Good-bye—And Howdy!

"Good-Bye—and Howdy" by Wm. C. Morris for Geo. Matthew Adams Service, ca. March 4, 1921

100 years ago this week, the second most corrupt presidential administration in U.S. history was sworn into office.

"Good Luck, Old Man" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, March 4, 1921

Of course, nobody could foresee the rot that would lead to the Teapot Dome Scandal (unlike Donald Trump's complete and utter lack of ethics and responsibility, which were well in evidence long before he rode down the escalator), so most editorial cartoonists welcomed the new administration into office. "Ding" Darling, while a loyal Republican, had drawn his disapproval of Warren Harding during the campaign; but there is no trace of that in his Inauguration Day cartoon.

"He Should Worry About Eviction" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Collier's, February 26, 1921 

Conversely, Ding had offered a less than dignified send-off in Collier's magazine for the departing President Woodrow Wilson.

"Good Luck and Best Wishes" by Bob Satterfield for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. March 4, 1921

So anyway, there were plenty of cartoons of Uncle Sam wishing the new president luck. I could re-post Clifford Berryman's sycophantic March 4 cartoon again today, but frankly, it wouldn't add much to the conversation.

"Exit the Donk" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 3, 1921

 For their part, partisan Republicans such as Carey Orr were especially gleeful.

"The Dawn of a New Day" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 4, 1921

To hear Republicans of the day, you would think that the Wilson administration had seen eight bleak years of depression and hopelessness during which Mr. Wilson spent the whole time in Europe ignoring the utter collapse of the republic at home. You can fault Wilson for cozying up to racist segregationists, ignoring suffragettes, and persecuting socialists, but I hardly think those were criticisms Mr. Orr gave one whit about.

"At Last, After Eight Years..." by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. March 3, 1921

No, for the most part, the change from Democratic government to Republican government was of interest solely to the committed partisans on either side. Hiram and Frank might have needled each other at the feed store, but well before March 4, neither one still had Cox, Harding, or Wilson For President flags still waving in front of their home.

"A New Brand" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. March 4, 1921

This must be a slightly less snotty way of saying "Put that in your pipe and smoke it." Do the kids still say that these days? As an aPOThecary reference, I suppose.

"The New Partner" by Wilson in Farmington (MO) Times, March 4, 1921

Miss Columbia appears positively underjoyed by her new dance partner in this cartoon by someone with the same name as the departing president. I know virtually nothing about Wilson the cartoonist, save that he appears to aimed his cartoons at a rural audience; they appeared on the front page of the weekly Farmington Times of St. Francois County, Missouri, until June, 1921 when he was replaced by someone named Parks. I did not find that any of his cartoons were about state or local issues, so this was likely a syndicated feature.

"Der Neue Mann im Weissen Haus" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 6, 1921

Across the pond, the German press, upset over the punitive postwar punishment insisted upon by France, and the Wilson administration's helplessness to do anything about it, hoped for a better deal from the New Man in the White House.

"De Verandering van Presidenten in Amerika" in De Amsterdammer, Amsterdam, March, 1921

But Harding had little interest in European affairs...

"His Legacy" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. March 5, 1921

... Elmer A. Bushnell's cartoon here notwithstanding. He left a lot of the foreign policy decision-making to his Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, who nevertheless could not convince him to let the U.S. join the League of Nations or the Permanent Court of International Justice.

The U.S. would, however, sign a separate peace with Germany in August.

"Inseparable" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, March 4, 1921

Lest I leave you with the impression that there was unanimous relief at the end of the Wilson era, here's the cartoon Democrat-leaning cartoonist John Cassel had published on Inauguration Day, lauding the retiring president for his efforts to bring peace to the universe.

"The Faces at the Window" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, March 7, 1921

All the same, Cassel's first Harding cartoon during the new administration lacked the animus Cassel had leveled at Harding during the election campaign.

"Being So Long Accustomed to the Hammer..." by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 4, 1921

Another Democrat-leaning cartoonist, this one sharing a name with the new Commander in Chief, leaves us with this trenchant observation that applies to just about any time the parties in and out of power trade places. 

 

I'm not familiar with the hammer and shovel maxim having been a well-known proverb in grandpa's day. Perhaps it was just Nelson Harding's way of saying those grapes were probably sour, anyway.