Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893

A gallery of presidential candidates includes, clockwise, from bottom left: John Kelly as a card-playing pig, Chester A. Arthur as “The Snake Charmer” charming a snake labeled “Stalwart Vote” with a horn labeled “Patronage,” Benjamin F. Butler as “What is it?,” “Siamese Twins Keifer [and] Robeson,” John A. Logan as the “Wild Zulu on the Warpath,” “Carlisle, Morrison, [and] Hewitt” as a “Wax Group of Three Heroes Who Perished in an Attempt to Reach the Pole of Tariff Reform,” “‘Richelieu’ Robinson” as a “Fire Eater,” Charles A. “Dana” as a “Screech Parrot,” a cage containing an “Un-Happy Family – N.Y. Board of Aldermen,” an “Ancient Mummy Exhumed Lately” labeled “1876 Fraud Issue – S. J. T.,” John “Sherman” as “The Man in the Bloody Shirt,” Henry Watterson as a buffalo, Whitelaw Reid as a giraffe, and Samuel J. Randall(?) as “The Democratic White Elephant,” William “Evarts” as the thin man, Roscoe Conkling as the bearded lady, David “Davis” as the Fat Lady, Robert Todd “Lincoln” and George F. “Edmunds” as “The Two Giants,” James G. Blaine as the tattooed man, T. C. “Platt” and William “Mahone” as Tom Thumb and his bride, and Samuel S. “Cox” as a dancing poodle. In the center is a stuffed tiger labeled “Tammany” on a pedestal labeled “Killed by Roosevelt.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-16

In the interior of a recruiting office for the presidency, Uncle Sam and Puck examine potential recruits against a height chart labeled, from low to high, “Notoriety, Popularity, Capability, Honesty, [and at the top] Statesmanship.” A number of men, in various states of undress, have been rejected for a variety of reasons: “Evarts Too Long-Winded, [U.S. Grant] Retired, [Conkling] Too Pigeon-Breasted, [Thomas Collier Platt] Me Too Little, Mahone Must be Readjusted, J. B. Rejected Too Crooked, Dana Rejected – Too Shortsighted, [Logan] Grammar Feeble, [Arthur] Rejected No Backbone, [Davis] Short Winded, Sherman Bloody Shirt Mania, [Kelly] Pig-Headed, Payne Oil on the Brain, Randall Protection Madness, Bayard Unstable, [Tilden] Rejected Cipher Catarrh, [and] B[utler] Can’t See Straight.” Five tall men, “Admitted to the Competition,” stand on the right: “Hewitt, Carlisle, Morrison, Lincoln [and] Edmunds O. K.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-30

Print shows a vignette cartoon with a carriage at center in which Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and William H. Vanderbilt are riding with large money bags; the wheels are labeled “Corporations” and “Monopoly.” The carriage is driven by an eagle dressed like Uncle Sam wearing a top hat labeled “1882” and carrying a whip labeled “Revenue Tariff.” The carriage is pulled by an “Underpaid Workman,” a “Starving Laborer,” a “War Widow,” a “Sewing Girl,” an “Old Merchant,” a “Poor Clerk,” and a “Cripple,”among others, with ropes labeled “Tax.” The surrounding vignettes show scenes of corruption, misfortune, presidential office seekers, Valley Forge, and “Charitable Institutions for the poor and unfortunate” from “Maine” to “California” showing buildings labeled “Poor House” and “Jail.” Featured in these vignettes are such figures as Chester Alan Arthur, George M. Robeson, Samuel J. Tilden, Roscoe Conkling, John Kelly, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin F. Butler, and Joseph W. Keifer, as well as “Honest Labor, Patriotism, [and] Integrity.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

President Arthur appears as a magician on a stage, pulling cards out of a hat and tossing them into the audience. The cards are labeled “Secretary of Navy, Foreign Minister, Interior, Consulate, Collectorship, Soft Soap, Minister to Turkey, Quashed Endictment, Secretary of War, Protection, Postmaster, Promises, Gratitude, [and] Reciprocity.” On the stage are other magic devices, a “Great Machine Trick” showing cards and labeled “New Political Deal Trick,” a wheel labeled “Stalwartism Neutrality Halfbreedism,” a bottle labeled “Ever-lasting Patronage Bottle,” a cone labeled “Great Veto Extinguish Trick,” and a drum labeled “Last Grand Trick Resignation.” Among those in the audience are Carl Schurz, John A. Logan, Thomas De Witt Talmage, David Davis, Joseph W. Keifer, John P. Jones, Stephen W. Dorsey, Thomas J. Brady, William M. Evarts, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel J. Kirkwood. Caption: What Mr. Arthur must be to satisfy all the politicians.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-12

