Judge — January 28, 1888 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "An Aggravated Case of Big-Head" This political cartoon from Judge (January 28, 1888) satirizes Grover Cleveland's political ambitions and ego. The central figure, depicted with an enormously enlarged head, appears to be Cleveland—labeled with references to "Protection at Home" and "America's" policies. Two statues flank him, appearing to represent U.S. Grant (left) and Lincoln (right). The caption references James Russell Lowell's Boston speech describing Cleveland as "the best representative of the highest type of Americanism that we have ever seen since Lincoln." The cartoon mocks this comparison as absurd flattery, suggesting Cleveland's ego has swollen from such praise. The "big-head" metaphor criticizes both his inflated self-regard and the hyperbolic comparisons being made to Lincoln and Grant.