“Two Bees or Not Two Bees––That is the Question!”


Theodore Roosevelt became President in 1901 after the assassination of William McKinley, just six months into their term. After winning the 1904 election, Roosevelt announced he would honor the two-term tradition by retiring in 1909. However, Roosevelt proved immensely popular and supporters urged him to run for an unprecedented third term. In this cartoon Roosevelt, dressed as Hamlet, stages an alternative rendition of the famous Shakespearian soliloquy. With the first- and second-term Presidential bees behind him, Roosevelt looks to the third-term bee and wonders, “Two bees or not two bees—that is the question!”
