Presidential Election of 1908: A Resource Guide

Taft to-morrow / L.M. Glackens. 1 photomechanical print: offset, color. N.Y.: J. Ottmann Lith. Co., Puck Bldg., October 7, 1908. Prints & Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-26310

The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the presidential election of 1908, including photographs, political cartoons, broadsides, and newspaper articles. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the presidential election of 1908 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the 1908 election and a selected bibliography.

1908 Presidential Election Results [1]

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. While the broadside format represents the bulk of the collection, there are a significant number of leaflets and some pamphlets.

• Election proclamation. State of Nebraska ... do hereby issue my proclamation declaring that on Tuesday, the eighth day of November, A. D. 1904 there will be an election held ... By the Governor. Edmund G. McGilton, Acting Governor
• Roosevelt vs. Roosevelt ... Washington, D. C. Sudwarth print 1904

The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. While the broadside format represents the bulk of the collection, there are a significant number of leaflets and some pamphlets.

• Dear Sir. The Presidential campaign is approaching and there is much discussion of the question: "Who is the best man for the Democrats to nominate for President?
• Democratic platform planks, epitomized. 1908. New York 1908

Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film

This collection consists of 104 motion pictures, eight of which are featured in other online collections, and four sound recordings.

• The sculptor's nightmare (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1908) - At a political club, the members debate whose bust will replace that of Theodore Roosevelt. Unable to agree, each goes to a sculptor's studio and bribes him to sculpt a bust of the individual favorite. Instead, the sculptor spends their fees on a dinner with his model during which he becomes so inebriated that he is taken to jail. There he has a nightmare, wherein three busts are created and animated from clay (through stop-motion photography) in the likenesses of Democrat William Jennings Bryan and Republicans Charles W. Fairbanks and William Howard Taft. Finally an animated bust of Roosevelt appears.

Theodore Roosevelt Papers

The papers of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), public official, author, decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War, governor of New York, and president of the United States (1901-1909), consist of approximately 276,000 documents (roughly 461,000 images), most of which were digitized from 485 reels of previously reproduced microfilm.

• Letter, Theodore Roosevelt to William Howard Taft, September 5, 1908, advising on the 1908 presidential campaign

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

Chronicling America

This site allows you to search and view millions of historic American newspaper pages from 1789-1924. Search this collection to find newspaper articles about the presidential election of 1908.

A selection of articles on the 1908 presidential election includes:

• "Republican Convention at Chicago Selects Taft and Sherman to Head the National Ticket," The Bennington Evening Banner. (Bennington, Vt.), June 19, 1908.
• "Taft Wins on First Ballot," New-York Tribune. (New York, N.Y.), June 19, 1908.
• "Bryan Named Amid Cheers," New-York Tribune. (New York, N.Y.), July 10, 1908.
• "Bryan Head, Kern Tail. Democrats Choose Nebraska Leader for Presidency," Omaha Daily Bee. (Omaha, Neb.), July 11, 1908.
• "Convention Swept off its Feet at Mention of Conquering Hero's Name," Hopkinsville Kentuckian. (Hopkinsville, Ky.), July 11, 1908.
• "William H. Taft Sweeps the Country Like Whirlwind," Bismarck Daily Tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota, N.D.), November 4, 1908.
• "William J. Bryan Again Goes Down to Defeat," Los Angeles Herald. (Los Angeles Calif.), November 4, 1908.

In addition, the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room has created a series of topics guides to the newspapers included in Chronicling America, including the presidential election of 1908.

Prints & Photographs Division

Pictorial Americana: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress

Pictorial Americana, a Library of Congress publication, contains a chapter listing selected images related to the 1908 presidential election.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Search PPOC using the names of the candidates to find additional prints, political cartoons, and other digital images related to the presidential election of 1908. Also, search on the subject heading Presidential elections--United States--1900-1910.

A selection of images from the 1908 presidential election includes:

• Crowd to greet Wm. H. Taft, De Witt, Nebraska, 1908
• Crowd outside waiting to hear W.J. Bryan speak on his candidacy for president, Commercial Travelers League, New York
• News photos of Republican presidential campaign, 1908
• Newspaper Row, Election night
• Taft speaking from train, Crookston, Minnesota
• William Howard Taft for President of the United States. 1908
• William Jennings Bryan, full-length view with arms spread, standing next to flag drapped table on stage
• W.J. Bryan, seated in carriage, New York

External Web Sites

The American Presidency Project: Election of 1908

The American Presidency Project Web site presents election results from the 1908 presidential election. This site also contains the Democratic Party Platform and the Republican Party Platform of 1908.

HarpWeek: The Presidential Elections 1860-1912

This HarpWeek Web site features political cartoons from Harper's Weekly, Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, Vanity Fair, Puck, Judge, and American Political Prints, 1766-1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress. It provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era's major issues, and other valuable information related to the 1908 presidential election.

Selected Bibliography

Primary Sources

The Campaign Text Book of the Democratic Party of the United States, 1908 Issued by Authority of the Democratic National Committee. Chicago: Western Newspaper Union, 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held in Denver, Colorado, July 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1908, Resulting in the Nomination of Hon. William Jennings Bryan (of Nebraska) for President and Hon. John Worth Kern (of Indiana) for Vice-President, Reported by Milton W. Blumenberg, Official Reporter. Chicago: Press of Western Newspaper Union, 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Official Report of the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Republican National Convention, Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 16, 17, 18 and 19, 1908 ... Reported by Milton W. Blumenberg. Columbus, Ohio: Published Under the Supervision of the General Secretary of the Convention, 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Republican Campaign Text-Book, 1908: Issued by the Republican National Committee. Philadelphia: Press of Dunlap Printing Company, 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Socialist Campaign Book, Comp. Under the Direction of National Executive Committee by Joseph Medill Patterson...Chicago: National Headquarters Socialist Party, 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Salt, Mark H., ed. Candidates and the Issues. n. p., 1908. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Taft, William Howard. Political Issues and Outlooks; Speeches Delivered Between August, 1908, and February, 1909, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1909. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Notes

1. Presidential Elections, 1789-2008. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010), 146, 236.