This anti-Grant cartoon by Thomas Nast, the nation’s most celebrated political cartoonist, shows the president falling headfirst into the barrel of fraud and corruption that tainted his administration. During Grant’s eight years in the White House, many members of his administration failed him. Sometimes duped, sometimes merely loyal, Grant stubbornly defended wrongdoers, even to the point of perjuring himself to keep an aide out of jail. Library of Congress.

reading the image: How does Thomas Nast portray President Grant’s role in corruption? According to this cartoon, what caused the problems?

connections: How responsible was President Grant for the corruption that plagued his administration?