Bull Moose Party

1. Theodore Roosevelt and Bull Moose Party ¡Political Cartoons!

2. This cartoon is showing the tragic separation of the Republican Party. The Bull Moose party was established mainly over the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy. After conserved parts of the west and Alaska were opened up for corporate development Taft laid off Gifford Pinchot for his conservational views. The firing angered TR, convincing him to run for a third term. The splitting of the party itself was considered to be ridiculous and “circus” by many but in the end Roosevelt came out on top, as depicted. Although the upper half of the elephant is bruised and beaten, he is still coming out ahead of the rest. Whereas the back half of the elephant is willing to stay pat, meaning he, Taft will be more in the background of the election. This held up true when the 1912 election came to a conclusion, Wilson won but Roosevelt beat Taft 88 to 8 in electoral votes.

3. After the Repub-lican party split and the Bull Moose party was estab-lished in August of 1912 Bull moose party surprisingly began to prevail. Those who support-ed the Republican party however saw the formation of the third party as a new attraction “at the zoo”, meaning the party’s new glow would soon fade, everyone was only entertained for the present moment. Because a third party was something that often cause quite a bit of chaos, TR was the only one getting water/the resources needed. The phrase harvester trust is referring to Taft busting the U.S. steel co. in 1911 after TR supported JP Morgan in his monop-olizing ways. The elephant in the back represents the actual Republican party. Some members felt abandoned and completely hurt due to an overall loss of power. The donkey is representing the up and coming Demo-cratic party. The democrats did not have any power since Grover Cleve-land was in office, they were still learning how to gain support.

4. Depicted in this picture is the act of the beloved Teddy Roosevelt standing up for what he believes in. Theodore Roosevelt’s policies during the 1912 election were some of the most controversial. TR was well known for his trust busting and disapproval of industry. Part of his square deal was the conservation of natural resources and land, he wanted to stop the spread of industry almost completely. To stop industry TR told the people he would be having the federal government intervene and help the workers achieve the rights they had been fighting for so diligently. Roosevelt also pushed for the state government to have more power. He was successful in passing the 17th amendment giving people the power to directly elect senators, previously trusts were appointing certain people. Roosevelt commonly acted without the supreme court due to the fact that he did not believe in some of the policies they were passing. If reelected Roosevelt promised more positive changes for the population, including women. TR was one of the only candidates that supported the women’s suffrage movement. The boots Teddy is wearing are to symbolize his days as a rough rider. The rough riders were volunteers who fought during the Spanish-American war, led by TR. This organization was the first time America saw Teddy’s potential.

5. When Theodore Roosevelt ran for his third term he was portrayed not only as a radical but also and a powerful leader. TR had so much power that this picture is portraying him as a king, with crown and all. The king is clearly knighting newcomers. These new-comers were often progressive party bosses from different major cities in the U.S. The small man in the barrel is Roosevelt’s chief donor and contributor to the progressive party, George W. Perkins. Perkins had close relations with J.P. Morgan because he was a partner in one of Morgan’s side projects. Morgan was also a strong supporter of Theodore. On the back of TR’s jacket is the known symbol of the bull moose party. This shows that supporters of the progressives believe that the party has enough potential to eventually take control of the country’s government. The letter on the wall states that in order for the knights to be knighted that they must have the same train of though as Roosevelt. Teddy’s ideas were very powerful and had an influence over many, making him a perfect leader for the country.

6. grandfather clauses no longer applied, finally after years of fighting African American males had the right to vote. In this political cartoon all the crows are depicting the African American population. Roosevelt is putting progressive salt on their tail because it is an old fable that if salt is put on a birds tail you will be able to catch it. The African American population made up a good percentage of the vote, especially in the South and luckily for Roosevelt most were already supporters of the old Republican party, meaning some of their views would be the same as the progressives. Roosevelt had the campaign stratedgy of appealing to the groups paid attention to least, blacks and women. During the election of 1912 the issue of colored votes was escalating quickly. The fifteenth amendment was added to the constitution during the reconstruction era. This amendment provided universal male suffrage. Unlike previous attempts at suffrage the fifteenth amendment did have loopholes therefore things like illiteracy and