Life, 1908-05-07 · page 15 of 48
Life — May 7, 1908 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes President Theodore Roosevelt's third term ambitions. "The Third Inaugural" poem mocks Roosevelt's justifications for continuing to rule despite earlier pledges to step down. The cartoon depicts a man in a pinstriped suit (Roosevelt) receiving an expensive gift from a woman—referencing Roosevelt's wealth and aristocratic associations while critiquing his contradictions between populist rhetoric and elite behavior. The "At the Opera" section ridicules society journalism's fawning coverage of wealthy figures like Consuelo Vanderbilt (the Duchess of Marlborough), exposing the gap between "plain people" and high society. The final section parodies Tennyson, listing presidential candidates (Taft, Bryan, La Follette, Cannon, Fairbanks, Hughes) as spring flowers—treating politics as seasonal theatrical posturing rather than serious governance. Overall, the page critiques Roosevelt's political legacy, class hypocrisy, and the era's celebrity-obsessed media.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Third Inaugural M* PEOPLE, we shall now explain yhy we continue still to reign, Though we'd refused the throne again. To lead our subjects’ life we sigh, Where those who freely pass the lie Get action on the spot thereby. But our desires we set aside Because the theories we've applied Events but partly justifies Because some roads are paying still, All merchants’ profits are not nil, And trade’s not dead but only ill; Because we must rewrite the law, Because (this is the final straw) We will not quit without one war. So traitors who esteem their necks, With their opinions best not vex The mighty soul of ‘Theodore Prex. Layton Brewer. At the Opera Consuelo, the Duchess of Marlborough, had, to be sure, been with us last fall. But we as a public—both society and ‘the plain people’’—love her well. So there was a nice little thrill when she finally entered.— Town and Country Life. HY do we blush in reading this thing?, We did not write it. Well, the society, reporter is not responsible. He was, very likely, born that way. i LEVERTON (who has hired a taxa- meter cab to propose in): Say “yes,” darling? Miss Catumet: Give me time to think. “Heavens! But not in here! Con- MER MOKTEEMOY FiAcG. sider the expense!” “I'M SORRY, MR. BROWNE, BUT MOTHER DOES NOT ALLOW ME TO ACCEPT INEXPENSIVE PRESENTS FROM GENTLEMEN"? In the Spring THE Spring the voter's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of Taft, In the Spring a fresher Bryan telleth all about ye graft; In the Spring the Boblafollette spouteth on the Senate floor, In the Spring the booming Cannon bursts into its vernal roar; In the Spring the merry Fairbanks pipes aloud his tuneful lay, And the brightest Hughes of summer 'gin to bloom along the way. A. Tennyson Bosbyshell.