Catholics. Even though the Democrat party was divided, both sides were united than ever under Roosevelt. The Republican Party, however, began to believe government was the problem, not the solution.
The election of 1912 signified a turning point in American history. Friends, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, competed against each other for the presidency. Though both progressive, they disagreed on how the country needed to run. Roosevelts ever increasing progressivism caused their stances on many important issues to be much different. Although, they did have some points on which they agreed.
Franklin Roosevelt use of logos promotes the organization and shape of his rhetorical response. When Roosevelt begins speaking, he addresses
"Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
When he returned, he was a representative to the Republican convention in Chicago, and this is where he started his amazing friendship with Henry Cabot Lodge that would end up lasting the rest of Roosevelt’s life. Two years after his first wife’s death, Roosevelt got married again to a woman named Edith Carow in 1886. Before Roosevelt became President of the United States, he held several political positions, including the assistant secretary under John Long, the president of New York City’s Board of Police Commissioners, Vice President, but one of his most important positions was the command of the Rough Riders, Teddy’s regiment in the Spanish-American war. While in command of the Rough Riders, Roosevelt became an American hero after a victory against the enemy that no one that was there expected him to survive. After doing so well while at war, Theodore felt that he had earned and should be given the Medal of Honor, but this is something he never got to
Presidents create the leadership position that has a say in all of the decisions for a country. In this era, many judgments of situations needed to be decided, and it made it blatantly obvious as to who made the wrong or right decisions. In the political cartoon published by Washington Post in 1907, Roosevelt wanted to convey that it was necessary to determine what trusts were good or bad. Trusts were made to shut down businesses and he felt he had the power to run these options and opinions. After some violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Teddy really took a step forward in proving his trust-busting techniques. In a speech that Roosevelt made in February of 1912, he expressed his belief on the importance of the people participating in direct election of Senators through his speech. This importance that he felt was necessary eventually led on to the 17th Amendment, which was passed the year after. In Herbert Croly’s New Republic, Wilson received quite a bit of loathing from Croly as he expressed his opinions. The supporters of Wilson definitely disagreed with an article like this, and it was unacceptable to some. Whether liked or disliked, the presidents during this period made an impact on our nation, and the people wanted to be heard for the rights they wanted.
This article really caught my attention and my eye. This article is very historical and has facts within it that date back to the 1700’s. The article talks about how political cartoons play a part with an election. Specifically the presidential elections and how each and every year cartoonist depicts the candidates as a some sort of superhuman. I believe that this article gives people some background on political cartoons and how they have helped play a part within the U.
On August 31, 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt visited Osawatomie, Kansas to give a speech and participate in a memorial dedication. (Hennessy, 1910). Roosevelt had declined to run for re-election to the presidency in 1908, deciding to exit politics and go on a yearlong African safari (Ellis, 2001, p. 284). Frustrated with President Taft’s actions, Roosevelt reentered political life in 1910 (Mowry, 1939). In the Osawatomie address, Roosevelt introduced his idea for a New Nationalism. Many of the speech’s components became the bedrock of the Bull Moose campaign used by the Progressive Party in the 1912 election (Spring, 1970). In the address, Roosevelt compares the struggle for economic equality to the one for abolition of slavery fought in the Civil War. He presents a plea for government and citizens to put nation before self to address economic injustice.
Roosevelt had a habit of walking officers' beats early in the morning and late at night in order to make sure that they were all on duty. Before becoming Vice President in March 1901, he was a New York State Governor. He had signed an act that replaced the Police Commissioners with a single Police Commissioner.
"Collection Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film." Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .
Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was “speak softly but carry a big stick.” President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, “I am an American first and last. “ Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie “he thought with his hips”, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a “positive, warm and tough, authoritative and funny” president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ...
But Roosevelt never intended to overthrow the constitution, nor did he wish for an end to capitalism and individualism. He harboured the American Dream just like the millions of people who sent him to the White House a record four times. That, indeed, was precisely why they loved him so much: because the American Dream had turned sour in the Great Depression, and they trusted that he would be able to find a way back towards it. As Europe gave in to totalitarianism, the New Deal set out to show that democratic reform represented a viable alternative.