Chauncey M. Depew, President of the New York Central Road

The caption reads simply Mr. Chauncey M. Depew / President of the New York Central Road. Ward renders the New York railroad baron and Republican orator in a long double-breasted frock coat, holding his pince-nez in one hand with the patrician ease of a man accustomed to boardrooms and banquet speeches. The caricature elongates Depew's already prominent nose and receding skull, standard Spy exaggeration. Politically the image is affectionate: Depew had just declined a Senate seat, and Vanity Fair's British readership would have known him as a Vanderbilt lieutenant and transatlantic celebrity toastmaster, a safely admirable American success story.