Life, 1904-10-06 · page 24 of 38
Life — October 6, 1904 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1904 Life magazine page satirizes President Theodore Roosevelt through a children's story format. "Little Theodore" is Roosevelt himself, depicted as impulsive and reckless—"Uncle Sam" (the U.S. government) watches him nervously. The cartoon criticizes Roosevelt's aggressive policies: his military interventions ("hunts Brigadier-Generals"), corporate trust-busting ("post office" game with "grafters"), and imperialist tendencies. The accompanying train laden with "Tariff," "Standard Oil," and "Trusts" represents the political machinery backing him. The "Dispatches" section mocks Alice Roosevelt (his daughter) for betting on horse races and fashion choices, suggesting the scandal was overblown by society pages while stock markets remained unmoved. The final item sarcastically praises Mexican President Porfirio Díaz as "the best President" while hinting Roosevelt's proposed hunting trip is actually political posturing—celebrating a foreign leader's autocratic "accomplishments" while cynically noting his profitability to American interests. The overall tone: Roosevelt is impulsive, corrupt-adjacent, and theatrically imperial.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THEODORE, HERE 3s 4 picture of little Theodore. He is a good little boy, though his Uncle Sam, who is keeping an eye on him, says that Theodore loses his temper sometimes and does rash things. ‘This little boy is living at present in the White House, though how long he will stay there we cannot say. In the summer he lives in Oyster Bay and the Rocky Mountains, where he hunts Brigadier-Generals and Bears, Wouldn't you like to be as brave as that? But perhaps you will some day, if you can get the United States Army and the Standard Oil Company to back you up. ‘Theodore loves to play with his toys, as you cansee. He is not atall proud, and would rather have a colored doll than a white one. He keeps a stuffed elephant near him, and likes to draw it around with a wire when he is not riding horseback. Theodore is inclined to be mischievous, and his Uncle Sam says he has a tendency to take things that don’t belong to him, but perhaps this isn’t Theodore’s fault. Perhaps he is led on by others. He is very good to his friends and makes his Uncle Sam look after them, whether they deserve it or not. Once he knew a little boy named Len Wood, and Len says that Theodore has certainly been good to him. ‘Theodore’s favorite game is post office. It is played with men called grafters, and the idea is to keep them firmly in certain positions as long as possible, Dispatches. ISPATCHES from Newport, in all the papers which are fit to print, stating that Miss Alice Roosevelt made bets with Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and the Misses Mills, and lost, were eagerly scanned in the Street, but investors developed no marked timidity, In no quarter was there disposition to minimize the im- portance of Miss Roosevelt having worn a handsome embroidered white linen, the body being adorned with a white collar, and a hat which was pink chip, with shaded pink plumes. At Republican headquarters an air of confidence pre- vailed. Chairman Taggart declined to talk, but intimated that he might issue a statement later on. Will Roosevelt Go Hunting with Diaz? HAT ! Roosevelt and Diaz to go hunting in Texas after election? So says a newspaper dispatch from Gal- veston, but it is not very positive. It says that President Roosevelt has promised somebody to go hunting from Gal- veston late in November, and that President Diaz will be invited to accompany him. President Diaz is a great man who has ruled Mexico these many years very much to her profit. Heis about the best President that a Latin-Ameri- can republic ever had. He is a man who has ‘‘done things”’; a profitable man to meet; a man whom President comicbooks.com