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 Republican Nomination

 


 "Getting in Tune"
  Cartoonist:  Thomas Nast
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   July 29, 1876, p. 616

Click to see a large version of this cartoon...

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Thomas Nast replays a theme from his 1872 cartoon repertoire in this feature of Senator Carl Schurz (r) and New York Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid (l). In that year, Schurz and Reid were leaders of the Liberal Republican bolt which nominated Horace Greeley for president and combined forces with the Democratic party.

Schurz had been disappointed with Greeley's nomination, but resolutely continued his role in the campaign. In the 1872 cartoon "Key-Note of the Campaign," a disheartened Schurz plays the piano while a roomful of Liberal-Republican and Democratic adherents lounge about listlessly. (See also "Played Out!")

Throughout the 1872 campaign, Nast pictured Reid with a musical instrument (often a hand-organ) labeled "This is not an organ"-a reference to Greeley's failed promise that his newspaper would not be an official publication for his candidacy. In "'The Pirates,' Under False Colors," Reid plays the violin on the Liberal Republican/Democratic pirate ship which tries futilely to overtake Republican nominee Ulysses S. Grant's "Ship of State."

In 1876 Schurz and Reid, like most liberals, returned to the Republican fold to support the Hayes-Wheeler ticket. In this cartoon the prodigal sons tune their instruments to harmonize with the Republican orchestration.

 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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