Sloan, Dan. "The Wizard of Oz Unmasked at the President." The New York Times, 25 December 1990. Published November 25, 1990. 28 November 2008 <http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2101/us/lnacademic/auth/checkbrowser.do?ipcounter=1&cookieState=0&rand=0.7210335993701273&bhcp=1>.

This article, published by The New York Times, in 1990, is a reflection on the network television program entitled "The Dreamer of Oz." This show intended to discover the man behind the story, L. Frank Baum, and the origins of Dorothy's magical adventure through Oz. The author of this article, however, was disappointed with the limited references to Baum's political stances in the program and, therefore, proceeds here by exploring them himself. Sloan predominantly references Littlefield's work "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism," and points out the allegorical symbols represented by each of the main characters in The Wizard of Oz. The second last line of this article, however, is the most significant. It reads: "Had Baum lived exactly one century later, his ‘Wizard of Oz,' with just about all the same characters in place, would be as timely." Sloan suggests that Baum's work, and specifically his representation of the President through the Wizard, is timeless.

Sloan's article helps allow for the application of Baum's symbolism in other eras. While this article addresses 1990 as a year in which the political landscape possibly mirrored that of the late 1890s, this article is also relevant to the 1930s/1940s. Sloan says that the Wizard "acted and spoke in a manner that made him appear just as the people wanted him to," which mirrored "Baum's cynical view of all politicians." In 1939, when the film was released, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President. He aimed to be everything to everyone and solve everyone's problems; therefore, it is possible to conclude that the Wizard in the film represents the then current President of the United States, just as in Baum's story the Wizard symbolized president McKinley. The timelessness of The Wizard of Oz is part of what makes the story so alluring. No matter the era in American history, it is feasible to apply at least some of the symbols from the book to the current decade.