Walter Botts (1900-72) posing as Uncle Sam in front of the
iconic poster, ca. 1970.
Artist James Montgomery Flagg referred to his own mirror image
for the portrait of “Uncle Sam” he created for the cover of the July
6, 1916 issue of Leslie’s Weekly. The figure in the long-tailed coat,
stove pipe hat and sideburns was captioned “What Are You Doing
for Preparedness?”
When asked to update the highly effective image for use in World
War 2, Flagg hired a Hoosier-born veteran who’d posed for Norman Rockwell. According to his widow’s memoir, Walter Botts was
chosen over other models for Flagg’s Army poster “because he
had the longest arms, the longest nose, and the bushiest
eyebrows.”
Botts reportedly suggested the pointing gesture when the artist
asked “Walt, what are you going to do with your long arms,
sitting there?”
James Montgomery Flagg
(June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960)
