Beware! For He Is Very Hungry and Very Thirsty

Description

Nast portrays President-elect Grover Cleveland as a strong political force. He holds a club to fight off the approaching Democratic Tiger. Cleveland wears the skin of a tiger, symbolizing the taking down of Tammany Hall. He stands ready to hit the approaching tiger with a club labeled “Independent” underscoring his position as not beholden to the Democratic pollical machine. The caption reads: “Ability and zeal in the service will be the measures of usefulness. The rules of the Civil Service Commission will govern all minor appointments.”- Grover Cleveland. One of Cleveland’s campaign promises was to appoint people to office on merit and not political affiliation. Nast wants Cleveland to hold true to this promise of Civil Service reform.

Object Information

Date Created:

November 29, 1884

Local ID:

TN2011.1169

Collection:

Collection of Macculloch Hall Historical Museum

Citation:

Thomas Nast (1840-1902), "Beware! For He Is Very Hungry and Very Thirsty", Harper's Weekly, November 29, 1884, TN2011.1169

Creator(s):

Thomas Nast

Classification:

Engraving

Rights:

Public Domain

Appears In

Resource Kit
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum

The 22nd and 24th President: Thomas Nast Illustrates Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was the only President to serve non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897), up until this year when President Donald Trump won the office for a second time. In 1884 Nast, along with Harper’s Weekly editor George Curtis, broke with the Republican Party to support the Democratic Candidate Grover Cleveland. This Resource Kit explores Nast's illustrations in support of the first two-term President serving non-consecutive terms, his switch from a Republican to a Democrat, and Nast's waning influence as a political cartoonist.

Created by: Macculloch Hall Historical Museum

Grade 6-12