Analysis of Theodore Roosevelt’s Reelection Flyer (lesson plan)


  Date: 2024-07-27
  Author: Nathan Pieplow
Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.1310110b/
  License: CC BY-NC-SA
  Domain: Persuading with Data
  Subdomain: Visualizing Data
  Type of Resource: Activity

In this 20-minute in-class activity, students rhetorically analyze the flyer “Stand Pat Under Present Prosperity,” published by Theodore Roosevelt’s reelection campaign in 1904. The flyer is a masterful piece of visual rhetoric that affords excellent opportunities for students to analyze the careful choices by the designers that make the visualization more convincing.

Keywords:  Visual Rhetoric    Rhetoric of Data Visualization  

MLA Citation: Pieplow, Nathan. ‘Analysis of Theodore Roosevelt’s Reelection Flyer’’ (lesson plan). Data Advocacy 4 All, University of Colorado. 27 July 2024


Lesson Plan

Show the class the flyer created by Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential reelection campaign in 1904.

Briefly explain historical context as necessary:

  • 1893-1896: Democratic President Grover Cleveland
  • 1897-1901: Republican President William McKinley
  • in 1901, early in his second term, McKinley was assassinated and his vice president Teddy Roosevelt became president
  • 1904: Roosevelt ran for reelection (and won)

Ask the entire class to identify the rhetorical situation. Who is the author? Who are the audience(s)? What is the exigence and purpose? What is the main story that the visualization is seeking to promote?

  • Answer: “The economy is good, so don’t switch presidents” – but the deeper story is “the economy is better when Republicans are in power,” a long-standing political story in our culture that originated about 20 years prior to this image.

Split students into small groups, and ask each group to identify three things the designers did to drive that story home. These might include:

  • Frame of reference: the designers chose the starting year very carefully, so as not to remind voters that Republicans controlled the White House and, for the most part, Congress from 1888-1892, immediately prior to the start of the graph – i.e. that they oversaw the beginning of the economic downturn.
  • Choice of metrics: Why these variables? Why these “representative trades”? The designers got to choose from hundreds of economic indicators, and they chose the ones that made them look the best.
  • Labeling: The inconvenient budget deficit on the Republicans’ watch is labeled “Spanish War,” which seems to serve as a justification.
  • Choice of words: when Republicans are in power, they “administrate,” but when Democrats are in power, they “rule.”

Key takeaway: Clever design choices can make data look far more convincing.