Monday, August 24, 2015

Scott and Pierce


The Library of Congress has a fairly sizable digital collection related to Franklin Pierce. One piece I hadn't seen before is this cartoon of presidential candidates Winfield Scott and Franklin Pierce in 1852.

The LOC description of the lithograph is as follows:
The artist anticipates a Whig victory in the 1852 presidential contest. The scene takes place in an interior, carpeted or tiled with a grid-and-star pattern. At left, Whig candidate Winfield Scott, in military uniform, pulls the "Presidential Chair" out from under Democratic nominee Franklin Pierce (also in military dress). Pierce, having fallen to the floor, exclaims, "Look out there! what you bout General? do you want to Knock a fellers brains out?" Scott replies, "Sorry to disappoint you Pierce; but the people wish me to take this chair."