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Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was an extraordinary talent who created the politically/socially influential political cartoon. He worked tirelessly for Harper’s Weekly, joining the weekly illustrated newspaper in 1858 at the age of 19, contributing at least one large (usually front cover) political statement and two smaller cartoons every week, for 26 years.  He wielded an enormous social influence, electing a president (Hayes) and toppling Boss Tweed.  He was a staunch Republican who endlessly fought for balanced budgets, free education, and equal rights for Indians and African Americans, fair economic play to the working classes, and was viciously anti Klan.  He also created the popular images of Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, the Republican elephant Democrat donkey, and the Tammany tiger.   The man got a lot of things right.

Here in one of his many hundreds of smaller illustrations Nast takes the Democrats, the Klan, and Tammany to task, lumping them all together into one blood-hungry U.S.-eating vulture/raptor, and it is pretty strong stuff:

[Source: Harper’s Weekly, October 12, 1872.]