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  1. Portrait of Clifford Berryman - Click to Enlarge
  2. Clifford Berryman Self Portrait - Click to Enlarge
  3. Drawing the Line in Mississippi - Cartoon featuring Berryman’s iconic teddy bear

“Campaign Brick”
September 26, 1908

Accusations and scandal characterized the 1908 congressional and Presidential campaigns. In this cartoon, the flying “Archbold” and “Foraker” bricks refer to an election scandal in which Senator Joseph B. Foraker was accused of taking bribes from Standard Oil Vice President John D. Archbold. Foraker subsequently lost his reelection bid. Uncle Sam ignores the bricks and focuses on a more positive subject: baseball. The Washington Nationals had just defeated the Cleveland Naps in two straight games.

U.S. Senate Collection
Center for Legislative Archives

From Berryman’s Recurring Cast of Characters...

Clifford Berryman is credited with introducing this lasting symbol into the American consciousness. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot an old bear during a hunting trip. In his drawings Berryman transformed the old bear into a cute, cuddly “teddy bear”—named for the President. The image not only became a common symbol representing Theodore Roosevelt in Berryman‘s cartoons, but also gave rise to the popular stuffed teddy bear. After Roosevelt left office, Berryman continued to use the teddy bear to represent his own personal point of view. See more of Berryman’s Recurring Symbolic Characters