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Cleveland and the Maria Halpin Affair |
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“He Instituted the Ordeal. Can He Stand It Himself?” |
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Cartoonist: Bernhard Gillam |
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Source: Puck |
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Date:
August 13, 1884, p. 187
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Click to see a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
This cartoon contrasts the character and scandals of the two major-party
presidential nominees, Democrat Grover Cleveland and Republican James Blaine.
When allegations arose that, in his youth, Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock, the Democratic nominee told his campaign managers to "Tell the
Truth." Supporters contended that his actions after the indiscretion, and
following its revelation in the press in the summer of 1884, were both
exemplary. Cleveland stands honorably before a jury of voters, one hand in his
coat in a Napoleonic gesture. Uncle Sam, rising under an inscribed quote about
mercy, taken from an Alexander Pope poem, demands that Blaine now take the
witness stand.
The Republican nominee, however, attempts to sneak away. He is dressed in a
garish, checked suit of a confidence-man (swindler), with the pockets stuffed
with papers which identify his railroad scandals. The gun on the table, with the tag
"Blaine's Substitute Gun-Never Used," refers to criticism of Cleveland
for hiring a substitute to fight for him in the Civil War. Blaine served in the
Maine state legislature and Congress during the Civil War. Although
"Blaine's Private Life" is locked, a scandal would arise concerning
his marriage and whether he, too, fathered a child out of wedlock. The
cartoonist erroneously blames Blaine himself for breaking the Cleveland scandal
to the press. |
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Warning
1860
