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HarpWeek Commentary:
Thomas Nast drew this cartoon in May 1868, but not for Harper’s Weekly, for
which he had not worked in more than a year. It was intended for the short-lived Illustrated
Chicago News (April-June 1868), a would-be rival to Harper’s Weekly.
The cartoon is a close parody of a painting
by J. L. Gérôme called "The Death of Caesar." Nast obviously thought Johnson
would be impeached, so he showed him lying dead on the floor with his chair upside down
and his vetoes at his side. In the right front, a scroll has "Tenure of Office"
written on it. Johnson’s own words "Treason is a crime and must be
punished" are thrown back at him in the sign over his head.
The Republican gladiators with their swords
upraised constituted the managers who conducted the impeachment. They are (from the left)
George Boutwell (Mass.), John Logan (IL.), John Bingham (Ohio), James Wilson (Iowa),
Benjamin Butler (Mass.), and Thomas Williams (PA). Thaddeus Stevens (PA) is shown exiting
the scene on the far right. Stevens died in August 1868; it is obvious that this cartoon
was drawn well before his death.
However, Harper’s Weekly waited
for the end of Johnson’s term before publishing it in the issue of March 13, 1869,
along with a contemptuous editorial. By then Nast was back as a regular contributor and
brought this cartoon with him. |
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