Judge — April 28, 1888 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon compares President Grover Cleveland to Robert Louis Stevenson's fictional character Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, critiquing his broken campaign promises. The left side lists Cleveland's 1884 campaign **promises**: civil service reform, no partisan removals, treating public office as a public trust, and rejecting a second term. The right side documents his actual **performances**: wholesale removals of officials, using office for political purposes, partisan politics, and pursuing a second term in 1888. The satirical point: Cleveland's administration contradicted its own reform platform, abandoning principles once in power. The Jekyll/Hyde metaphor suggests a complete personality reversal—the reformer became indistinguishable from the corrupt machine politician he claimed to oppose. This was a common attack against Cleveland during his 1888 re-election campaign.