Brisbane to Ministers on Candidate Hearst [excerpt]

     [ . . . ] then Dr. S. H. Thompson of Red Bank, N. J., wanted to know about the charge that the Hearst cartoons were responsible for President McKinley’s assassination.
     “There has been a wide misstatement of facts here,” said Mr. Brisbane. “It is true that the Hearst newspapers did print a series of cartoons at the expense of Mr. McKinley, entitled, ‘Willie and His Pa,’ and depicting the late Presiden[t] at the beck and call of the trusts. Now, these were ordinary, humorous sketches, and the fact [i]s that no one seemed to enjoy them more than Mr. McKinley himself. In truth, he collected them and kept them to the day of his death, as Mrs. McKinley can testify. Just before Mr. McKinley met his death Mr. Opper, the artist, received a letter from Mr. Roosevelt, then Vice President, who commended him for his funny work. Mr. Roosevelt thought the ‘Willie’ cartoon[s] very funny, and asked for a set of them. We did not print this letter at the time we were charged with assassination, owing to the delicacy of Mr. Roosevelt’s position.
     “It was during this series of cartoons that Mr. Hearst called upon the President for the purpose of organizing a regiment to fight in the Spanish war. Mr. McKinley was very pleasant and friendly to Mr. Hearst, and thanked him for his offer, declining it on the ground that an acceptance would disorganize army plans. Mr. Hearst then offered, without cost, a yacht, to be placed at the disposal of the Government for war service. [Other] rich men, you will recall, received money for similar gifts. Mr. McKinley was very gracious to Mr. Hearst when this offer was made, and thanked him again. Mr. McKinley and Mr. Hearst at that time were on friendly terms personally.
     “When the assassination occurred, certain persons looked about for a mark upon which to stamp their condemnation; they wanted to find a provocation for the work of Czolgosz, and the thing that fixed their attention was the Hearst cartoons. They grasped the opportunity to flaunt them before the enraged country because they couldn’t very well find anything else off-hand. Then some of our enemies went to the Buffalo prison and showed Czolgosz the cartoons. He was asked if he had ever seen and read them. He replied that he had not.”