Theodore Roosevelt’s Tattoos and the Presidential Election of 1912

Abstract

On April 10, 1912, America’s leading humor magazine, Puck, featured on its cover a satirical political cartoon entitled The New Tattooed Man: He Makes an Exhibition of Himself. The illustration depicts Theodore Roosevelt’s skin covered with tattoos. This contribution tells the story behind this political cartoon and the role that it played in the 1912 presidential election. It also corrects mistaken Internet folklore that claims that Theodore Roosevelt had his family crest tattooed on his chest. He did not have such a tattoo. Roosevelt did, however, have gunpowder tattoos that he accidentally inflicted on himself as a 13-year-old boy. A brief review of gunpowder tattoos is provided.