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"The Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt", 1933
by Miguel Covarrubias
After Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, the editors of Vanity Fair assigned their best-known artist -- Covarrubias -- to create a special illustration to commemorate the upcoming inauguration. It depicts the moment at which Hughes, in his role as Chief Justice, swears in the new president by symbolically placing a laurel wreath on Roosevelt's head. The only reference to the Great Depression is "The Forgotten Man" wearing a sandwich board (far right).
Although one would reasonably expect Roosevelt to be the focus here, instead it is Hughes who is the most prominent figure in this crowd. Not only is he the sole person to be depicted independently, but he is also the only active participant (not counting the angels above or the press documenting from below) in a sea of people who passively observe while he performs the ceremony. Perhaps this attention to Hughes was due to a lingering interest on the part of Covarrubias, who had featured him in "Impossible Interview No. 11" (on wall, above) just a few months earlier. |