Judge — December 19, 1891 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Tweed's Protege and Successor" This 1891 Judge cartoon satirizes political corruption through the figure of "Bill Tweed" (likely referencing William "Boss" Tweed, the infamously corrupt Tammany Hall leader). The skeleton in striped prison garb represents Tweed himself, now deceased or imprisoned. The living politician in the top hat kneels before Tweed's ghost, confessing he's following Tweed's corrupt methods: appointing judges to do his bidding and accepting bribes ("being steeped in corruption"). However, he claims superiority—he had "the check to aspire to the Presidency," implying ambitions beyond Tweed's reach. The satire condemns the persistence of Tammany Hall-style political corruption into the 1890s, suggesting the system survived even after Tweed's downfall.