Something Hard and Cool

Well, I've kept you in suspense long enough about the identity of the 1920 presidential nominees. Since we've just passed the centennial of that year's Republican National Convention, it's time for Marion Starback Saturday to relieve at least half of that suspense.

"There Will Be About 30 G.O.P. Nominating Speeches" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1920

The 1920 Republican convention convened in Chicago June 8-12, 1920, so I'm including here several cartoons from the staunchly Republican Chicago Tribune, whose John McCutcheon had no reluctance to delve into the minutiae of political machinery. The primaries and caucuses had done nothing to winnow down the field of GOP presidential hopefuls, and the party elders promised an open nominating process free of backroom deals of the sort that had produced Charles Evans Hughes as the nominee four years earlier.

"I've Got 'Im" (detail from "The Tiny Tribune") by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1920

Prominent candidates included Senator Hiram Johnson of California, and General Leonard Wood, a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt's disciples. As host of the convention, Governor Frank Lowden of Illinois was a leader among the many favorite son candidates.

"The Tiny Tribune" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1920

McCutcheon's partner at the Tribune, Carey Orr, takes note of the schmoozing of the many delegates arriving in Chicago without being committed to any particular candidate. He also displays the party's confidence that 1920 was their year.

"Women and Children First" by Jay "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, June 9, 1920

Another Republican cartoonist, "Ding" Darling of the New York Tribune and Des Moines Register, nevertheless seems here to be underwhelmed by his party's field. To Johnson, Wood and Lowden, he adds Gov. Calvin Coolidge, Gov. Henry Allen, Sen. Warren Harding and Sen. Philander C. Knox in baby carriages, holding up the dark horse candidates (among them Hughes, William Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover) and party boss Sen. Boies Penrose.

Speaking of women: Lucy Page Gaston was perhaps the darkest of dark horse candidates for the Republican nomination. and not just because the 19th Amendment had yet to be ratified. A crusader against tobacco use, the Harvey, Illinois resident, ran on a platform of "clean morals, clean food and fearless law enforcement" but was on the ballot only in South Dakota. She withdrew her candidacy on the eve of the convention and would be sorely disappointed once the Republicans nominated a "cigarette faced" (her description of him) devotee of the evil weed. She then attended the Prohibition Party's convention in support of William Jennings Bryan.

"Helping Hands" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1920

With no clear nominee going in, delegates arrived with plenty of disparate ideas about what ought to be in the party platform: for and against the Treaty of Versailles, for and kinda for Prohibition, various ideas on dealing with the High Cost of Living — even taking over control of Mexico, where President Carranza had recently been overthrown.

"A Pictorial Review of the Platform" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, June 11, 1920

I doubt I shall be able to find a cartoon summing up the 1920 Democratic Party platform as thoroughly as Mr. McCutcheon's review of the GOP platform.

"The Nominee" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Sunday Tribune, June 13, 1920

Finally, on the tenth ballot, the convention nominated Ohio Senator Warren Gamaliel Harding, a moderate conservative more or less acceptable to the progressive wing of the party.

On its surface, McCutcheon's cartoon seems to express reservations about Harding, but I think it is more likely that he drew the cartoon before the outcome of the convention was settled, leaving a large space for the front page editors to insert the nominee's photo. Harding was no stranger to McCutcheon, who had drawn two cartoons partly about Harding's keynote speech at the 2016 convention: in the first, McCutcheon claimed that Harding "hit all the right notes"; but the next day, McCutcheon asked "Where's the entHughesiasm?"

"See Who's Driving" by Doane Powell in Omaha Daily Bee, June 15, 1920

Hoping to gain support from the party's Progressive wing, Harding's people first offered the Vice Presidential nomination to Senator Johnson, who turned it down. They then turned to another Progressive, Wisconsin Senator Irvine Lenroot, who accepted the offer. But as soon as Illinois Senator Meddill McCormick launched into the speech nominating Lenroot, delegates began chanting for Calvin Coolidge instead. The Massachusetts governor, famous for his hard-line response against the 1919 Boston police strike, easily beat Lenroot in the balloting in spite of being absent from the convention.

"Just When She Was Dying for Something Cool" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, June 14, 1920

Given time to come up with an assessment of his party's ticket, McCutcheon's first response was to make puns on the names.

"Warren, You're More Than Welcome to These" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 16, 1920

What, then, was Democrats' response to the Republican ticket? It has been customary for the leader of one party to congratulate the nominee of the other party before proceeding for the next five months to call him/her a no-good demon in wolf's clothing who will surely bring upon our great Republic wrack, ruin and the gnashing of teeth. Nevertheless, I have no idea what "Democratic compliments" Aunty Democracy is extending in Clifford Berryman's cartoon.

"Bet It Doesn't Take Me Five Days to Finish My Ticket" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, June 13, 1920

That would be a bet worth taking.

"Coming Out in the Wash" by John H. Cassel in New York Evening World, June 17, 1920

Democratic partisan John Cassel clearly didn't think much of Senator Harding, if he thought of him at all.

"The Plain Truth" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, June 23, 1920

Cassel's "The Plain Truth" includes apologies to Kettner, perhaps syndicated cartoonist Magnus Kettner. I am unaware of the cartoon Cassel may be aping here, and the cartoon does not resemble the style of the Western Newspaper Union cartoonist either in terms of artistry or humor. Cassel's point is that the Republican-led U.S. Senate, having stymied President Wilson's agenda since the end of the Great War, was unlikely to cede any power back to the next president, whoever he may be.

"Jes' Waitin' to See How the Other Guy Gets Through It" by Charles "Bill" Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, June 16, 1920 

Please come back tomorrow. I've got a completely different centennial to mark this weekend.