The Race Is On

I'm devoting this Starback Saturday to January, 1920 cartoons of the Washington Evening Star's Clifford Berryman. As a cartoonist in the nation's capital, Berryman often turned his attention to the presidential race, which by this point was getting underway in earnest.

"An Idaho Idea of a Happy New Year" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (D.C.) Sunday Star, January 4, 1920

I believe this "Idaho Idea" refers to a letter sent by Senator William Borah (R-ID) to each of his party's presidential candidates demanding their stance on U.S. membership in the League of Nations, a sticking point in American ratification of the Paris peace accords. Senate Republican leaders wanted the League kept alive as an issue in the November elections, since they were successfully chipping away at public support for it. The Republican candidates, some of whose stands on the issue were actually well known (Sen. Hiram Johnson, in the glasses, for example), were quite content to play along.

"Without Relief" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, January 13, 1920

Younger readers may not recognize that Uncle Sam is suffering from a toothache in this second cartoon. Also, while the election would have been only eleven months away, the inauguration of the next president wouldn't be until the following March 4.
 
Given Warren Harding's prominence in our first cartoon today, Berryman appears to have correctly predicted the eventual Republican nominee. In fact, however, the leaders in the Republican race through the primaries and caucuses and into the party's convention were General Leonard Wood and Illinois Governor Lowden; so my guess is that Berryman was singling Harding out as being the most pusillanimous of the bunch.

"All I Said Was Hello" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, January 7, 1920

Meanwhile, Democrats had no shortage of ready and willing candidates, but many in the party yearned for someone else to get in the race. Three-time nominee William Jennings Bryan wasn't shy about putting his two cents in, and the press ate it up — even if hardly anyone longed to see the loser of the 1896, 1900 and 1908 elections mount a comeback.

"Just Conversation" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, January 20, 1920

Some Democrats wanted their party's nominee to be Herbert Hoover, who remained popular for having kept the country, the troops, and our allies fed during the Great War. While the U.S. was still a declared neutral, he worked 14-hour days as head of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, negotiating with the British and Germans to ensure safety for food shipments. Once America entered the war, President Wilson tapped him to lead the U.S. Food Administration; as "Food Czar," Hoover promoted "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" to prevent rationing, while bringing the federal government into the food marketplace to avoid hoarding and profiteering.

"Hoover's Hint" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, January 15, 1920

Hoover's criticism of Attorney General Mitchell Palmer's "Red Scare" raids, and his advocacy of a minimum wage, a 48-hour work week, and banning child labor endeared him to progressives both Republican and Democrat. But he denied any interest in either presidential nomination, claiming that anyone saying the contrary was "fooling with a ouija board."

"Just Can't Help Lookin' at Him" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, January 24, 1920

Not that his denials prevented any further speculation, of course.

By the way, since we just passed the 150th anniversary of Thomas Nast's first use of a donkey to represent the Democratic party, I want to point out that the homely spinster in these last two cartoons was an equally recognizable cartoon depiction of the Democrats. Miss Democracy was employed by multiple cartoonists by the dawn of the 20th Century, but had fallen out of favor by the 1960s.