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In this image, Theodore Roosevelt is depicted as the Greek myth hero Hercules, wearing the telltale lion pelt and wielding a mighty sword. This particular scene alludes to one of Hercules’ famed labors – the defeat of the terrible Hydra, a nightmarish serpent with multiple heads that grow back if they’re chopped off. Interestingly, the heads are all connected to a single reptilian body labeled ‘Senate,’ implying that each of the heads represent a member of the U.S. Senate that Roosevelt opposed and fought contentiously with. Some of these senators include John C. Spooner (creator of the Spooner Act or the Panama Canal Act), John T. Morgan, Benjamin Tillman, and Nelson W. Aldrich. Aldrich in particular was opposed to Roosevelt’s attempts to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate railroad rates (which were particularly high due to collusion and artificially inflated). Ultimately, the Hepburn Act was the result of the conflict, allowing the ICC regulatory power over many railroad operations.
12017-10-16T21:36:02-07:00A Herculean Task1This image was a cartoon published 5 April 1905 by Puck Magazine. Courtesy of the Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt.plain2017-10-16T21:36:02-07:00
