Existing comment:
(1) The Crown Covers a Multitude of Shortcomings. Sir James (G.B.) "No one will miss it now, you know," 1888.
Published in The Daily Graphic, September 27, 1888.
Ink with scraping out over graphite underdrawing.
Art Wood Collection of Cartoon and Caricature
Prints and Photographs Division (1)
Senator James G. Blaine was an extremely popular Republican politician in the nineteenth century. He might have been elected president if he had not been continually dogged by charges of corruption. In 1888, when Blaine returned from a lengthy European trip, he refused to run for president, and instead supported Benjamin Harrison's campaign. However, Blaine's enormous popularity caused cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902) to characterize him as the "uncrowned king" of the Republican Party. Nast defined American political cartooning in the nineteenth century. Through his work for Harper's Weekly, he popularized such American political symbols as the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey. |