"Nearing the End of the Primaries"

This cartoon concerns the 1920 Republican Presidential nomination. In 1920, when the primary process was still new, it did not produce a clear winner for the Republican Party. As the Republican convention neared, there was no front-runner for the Grand Old Party Presidential nomination. This cartoon shows the frazzled Republican elephant surrounded by conflicting newspaper headlines while the Democratic donkey makes pressing inquiries. In June, a month after this cartoon was published, the Republican Convention in Chicago deadlocked. After numerous meetings and allegedly secret discussions held in the smoke-filled rooms of the Blackstone Hotel, Senator Warren G. Harding emerged victorious and went on to win handily the 1920 Presidential election.