Life, 1907-10-31 · page 11 of 22
Life — October 31, 1907 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1912 *Life* magazine page satirizes potential worst presidential candidates through humorous submissions from readers. The format lists numbered proposals (entries 27-31) nominating figures like William Randolph Hearst, Theodore Roosevelt, and John D. Rockefeller as deliberately bad choices, with satirical reasons appended. The cartoon "Big Bill" on the right depicts Secretary of State William Howard Taft as an oversized figure using a megaphone. The accompanying article questions whether Taft has secretly connected his boiler to railroad shafting—political satire suggesting Taft is merely an extension of other powerful interests rather than independent. The left cartoons labeled "The Sharpshooter" and "And the Victim" appear to illustrate political targeting themes, though their specific references are unclear from the image alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
W IP THET CROW LIGHTS VLL TRY A LITTLE SHARP- SHOOTIN’. THE SHARPSHOOTER astray Ryere’ AND THE VICTIM BIEN Slag: 513 Who Would Make the Worst President—And Why ? No. 27 F YOU want a receipt for the very worst President, Paraphrase Gilbert's Dragoon,” Take all the worst things of each promineat resident, Rattle them off to a popular tune. song, “Heavy ‘The craft of A. Hamilton, cunning of Aaron Burr, Acid of Adams (John) baiting Lord Howe, The weakness of Franklin for petty affaires de coeur, Rashness of Paul Jones in courting a row Take some of H much of it), Treason of Arnold, ambition of Gates, A flavor of Harriman’s mode (just a touch of it), Rockefeller’s hunger for railroad rebates. st’s yellow paint (not too “Bill” Taft's displacement and Fairbanks’s hoodoo, Root’s self-effacement and Bryan's gold bugaboo, Croker’s graft appetite, Ted’s strenuosity, Eke his impulsiveness, eke his verbosity Platt and Depewism, Foraker's fire, White House expertness in branding a liar. ‘Take of these clements all that is fusible, Melt them all down in a pipkin or crucible. Set 'em to simmer and take off the scum, And the worst President is the residuum. J. B. Warker. 28 'HEODORE ROOSEVELT would make the worst President, because .to superb natural qualifications he adds the advantage of long practice. No. 20 HEODORE ROOSEVELT. Why? “What man has done, man can do again.” OHN D. ROCK Why? There are 29,240,000 reasons. Respectfully submitted, Ropert Frazier. 3H LE JOE. For tho His youth doesn’t matter, He's a stand-patter. J. E. De Grarr. No. 32 M®’; WILLIAM HEARST, As President, would be N. € Twice the people have reversed Mr. William Randolph Hearst. In any office he’s the worst. A never-on-the-job M. C Mr. William Randolph Hearst, As president, would be N. G. RALD RaTHBURN. RANDOLPH HE great current question about Secretary Taft is whether he has got a boiler of his own or is permanently belted onto a line of shafting which owes its revolutions to steam furnished by an- other statesman. It is curious that this question should press so hard for con- sideration. The big Secretary is one of the finest pieces of human machinery there is in sight, and works to the ad- miration of almost all observers, but the intimacy of his connection with the Roosevelt boiler operates undoubtedly to the prejudice of his independent a tions. It has been a long, hard job to get him to countenance and acknowledge the aspirations at all, and now that he has done it he won’t emphasize their inde pendence. We don’t make out as yet what is going to happen to him. If he isa shadow, he is the biggest, most substantial and most wholesome shadow that ever a President cast. But he is not a shadow; he merely masquerades as one, and does it only be- cause the part he has been cast for seems to demand it. comicbooks.com