Most of Thomas Nast's 1872 campaign cartoons were
attacks on Horace Greeley and the Liberal-Republicans and Democrats, rather than
positive portrayals of President Grant and the regular Republicans; but there
are some examples of the latter. This cartoon is one of the more fanciful
celebrations of hero worship, in which Ulysses Grant is depicted as the
legendary Swiss archer and patriot William Tell. Behind him (on the right) are
symbols of the authority of the national government: the Capitol building
flanked by American flags and fasces (see "Adding Insult to Injury") on the fence enclosing the
grounds.