Visit HarpWeek.com

   
 


 The Republican Nomination

 


 "An Experienced Performer"
  Cartoonist:  William Allen Rogers
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   June 16, 1888, p. 440

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

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
When James Blaine, the Republican presidential nominee of 1884, declined to run again in 1888, numerous candidates entered the fray with none having a commanding lead for the nomination. Thomas C. Platt, boss of Republican state political machine, put forward Chauncey Depew, president of the New York Central Railroad, as New York’s favorite-son candidate. Here again, cartoonist Rogers uses the familiar circus metaphor for politics, presenting Platt as the ringmaster and Depew as a clown. The railroad executive’s experience with a mule refers to his 1872 nomination for lieutenant governor of New York by the combined forces of the Democratic Party, whose symbol is a donkey, and the breakaway Liberal Republicans. Depew lost the 1872 election, and withdrew his name for contention after the third ballot at the 1888 Republican National Convention.
 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

Website design © 2001-2008 HarpWeek, LLC
All Content © 1998-2008 HarpWeek, LLC
Please submit questions to webmaster@harpweek.com