Judge, 1908-02-22 · page 7 of 16
Judge — February 22, 1908 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks President Theodore Roosevelt's famous "strenuous life" philosophy. The cartoon parodies his relentless activity by listing an absurdly packed daily schedule: rising at 4 AM, running, shooting guns repeatedly, wrestling professors, riding horses, shaking hands with frontiersmen, and dictating hundreds of letters—all while eating red peppers and biting nails. The joke targets Roosevelt's well-publicized vigor and his cultivation of a hyper-masculine public image. Every activity is presented as exhausting and pointless, yet reporters constantly validate it with exaggerated praise ("the best...he ever met"). The repetitive gun-firing and constant physical feats lampoon how newspapers breathlessly covered Roosevelt's energy as proof of presidential fitness. The satire suggests Roosevelt's theatricality—that his strenuous persona was performative rather than genuinely purposeful, designed primarily to impress journalists and the public.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A DAY IN A PRESIDENTS LIFE. R‘ ISE at 4: AJM. Sun ve late in getting up. Stre uous life evidently docs not ap= peal to it Ran half a mile and jumped over the hen-h Bath in the Potomac. Tee hardly thick enough te make the dip at pleas= amtoone, Back to the house. Fired off a yun, Echoes very pleasing. Reminds him of Sam Jam Hill yo AM. Breakfast. at hear steak. Rekates 1a story of wonderful shot, 645 A.M. More Ran the wheelbarrow the fot, Wants: somet “rassle” Dictated 398° letters. Chased the old speckled turkey around the barn, Bit a four-inch nail in two. Ate a red pepper. 7AM. Dietated more let= ters, No reference te third term. Repeated the word strenuous 63 ved aff the hen-house? times, XX. a. ‘Telephone dL take i clock, and outlined the course. Made a bet porters that hey horseback ride ator with sen that he could beat him k race from Podunk 8:30... Donned the gloves with sor Swattum, Proe fessur cd later that the President was the best man with the og A.M. Met) Professor Matto, the fimous wrestler from iygtin for photogra Japan. ‘The professor afterward reported that the President was hen vy i 1 the most wonderf a visit fren “Veeth, Mo, g30 AM. TE shot from Gleamin, 10:30 ALM. Reve from Montana whodr like Jersey breed. Shook hands with the wrestler he had ever met, Th that the President was the best ritfle-shot that he had ever A BREACH OF PROMISE CASE! oxen in the ribs, Old plainsman later reported that the President knew more about oxen than any one he ever met. FOR A 1045 A.M. Received report- MCE LITTLE CHERRY ers and photographers, and or- dered horses for a ride. Jumped in the saddle without touching it with hishands. Dashed off into the wild environs of the city, with reporters and photo; keep up. At a small cottage an old woman is asked for a drink of milk. Wonderful! President drink- Ik, at state of driveling idiocy. Photog. phers straining. to. ing a glass of Reporters in raphers and seeret-service men in- dignant because old woman did not melt into oil at sight of President. 130 PM. Back to White House. Entered the dining-room, drank a glass of peach-brandy, put down the gliss, wiped his mouth with a napkin. (This is vouched for by nine reporters.) 2p.M. Had luncheon. Fired off another gun, and told report- ers about the battle of Sam Jam loves he had ever met. Hill, Dietated 389 letters. Ate another red pepper, — Posed hers, More exercise. ‘Threw an axe at the house. 3h M. ‘Took another bath, Tee cold, ‘Tried his teeth on K sin the White House grounds, afterward reported that the President knew more about the expert rifle another sor Bul ked up some ke professor afterward reported any man he ever met. a. Attended to more affairs of state, Re longewhiskered plainsman 4 more ~The hatter looked very much — deputations and shook hands g8q times. Member from ( ent knew more shout shaking «Ss nd poked the — afterward reported that the Presi hands the Y svou. Another run} ny one he had ever met. with the wheelbarrow. Professors Swattum,| G h@ p ped Skin Mattoand Bullseye called again The soothing, healing and 7M. Had dinner. nourishing properties of Sy ou. Wrote an-] pine-tar, glycerine and sweet vegetable oils, as combined in Packer’s Tar Soap make it invaluable for chapped, chafed or irri- tated skin. Itsroutine use not only protects, but sof- tens, whitens and fortifies. other chapter in book en- titled “Phe Mighty Hun ter; or, How F Killed the Chipmunk.” gh. Fired another yout of the back win dow. Did a lot of other tings, 12 o'clock. Went te) hed honPELY ” THE PACKER MPG, CO, NEW YOKK comicbooks.com