Life — May 7, 1885 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes Editor Henry Grady of Georgia, who has petitioned President Cleveland to pardon Confederate general Jefferson Davis. The image depicts a figure in Civil War-era military dress standing in a swampy landscape, blowing a horn toward the Capitol building. The horn itself appears to be labeled, suggesting the "horn" is Grady's petition—a play on words treating his written appeal as literally a horn used to summon authority. The satire targets Grady's apparent reversal on Reconstruction politics: by seeking Davis's pardon, he's portrayed as hypocritically "repenting" or backtracking from previous stances. The cartoon mocks what the artist sees as opportunistic or insincere political positioning regarding the still-contentious question of Confederate reconciliation in post-Reconstruction America.