The Journal — Cartoons

History rhyming again?

An 1896 Judge cartoon of William Jennings Bryan and the Populists swallowing the Democratic mule, and a note on where populism comes from.

Filed 19 August 2017

William Jennings Bryan, whose 1896 campaign the cartoon skewered.
William Jennings Bryan, whose 1896 campaign the cartoon skewered. · Wikimedia Commons — public domain

An 1896 Judge magazine cartoon has William Jennings Bryan, a presidential candidate, and the Populist Party swallowing up the mule representing the Democratic Party.

The shadow of democracy

A reminder that populism can take many forms, across the political spectrum, and emerges from what Margaret Canovan calls the 'shadow of democracy' when the mainstream parties fail to deliver what the 'people' want.

The cartoon itself, held in Wikimedia Commons, is credited to the US magazine Judge, 1896, and shows Bryan and Populism as a snake swallowing the Democratic mule.

Sources

  1. Victorian Footnotes (archived)
  2. Bryan, Judge magazine, 1896 (Wikimedia Commons)

First published August 19, 2017, kept and lightly revised September 16, 2026. On how this journal is rebuilt and sourced, see the about page.

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