The Wasp — 1888 — page 270: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes President Grover Cleveland during the 1888 election campaign. The caricatured figure appears to be Cleveland himself, depicted as a religious visionary experiencing a supernatural apparition labeled "II TERM"—referencing his bid for re-election to a second, non-consecutive presidential term. The scattered papers at his feet reference various trade and tariff issues of the era (visible text mentions "London Times," "free trade"), suggesting the cartoon mocks Cleveland's economic policies and vision as unrealistic or delusional. The demonic or unsettling quality of the glowing vision implies satirical skepticism about his re-election prospects. The "Wasp" publication name frames this as biting political commentary from what appears to be an anti-Cleveland perspective.