“Czar” Thomas Brackett Reed

Thomas Brackett Reed Jr. (October 18, 1839 – December 7, 1902) was a progressive American attorney, author, parliamentarian and Republican Party politician from Maine who served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899. Favoring women’s suffrage and African-American voting rights, he was also against capital punishment. His friends included Mark Twain and Henry Cabot Lodge. At the time, he was the most powerful politician in the country. This is his statue, on the Western Prom in Portland, Maine.

This hand-made, 4x5-inch tintype on aluminum was made via the 19th century's wet plate collodion process, on site, from the back of my sidecar motorcycle.

The guy was highly quotable. These are a few of his quips.

“One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation.”

“A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.”

“The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch.”

“The reason why the race of man moves slowly is because it must move all together.”

“Politics is mostly pill-taking.”

“They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.”