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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
This cartoon is another attack by the Democratic Puck based on allegations that Republican National Committee Chairman George Cortelyou was pressuring large business corporations to donate to the campaign fund of President Theodore Roosevelt in return for favorable treatment. Here, Cortelyou squeezes money from the plump personification of “The Trusts,” as President Roosevelt, wearing his Rough Rider uniform, grins approvingly.
In fact, the GOP was far more successful than the Democratic Party in soliciting funds from wealthy businessmen, and raised a total amount of $2.2 million ($44.1 million in 2002 dollars) in 1904. However, no evidence of blackmail or other illegal activity was ever produced, and the Roosevelt administration later sued several of its largest campaign contributors for violations of antitrust laws. |
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Warning
1860
