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 Bryan’s Continuing Presence

 


 “A Chattering Nuisance"
  Cartoonist:  J. S. Pughe
  Source:  Puck
  Date:  February 24, 1904

Click to see a large version of this cartoon...

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Puck was a humor magazine that represented conservative Democratic views. It backed Grover Cleveland in three presidential campaigns (1884, 1888, and 1892), but opposed Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900. The publication considered Bryan’s advocacy of free silver and other populist reforms as threatening to the nation’s economic prosperity and political stability. From a practical standpoint, the Great Commoner’s agenda had been a dismal failure in the two previous election years. In 1904, Puck returned to the Democratic fold in support of the party’s conservative presidential nominee, Alton B. Parker. In this cover published several months before the Democratic National Convention, Puck cartoonist J. S. Pughe derides Bryan as “A Chattering Nuisance,” a parrot that endlessly screeches the same hackneyed lines about free silver and other populist “Dead Issues” to the horror of the elderly Miss Democracy.

 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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