American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

Lithograph with hand-coloring, 1852, image 15 1/2 x 10 in. (sheet 16 1/8 x 10 7/8 in.), soiling, trimmed, framed to 21 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., not examined out of frame.  

A political cartoon issued in the 1852 presidential election showing the Whig candidate Winfield Scott, in uniform with a protuberant plume, racing against Daniel Webster. Democrat Franklin Pierce is shown in third place while a crowd cheers on Webster. 

The Whig party was particularly divided after the divisive 1848 National Convention which saw support for popular generals Zachary Taylor and Scott over party stalwarts Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. In 1852, the party was further split over the issue of slavery and the Compromise of 1850. Again, they nominated a popular general and in response, several third parties nominated Webster, including the Union Party and the Native American (Know Nothing) Party. Webster died shortly before the election in October and Scott proved a poor candidate, with Pierce winning the contest in a landslide.