Print shows Puck sitting on a wooden cut-out Pegasus reviewing a procession of soldiers, among whom are John A. Logan, Roscoe Conkling carrying a flag labeled “Third Term”, Joseph W. Keifer, William M. Evarts, David Davis, James G. Bennett, John Kelly, Cyrus W. Field, William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Samuel J. Tilden, Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas De Witt Talmage, and riding on horseback, Henry Ward Beecher. Following the soldiers, in the background on the right, is a float showing an old soldier labeled “Our Army” and a decrepit ship labeled “Our Navy”. In the background, on the left, is a reviewing stand for the “Foreign Guests”, with a French flag on one side and a German flag on the other. Caption: His army of contributors passing in review before our foreign guests.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-19

Print shows the Republican Party, led by Chester A. Arthur, laying down their arms, with George M. Robeson, James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, Whitelaw Reid, Carl Schurz, John Sherman, Charles J. Folger, Robert T. Lincoln, John A. Logan, Ulysses S. Grant, James D. Cameron, George F. Hoar, George F. Edmunds, and Henry Ward Beecher, exiting a citadel in the background. They are surrendering the presidency to the Democratic Party, led by newspaper editors Joseph Pulitzer of the N.Y. World, Charles A. Dana, and Henry Watterson. Samuel J. Tilden “Old Ticket,” Benjamin F. Butler, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Hendricks, Winfield Scott Hancock, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Thomas F. Bayard are on horseback, and Tammany Hall, led by John Kelly, marches under the banner “To the Victors Belong the Spoils.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-11-21

In a winter scene, a soldier labeled “Democracy” stands in front of a road sign that points in four directions “Free Trade, To Tariff Reform, To Protection, [and] No Policy.” Between his feet is a small dog that looks like John Kelly. “Speaker Carlisle” as a drum major for “Reform” is standing in the left foreground. Behind and to the left are Benjamin Butler “Butlerism,” Abram S. “Hewitt” with “Free Trade” banner, and Samuel S. “Cox” pointing toward “Free Trade.” Samuel J. “Randall” is standing in the right foreground, wearing a helmet labeled “Protection.” Behind and to the right are Sereno “Payne” with banner labeled “Straddle Every Issue!”, Thomas “Bayard” holding papers that state “Dodge the Question,” and Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Ancient Issues.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-01-30

A beauty contest is underway where “First Prize” is the “Presidency.” The presidential candidates, all dressed as women, are sitting on raised platforms around which men have gathered to admire their beauty. Two men in the lower left appear to be voting for number “1. The Empire State Enslaver.” Among those in the running are “2. The same Old Widow from Beanville, 3. The Mulligan Masher from Maine [holding fan labeled] J. Blaine, 4. The Delaware Darling, 5. The Indiana Dumpling [holding fan labeled] J. E. MDonald, 6. The Homespun Houri of Ohio, 7. The Illinois Pet, 10. Utica Immortelle, 11. The Buffalo Girl, 12. The Indiana ‘Sun-Flower’ [with ribbon labeled] W. S. Holman, 13. The Nation’s Ex-Favorite [holding fan labeled] U.S.G., 14. The Pension Ring Pocahontas [with fan labeled] Logan, 15. The Centennial Spinster Ex-Champion de jure, 16. The Free Trade Fairy [with fan labeled] Hewitt, 17. The Ohio Water Lily Ex-Champion de facto, 18. The Pearl of Protection [with fan labeled] Randall, The Sherman Sisters 19. The Tecumseh Twin, 20. The Treasury Twin, 21. The Virtuous Vermonter [with fan labeled] Edmund, [and] 22. The Fat Fairy.” Among those depicted are Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin F. Butler, James G. Blaine, Thomas Bayard, Joseph E. McDonald, Allen G. Thurman, Robert Todd Lincoln, Roscoe Conkling, Grover Cleveland, William Steele Holman, Ulysses S. Grant, John Logan, Samuel J. Tilden, Abram S. Hewitt, Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel J. Randall, William T. Sherman, John Sherman, George F. Edmunds, and David Davis.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-01-23

