"What Are You Laughing At? To the Victor Belong the Spoils" (from "Harper's Weekly," vol. 15, p. 1097)
Thomas Nast|Harper's Weekly|William Magear Tweed
November 25, 1871 · Wood engraving · Drawings and Prints
New York’s famously corrupt politician William M. "Boss" Tweed appears here as a defeated Roman soldier. Nast’s critical satires of Tweed appeared regularly in Harper’s Weekly and helped persuade New York voters to oust the Democrats in November 1871. This ended Tweed’s corrupt leadership of Tammany Hall—a political machine that embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars over three years and bribed critics into silence. Nast compares the defeated Tweed to the Roman consul Caius Marius, exiled in disgrace to the ruined city of Carthage. Wearing a crown of dollar signs, a gouty Tweed leans on an empty treasury box, grips a broken sword, and glares in defiant disbelief.
- Artist
- Thomas Nast|Harper's Weekly|William Magear Tweed
- Date
- November 25, 1871
- Medium
- Wood engraving
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
