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“‘The Die is Cast’—Caesar and Pompey”

Sherman. "If the Republicans of Ohio do not fairly and fully in their Convention express a preference for me, and support me with substantial unanimity in the National Convention, my name will not be presented to that Convention with my consent."
Blaine. "Well, what of it?"

In 1880, Treasury Secretary (and former senator) John Sherman of Ohio and
Senator James Blaine of Maine were major contenders for the Republican
presidential nomination. This Harper's Weekly cartoon by Thomas
Nast reflects Sherman’s anger at Blaine’s successful attempt to gain
backing within the Ohio delegation, at the expense of Sherman, the state’s
favorite-son candidate.
Nast portrays the men as "spoilsmen"—i.e., unprincipled
politicians who use patronage ("the spoils of victory") to
gain and keep power for their own sake, rather than for the public good.
The cartoonist was an advocate of civil service reform, which aimed to
replace the patronage system of government bureaucracy with
appointments, promotion, and tenure based on merit, instead of party
loyalty. Nast therefore incorporates several symbols to
communicate the message of the spoilsmen's quest for ruthless power and
personal gain.
In the center of the cartoon, Sherman (left) and Blaine (right) wear
the garb of Roman senators Julius Caesar and Pompey, respectively. Along
with Crassus, they ruled the ancient Roman empire as the First
Triumvirate. Pompey then turned against Caesar in the Roman Senate,
having Caesar designated as an enemy of the state (here, Ohio by
analogy). The phrase "the die is cast" means a step taken
which cannot be reversed. It refers to Julius Caesar ordering his troops
in Gaul to cross the Rubicon River into Italy, thus provoking a civil
war. Caesar was the victor, while Pompey was assassinated by the
Egyptians with whom he sought refuge. The Roman Senate soon made Julius
Caesar dictator for life. In 1880, however, both Sherman and Blaine
would lose the Republican presidential nomination to Congressman James
Garfield of Ohio.
The statue to the right of Blaine’s sword depicts the orphaned
twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome who, according
to myth, suckled at the teats of a she-wolf; they are placed upon a
pedestal reading "Spoils." The image reinforces the notion of
Sherman and Blaine as twin spoilsmen, nourishing themselves on
government largesse. To the left of Sherman’s cloak is the tail-end of
an equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, who was regarded as
establishing the modern patronage system. Nast frequently used the
statue to indicate the spoils system. In the background, the chief
architectural icons of American government, the Capitol Building (right)
and the White House (center), are aligned in this setting with the
imperial Roman Coliseum (left). The birds (vultures or buzzards)
hovering overhead are a common signifier of doom, death, or
opportunistic pillage.
The word "Resumption" and the money emblem on Sherman’s
breastplate stand for his sponsorship, as senator and treasury
secretary, of the Resumption Act, which returned the U.S. to the gold
standard. They could also allude here to Sherman's desire to
resume the lucrative pursuit of political spoils.
Robert C. Kennedy
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