Print shows Chester A. Arthur riding the Republican elephant tossed high in the air in a “Political Arena.” The elephant is patched with scandals labeled “Credit Mobilier, Collusion with Monopolies, Back Pay Grab, Third Termism, Whiskey Ring, Navy Ring, [and] Dorsey ‘Soap’ 1880.” Below, on the floor of the arena, Samuel J. Tilden is sitting backwards on a donkey labeled “Incurable” and Puck’s Independent Party figure is riding a bucking bull, its horns labeled “Anti-Monopoly” and “Tariff Reform.” Puck applauds from a viewing stand on the right; sitting in the grandstand at left are Ulysses S. Grant, Cyrus W. Field, Rutherford B. Hayes, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin F. Butler, Adams, David Davis, Allen G. Thurman, William M. Evarts, Abram S. Hewitt, George F. Edmunds, Wayne MacVeagh, and George B. McClellan. Caption: Puck presents another prophetic cartoon – and the sooner it is realized the better.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-04-19

In the interior of the “Political Hot House,” many plants with the heads of politicians are potted and labeled with botanical names, for example “Butleria Cockeya,” “McVeaghia No Chancea,” “Tildenus Fossilis,” “Blainea Sunstrokea,” “Hewittia Tariffia,” “Shermania Honestia,” and “Thurmania Ragbabia.” At center is a figure fashioned from quill pens, a drum labeled “Press,” and newspapers labeled “Louisville Courier Journal, N. Y. Sun, Tribune, Herald, Advertiser, Times, [and] Cincinnati C[…],” holding a potted plant labeled “Arthuria Accidentalia.” A politician holding a spade labeled “Out of a Job” gestures toward the door of the greenhouse. In the background is the “White House.” Among the plants are Rutherford B. Hayes, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, George B. McClellan, Roscoe Conkling, Cyrus W. Field, Samuel J. Tilden, Allen G. Thurman, John Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Wayne MacVeagh, George F. Edmunds, William M. Evarts, Benjamin F. Butler, Abram S. Hewitt, Chester A. Arthur, James G. Blaine, David Davis, and a plant identified as “Adams Icebergea.” Caption: Unoccupied Politician “Oh, I assure you, my dear Mr. Press, it’s none too early to begin to set out the Presidential Plants!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-04-05

Print shows a small, rustic room crowded with members of the Democratic Party, some dressed as old women, others drinking and smoking clay pipes. One man, the “Shaughraun” labeled “Democratic Party,” is lying on a board that is resting on wooden supports. He is stirred to life by snuff sprinkled on his nose from a bowl labeled “Tariff Reform Snuff” by John G. Carlisle who is dressed in a formal uniform with sword. Among the crowd are Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel J. Tilden (all dressed as old women), Grover Cleveland, Samuel J. Randall, John Kelly, Henry Watterson, Abram S. Hewitt (dressed as an old woman), Samuel S. Cox, and Thomas F. Bayard (also dressed as an old woman), with arms raised in alarm and a broken pipe at his feet. On the far right are Thomas A. Hendricks drinking from a bottle labeled “Old Ticket Rye,” Winfield Scott Hancock, and Allen G. Thurman. Caption: “Captain” Carlisle shows that he is up to snuff.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-12-12

Print shows Puck’s figure for the “Independent Party” in a small sailboat of that name, flying a banner labeled “Independents”, sailing through icy waters among large icebergs. In the background two ships labeled “Tariff Reform” and “Civil Service Reform” have wrecked on icebergs. Among the faces in the icebergs are Rutherford B. Hayes, Roscoe Conkling, George M. Robeson, William Mahone, George F. Hoar, James G. Blaine, Jay Gould, Cyrus W. Field, John Sherman, John A. Logan, Whitelaw Reid, Samuel J. Tilden, Hubert O. Thompson, John Kelly, Charles A. Dana, Thomas Hendricks, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin F. Butler, Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, Allen G. Thurman, Abram S. Hewitt, and Chester A. Arthur.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-11-07

Print shows a domestic scene with Benjamin F. Butler as the mother of a sick child labeled “Butler Boom” who is being examined by Puck as a physician. Various medicines labeled “Grand Reforms, Tewksbury Investigations, Big Reforms, Big Talk, Wind, [and] Friend of the Convicts” are on a table and the floor. Caption: N.C. Physician “You have almost talked the baby to death, madam; it will require great care to keep him alive until the 6th of November.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-10-31

Print shows Benjamin F. Butler as a military officer sitting on a horse, gesturing with his “Programme” to a snickering man labeled “Solid South” to get him to fall into line with Butler’s support for his presidential bid in 1884. On the left, already in line, are “Old Soldiers, Discontented Republicans, Oldtime Democrats”, and “Womens Rights” advocates, also two old men labeled “Greenbacker”, paupers, and prisoners, as well as a group of infants labeled “The Babies Cry for Him.” The horse, who also looks a little like Butler, leans over a pile of hay on which are papers labeled “Notoriety, Sensationalism, [and] Controversies”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-10-17

