"Thomas Nast (1840-1902), the founding father of American political cartooning, is perhaps best known for his cartoons portraying political parties as the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant. Nast's legacy also includes a trove of other political cartoons, his successful attack on the machine politics of Tammany Hall in 1871, and his wildly popular illustrations of Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly magazine. Throughout his career, his drawings...

117 of Nast's most popular and most important political cartoons with explanations of the cartoon's social background, figures who are parodied and praised, and Nast's stand on the issues.

Traces the life of the German immigrant whos artistic talent helped him become a popular and influential political cartoonist.