The future of America's children looks bleak according to political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon's interpretation of President Woodrow Wilson's administration (1913-1921) and its policies. Wilson, the twenty-eighth president (1913-1921), moved forward with an ambitious, progressive legislative agenda that included the creation of a Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act, an income tax, and implemented antitrust legislation and child labor reforms. His second term was marked by U.S. entry into the First World War.]]>
The City Beautiful movement flourished in the early twentieth century in cities like Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Cleveland. A mixture of urban planning and architectural design, the movement accomplished such wonders as the National Mall in Washington, D.C.]]>
Political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon puts the political bossism of the early twentieth century on display.]]>
The Bonus Bill, or the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924, sought to reward veterans of the First World War with cash compensation based on their tour of service. The act saw extreme debate in the House and Senate in 1921, culminating in the 1922 bill. President Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) vetoed the measure. Likewise, Harding's successor, Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) vetoed another measure on May 15, 1924, but Congress overrode the president, passing the Bonus Bill. At the time, Republicans like Harding and Coolidge pushed for tariff increases with a vigor that political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon felt should be reserved for the veterans of World War I.]]>
Alton B. Parker, a New York judge, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1904 against newspaper tycoon William R. Hearst. With the Democrats splintered, delegates at the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis (1904) saw Parker as a compromise candidate, but delegates also threw around such names as former president Grover Cleveland. Cleveland, Governor of New York (1885-1889) and the twenty-second (1885-1889) and twenty-fourth President of the United States (1893-1897), danced to a unique political beat for his era. As a conservative Democrat, Grover supported business by opposing high tariffs and found fault with American imperialism in the Philippines and elsewhere. However, Cleveland strongly opposed political patronage and corruption as Governor of New York and as president, and had a reputation as a reformer, drawing many like-minded Republicans to vote Democrat.]]>
John T. McCutcheon's "Cartoons of the Day," display political ambivalence in the face of America's pastime and the popularity of former Republican president (1901-1909) and 1913 Bull Moose candidate for president, Theodore Roosevelt (TR).]]>
John T. McCutcheon's "Cartoons of the Day," commenting upon the creation of the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations and the brainchild of President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921). Ironically, the League of Nations was not adopted by Congress. In the second and third panels, soldiers begin to asking questions and vigilance committees spring up to "protect" portions of the country, such as the southwest, where the government's presence was minimal.

Captions: "Under one: The Monroe Doctrine Rides after all. Under two: Beginning to ask questions. Under three: The Municipal Voters League is not the only organization of that kind that has been denounced."]]>
John T. McCutcheon's "Cartoons of the Day," commentating on regulations and government spending.

Captions: "Under one: These dogs of war may be worth keeping after the war if they prove to be good watch dogs. Under two: The wheat Pit is quiet, prices holding steady. Under three: We used to think a billion dollars was a right smart amount of money."]]>
On March 11, 1911, the Secretary of the Interior under the Taft Administration (1909-1913), Richard A. Ballinger, resigned over his reversal of land conservation policies implemented under the Roosevelt administration (1901-1909), but broken in the interests of big business and hydroelectric power.]]>
Caption: "The men at Rockford are an object lesson to the tight wads who are willing to accept the sacrifices of others without making any themselves."]]>
The U.S. Senate usurps the will of the people, press, and the president in this political cartoon by John T. McCutcheon.]]>
Political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon demonstrates how the Senate turns its back on foreign affairs in the Philippines during the early twentieth century, but is more than willing to debate a ship subsidy bill with the vigor only money can buy.]]>
The R.M.S. Lusitania was the largest ship in the world when she set sail in 1907. Equipped with new turbine engines, the Lusitania and her sister ship, the R.M.S. Mauretania, broke the record for crossing the Atlantic several times during 1907. The R.M.S. Lusitania ultimately sank at the hands of a German U-boat in 1915.]]>
]]>
In 1893, U.S. forces overthrow Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii and established a Provisional Government, establishing a U.S. territory on July 7, 1898 under controversial circumstances. This cartoon by John T. McCutcheon possibly refer to the Massie Trial, in which an intoxicated Thalia Massie, a white navy wife, asserted she had been raped and assaulted. The police arrested five plantation workers, whom Massie positively identified. Plantations workers tended to be any combination of Japanese, Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Pilipino, and Portuguese, and many believe she accused them based on their race. One of the five was later severely beaten and another murdered. The murderers served an hour sentence in the Territorial Governor's executive chambers.]]>
Kansas Senator Joseph L. Bristow locks his sights on Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. As the leader of the Republican Party in the Senate and as a representative of the conservative wing of the party, Aldrich was often at odds with progressive Republicans like Bristow. In this cartoon, John T. McCutcheon articulates the debate over the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, which increased tariffs on certain imports like rubber, a commodity in which Aldrich was heavily invested.]]>
Likely referring to President Woodrow Wilson, political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon makes light of Professor Windjammer's military policy in the years leading up to World War I. Wilson kept the United States neutral during his first term in office, but due to America's fledgling navy and army, Germany had little incentive to honor neutrality and commenced unrestricted submarine warfare in January of 1917, sinking American merchant vessels. Republicans, particularly General Leonard Wood and former President Theodore Roosevelt, started a Preparedness Movement, calling for an increase in military strength and numbers. At first opposed to the idea and having the backing of popular opinion, Wilson was forced to relent in the end.]]>
Captions: "Under one: He professes his indignation. Under  two: Will he vote his indignation?"]]>
Lawmakers debate the anti-trust proposals of the Woodrow Wilson administration, in this political cartoon by John T. McCutcheon. Wilson, the twenty-eighth president (1913-1921), moved forward with an ambitious, progressive legislative agenda that included the creation of a Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act, an income tax, and implemented antitrust legislation and child labor reforms. His second term was marked by U.S. entry into the First World War.]]>
Republican machine politics drove the city of Philadelphia during the early twentieth century under party boss Israel Durham and those that followed. As the power of the Republican bosses waned during the twenties and corruption unveiled, the city revolted against Republican machine politics and moved toward Al Smith for president, a progressive Democrat.

Captions: "First Gang Politician - 'Hark I hear a noise! Second Gang Politician' - 'Maybe they won't discover us. We need two hundred more votes in this ward.'"]]>
Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon, the fortieth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1903-1911), welded massive control over house rules as Chairman of the Rules Committee and had unlimited power to appoint people to all house committees. Cannon used his exceptional powers to control the divergent sects in the Republican party in the early nineteen hundreds, thereby appointing only conservative minded committeemen and undermining the progressive Republicans. On March 17, 1910, however, a coalition of progressive Republicans and 142 Democrats took absent Cannon supporters by surprise and succeeded in removing Cannon as Chairman of the Rules Committee, also taking away his power to appoint committee members.]]>