Existing comment:
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919
As in much of his political life, Theodore Roosevelt's opinions about women's rights evolved from an acceptance of the status quo to a more activist reevaluation of the place of women in the public world. By 1912 he was an advocate for women's suffrage as part of his run for the presidency as an independent progressive; he linked the vote for women with a revitalization of American democracy both at home and in the world. He continued to support women's rights even out of office, hosting a luncheon for New York's suffragettes in 1916 after they had lost their statewide campaign for the vote. This cartoon satirizes both Roosevelt's position on suffrage and his environmentalism, showing him as a myopic butterfly hunter and a "faker" whose interest in women's issues was purely opportunistic.
Oscar Edward Cesare, c 1916 |