Life — December 24, 1914 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Bull-Moose Elegy" & "Giving Him a Smile" The poem satirizes Theodore Roosevelt's failed 1912 presidential comeback. The "Bull-Moose" refers to Roosevelt's Progressive Party, which split the Republican vote. References to "the Colonel homeward plods," "nomination from his sight," and "Hi Johnson made a winning fight" allude to Roosevelt's defeat and Woodrow Wilson's victory. The cartoon below depicts a woman attempting to console a military officer, captioned "Giving Him a Smile." The accompanying Old Saratoga whiskey ad repurposes this domestic scene for advertising, with text about cheering up "Mr. Potential Ward Boss." The page mixes political commentary on Roosevelt's failed ambitions with unrelated consumer advertisements, typical of *Life* magazine's satirical-commercial format.