Pughe, J. S. “He won’t let go. A cleverer crow than the bird of Aesop’s fable.” 1908 May 13. Summary: In 1908, William Jennings Bryan was recommended by party members as the Democratic presidential nominee. Although very popular in the south and the west, many eastern Democrats opposed his nomination, citing both his two previous losses (1896 and 1900) and his newly formed radical ideas as reasons. The cartoon appeared before the Denver nominating convention, at a time when Bryan was making it clear that he would like to be chosen for the nomination. Pughe cleverly parodies Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Crow” to tell the story, but warns us that unlike Aesop’s crow who dropped the cheese, this crow being more clever, will probably keep it, referring to the nomination.
