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 Frontrunner McKinley: A Defeated Napoleon

 


 "Look Out For Melting Hopes..."
  Cartoonist:  William Allen Rogers
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   April 18, 1896, p. 385

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

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Cartoonist William Allen Rogers used an apparently old political adage to illustrate the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 1896. The saying means that the politician who is doing well in the winter will likely see his stature thaw in the spring. Published in mid-April 1896, the cartoon predicts what will happen to the frontrunner status of Governor William McKinley in the face of intensely heated opposition from Thomas Platt, the political boss of New York Republicans. McKinley is depicted as Napoleon, whose protective ice is melting as Platt, with the head of the blazing sun and holding a spring flower, rises in the background. McKinley’s campaign motto was “The People Against the Bosses,” and Platt fought fervently, but unsuccessfully, against the governor’s nomination.
 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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