william bryan and william howard taft (the tortoise and the hare and etc) created by louis glackens
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    William Bryan and William Taft were the Democratic and Republican candidates for US president in 1908. "The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of the most well known of Aesop's Fables, in which a cocky hare races a slow-but-steady tortoise only to throw the race when he decides to take a nap before crossing the finish line, thus allowing the tortoise to catch up and reach it first.

    1908 would be Bryan's third and final bid for the presidency, and he didn't fare too well coming out of the gate. Like the tortoise, his chances were not seen as being very good whereas Taft, riding on Theodore Roosevelt's progressive and popular presidency, was the presidential front runner. Naturally, Bryan here hopes that the campaigns would go like the fable did, with Taft and the Republicans getting complacent and giving Bryan a chance to win. It didn't, and Taft handily won the election.

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