Puck Pays His Compliments

New Year's Day, 1899, and the newly elected governor of New York gets a visit. Theodore Roosevelt sits solid in his chair, a bust of Washington on the desk beside papers headed Canal Investigation, Civil Service Reform, National Guard and Police Reform, the reform docket Puck expected him to work through. The little cherub Puck sweeps off his hat in a low bow that is also a dare. The caption spells out the mix of goodwill and challenge: "A happy New Year, Mr. Governor! Now, just get to work and show us all what good stuff you've got in you!" Encouragement with a deadline attached, from a magazine that had watched plenty of promising men disappoint.