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Among family and friends in private, Senator Charles Fairbanks was considered to be warm and genial. However, he often seemed stiff and aloof in public. After the 1904 Republican National Convention nominated Fairbanks for vice president, humorist Finley Peter Dunne’s character, Mr. Dooley, remarked, “Th’ raypublican convintion … nommynated a cold storage vice presidint….” The senator’s frigid public persona is caricatured in this cartoon, reinforced by the mountainous scene reminding viewers that Fairbanks, Alaska, was named after him. President Theodore Roosevelt, wearing his Rough Rider uniform from the Spanish-American War, sits on a block of ice encasing his vice-presidential running mate. One wit described the 1904 Republican ticket as “The hot tamale and the Indiana icicle.” In fact, Roosevelt did cool his heels by adhering to the tradition against presidents openly campaigning for reelection. The task of appealing directly to the voters fell to Fairbanks, who undertook a 33-state campaign tour. In its October 22, 1904 issue, Harper’s Weekly quoted the Elmira [New York] Gazette’s reaction to a campaign stop by Fairbanks: |
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Warning
1860
