Life — September 12, 1907 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis: "Who Would Make the Worst President—and Why?" This 1912 *Life* magazine page features reader submissions debating presidential candidates. The three-panel cartoon (bottom) depicts a humorous medical scenario: a young man from Duluth with tooth pain, told gas anesthesia will help, experiences the gas passing "through the roof"—literally lifting him skyward. The cartoon is a visual pun mocking political hot air. The text responses debate Edward Henry Harriman (railroad magnate) and other candidates' fitness for presidency, with contributors like Adolph Edwards arguing over government ownership of railways. The cartoonist (signed "Atwood") satirizes both the absurd remedies offered to voters and the inflated rhetoric of political debate during the Progressive Era.