Read All About It

"It's Your Next Draw" by Jay N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, June 18, 1920

Like the Republicans before them, when the 1920 Democratic National Convention met June 28 to July 6, there was no clear front runner among the possible candidates.

"Anybody, Good Lord" by Gustavo Bronstrup in San Francisco Chronicle, June, 1920

San Francisco hosted the Democrats, so here's a cartoon by the hometown cartoonist, Gustavo A. Bronstrup. There were at least fourteen active Democratic candidates for the nomination, and several states sent delegations that weren't committed to any of them. It was anybody's game.

"It Took the Whole Family to Chloroform It" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, July 3, 1920

If there was any candidate in the front of the pack, it was Former Treasury Secretary William MacAdoo. But MacAdoo was stymied by his father-in-law, incumbent President Woodrow Wilson, who clung to the unreasonable hope that the party would overlook his extremely poor health and nominate him for a third term.

"It's a Long, Long Way to San Francisco" by Albert Reid in The National Republican, ca. June 14, 1920

Another hopeless aspirant was three-time loser William Jennings Bryan, an advocate of U.S. neutrality in World War I who had quit as Wilson's Secretary of State in 1915. Republican Albert Reid's cartoon greatly overstates Bryan's differences with Wilson's foreign and domestic policies; Bryan had put his doubts about the League of Nations aside to give it public support. He and Wilson agreed on pushing for laborers' 8-hour workday (Bryan believed more strongly on their right to strike than Wilson did), and both came around to favor female suffrage.

"Outside the Convention Door" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Collier's Weekly, July 3, 1920

The issue most associated with Bryan in 1920, however, was Prohibition. Bryan's push for the strictest possible party plank in favor of Prohibition put him dead set against "Wet" candidates such as Governors Al Smith of New York and Edward Edwards of New Jersey.

"Little Hans Stopping the Hole in the Dike" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, June/July, 1920

Bryan stood adamantly against the "Wets" calling for total repeal of Prohibition, and also against "Moist" planks allowing the production and sale of cider, light wines, and 3.2% alcoholic beer. It may or may not have been the most contentious issue at the convention; it certainly was of great interest to newspaper reporters and cartoonists.

"The Substitute" by Gustavo Bronstrup in San Francisco Chronicle, July, 1920

Hometown cartoonist Bronstrup suggested that if Bryan had his way, the Democratic party might need a new cartoon symbol to replace its donkey. Bryan's "Bone Dry" plank met defeat, however.

"They Never Saw Him" by Burt Thomas in Detroit News, July, 1920

The Democratic platform passed without any statement on Prohibition; it also settled for wishy-washy platitudes in support of the people of Ireland and Armenia.

I haven't been able to find any cartoon delving into as many platform issues as the one on the GOP platform by John McCutcheon, so here's one by Orville Williams bemoaning the Democrats' plank in favor of Wilson's League of Nations. (In case your screen is too small, that's Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson levitating back there.)

"Off the Trail" by Orville P. Williams in New York American, June/July, 1920

After 44 ballots over four days (including July 4), the convention finally agreed on a presidential candidate at 1:40 a.m. Pacific Time on July 6: Governor James Middleton Cox of Ohio.

"What, Another One?" by Dennis McCarthy in New Orleans Times Picayune, July, 1920

That both major political parties' presidential nominees were Ohioans was fodder for the immediate batch of editorial cartoons.

"An Awkward Moment for Mother" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1920

"Centering Right Over Ohio" by Billy Ireland in Columbus Dispatch, July, 1920

The cartoonist for Cleveland, Ohio's socialist weekly, however, was not particularly impressed.

"Introducing the 'Peepul's Choice'" by Keas in The Toiler, Cleveland, OH, July 9, 1920

Not only were Harding and Cox both from the same state, they both also came to politics after starting their careers in newspapers: Harding as publisher-editor of the Marion Star, and Cox as a copy editor at the Dayton Daily News.

"The Political Ouija" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, July, 1920

(Ouija boards were all the rage among editorial cartoonists in 1920. I must have come across hundreds of cartoons about them.)

"Competition Among Ohio Newsies" by Harry Keys in Columbus Citizen, February, 1920

In his congratulatory message to the Democratic nominee, Warren Harding took note of the above cartoon Harry Keys had drawn for the Columbus Citizen the previous February: "I recall a much remarked cartoon which portrayed you and me as newsboys contending for the White House delivery. It seems to have been prophetic."

"Why Not a Newspaper Cabinet?" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post Dispatch, July, 1920

Daniel Fitzpatrick has a bit of fun with the coincidence, casting a number of newspaper comic strip characters as the cabinet of the future president.

"Going to Press with the Second Edition" by Claude Shafer in Cincinnati Post, July, 1920

After all, what is the point of having a newspaper without any cartoons?