Moses and Aaron

Description:

This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1904 in Washington, D.C. It depicts William Jennings Bryan in a classical robe, saying "You know what I think of our Moses. Well, he's better than Roosevelt anyhow!" and sitting backwards on the back of a donkey. Bryan is holding a scroll in his left hand that reads "'I am willing to be the Aaron of the party. 'W.J.B."

Alton B. Parker stands in the background. He is wearing a large turban and classical robe, and is holding the donkey by the reins. The drawing is signed "Berryman" in the lower right area of the illustration.

Though Bryan had sought the nomination of the Democratic Party in 1904, he lost it to Parker (who lost the presidential election in a landslide to Theodore Roosevelt). Berryman is using the biblical brothers Aaron and Moses to draw an analogy to Bryan and Parker. He depicts Bryan as the Aaron, the elder and a prophet, the wiser, silent candidate but not the wishful nominee; and Parker as the Moses, the younger, more visible, and actual winner of the nomination who was “better than Roosevelt anyhow.”