Print shows an Irishman man labeled “Democracy” standing at center, holding a small glass slipper labeled “’84 Presidential Nomination”, with Samuel J. Tilden and Charles A. Dana as courtiers standing behind him. On the left, sitting in a chair is Benjamin F. Butler, as a housemaid, holding up a huge foot, an oversized shoe labeled “Unanimous Renomination” is on the floor next to the chair. Butler claims to be “Cinderella” (and like Dickens’ “Barkis,” he is willing), though the others look with dismay at the size of his foot. Caption: B. Butler “Here’s your Cinderella, gentlemen – you needn’t go any further.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-10-03

Puck holds a shotgun over one shoulder and a dead owl in his raised right hand. With him are two hunting dogs labeled “Wit” and “Satire.” He is surrounded by dead animals that have the faces of politicians, including James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, George M. Robeson, and William E. Chandler. A frog probably represents Benjamin F. Butler, an unidentified man is lying in the marsh grass, and a bird of prey, with the face of Jay Gould, carries off a sheep with “Wit” in pursuit.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-01-14

A group of Democrats sit on a log raft that is breaking up within sight of land, with two logs labeled “New Jersey [and] New York” coming loose and drifting away. A small sail on the raft is labeled “Democra[…] Record.” Some are fighting amongst themselves. Allen G. Thurman is about to hit George Hoadly who is holding a paper labeled “Dem. Nomination for Gov. Ohio Hoadly”; John Kelly is fighting with Hubert O. Thompson who is holding a knife labeled “County Dem”; and behind them is Alexander V. Davidson labeled “Irving Hall” and holding a knife. Others seem on the brink of despair, including Abram S. Hewitt gnawing on a bone labeled “Tariff,” Charles A. Dana defiant of fate, Thomas F. Bayard sitting with his elbows on his knees, Winfield Scott Hancock who appears to have succumbed, Thomas Hendricks chewing on his fingers, an unidentified man searching the horizon, Henry Watterson, and Samuel J. Tilden. Only Benjamin F. Butler shows any sign of hope as he points toward shore and the U.S. Capitol labeled “1884.” Caption: The Democrats have their regular shindy just as they come in sight of land.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-09-26

Puck stands with lithographic pen and a long banner with scenes from cartoons that appeared in Puck Magazine during 1884, including the British Lion and “El Mahdi” in Egypt and Sudan, James G. Blaine’s presidential hopes, the rise of Chester A. Arthur, a downtrodden Tammany tiger, John Kelly and Benjamin Butler as entertainers, the French and the Chinese in “Tonquin,” the figure for the Independent Vote and Grover Cleveland joining forces, and millionaires Jay Gould and William H. Vanderbilt.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-12-31

Newspaper editors present their candidates for government appointments. James Gordon “Bennett” holds up a bust of Roscoe Conkling labeled “Sect. Interior,” with a tray labeled “Bennett’s Beauties” at his feet. Whitelaw “Reid” holds a tray labeled “Please choose these and suit us, Blaine & Reid,” on which are busts labeled “KKK” for “Sec’y Interior, Sec’y of War, [and] Treasury.” Joseph “Pulitzer” holds up a tray labeled “The World for Pulitzer” on which are busts of himself. Charles A. Dana carries a tray labeled “Dana’s Darlings” with busts of John “Kelly,” Thomas F. “Grady,” George M. “Robeson,” Samuel Sullivan “Cox,” and Benjamin F. Butler. There is also a man carrying a basket labeled “Hens’ Rights Heroines” with busts of “Lockwood, E.C. Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Phoebe Cozzens [sic], [and] Lucy Stone.” President Cleveland is visible through a window on the right, conducting interviews for cabinet positions. Caption: Chorus of Journalistic Candidate-Peddlers – “Here y’are now! – I’ve got the only genuine article! – Don’t mind that other fellow!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-12-17

A glum Thanksgiving Day feast is occurring with the downtrodden Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine and his supporters “W.W. Phelps, [Roscoe Conkling at an open door], William Mahone, Cabot Lodge, [John Logan], Robeson, Dorsey, [W. Reid, Benjamin F. Butler], Elkins, Platt, [Cyrus W. Field, and] C.A. Dana” gathered around a table, and with John Kelly as a dog next to a plate with a small bird labeled “Compliments of N.Y. Citizens.” Reid is removing the top of a platter labeled “Campaign” where there is a “Crow” that is “Compliments of the People.” Through a window, where Puck is looking in, can be seen Grover Cleveland carrying a large turkey labeled “Presidency” over his shoulder, and across the street is Jay Gould offering his “Congratulations.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-11-26