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THB"Charles Sumner for President, Jefferson Davis for Vice President," Anti-Horace Greeley 1872 Satirical Campaign Ticket
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveNov 17, 2017 - Nov 18, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
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- Lot Description
Printed satirical campaign ticket featuring the title, "People's Ticket." A printed portrait sketch of George Washington is featured in the middle of the ticket, with the words, "Spirit" and "Medium" to the left and right. The sketch sits above a quotation attributed to Washington that reads, "Beware of a Military Chieftain." Below, text reads, "For President, / Charles Sumner, / Of Massachusetts. / For Vice President, / Jefferson Davis, / Of Mississippi." At the bottom of the ticket sits the phrase, "The Constitution as it is. / The Union as it was."
This satirical campaign ticket is full of clues that shed light on the tongue-and-cheek message it was purposed to send. The ticket is meant to mock the 1872 Liberal Republican Presidential Candidate, Horace Greeley, who was ultimately defeated in the election by Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican candidate.
The first reference to Greeley on this ticket is the portion upon which George Washington and his alleged quotation is featured. The printed quotation, "Beware of a Military Chieftain," which seems to warn against the powerfully connected and "militaristic" U. S. Grant, was never attributed to Washington. The ticket thus features the words, "Spirit" and "Medium" as a suggestion that the only way one could attribute this statement to Washington would be to speak with the dead through the use of a Spirit Medium, part of a fad that had swept the nation around this time. Horace Greeley was widely known to have been interested in this fad, known as Spiritualism, conducting séances in his home and hosting famous spirit mediums like Kathy Fox. Readers of the day would have picked up on the connection, as spirit mediums had become quite widely discredited in the newspapers and Greeley's participation in the practice was well-known.
The second portion of the ticket names Charles Sumner and Jefferson Davis as the "People's Ticket," a phrase referring to the Liberal Republican Party's accusation that the Republican Party was controlled and owned by the wealthy, and thus did not represent the common people. The Sumner reference likely comes from the fact that both Greeley and Sumner had supported Grant in 1868, but later, as some would say, turned their backs on the party, and became very vocal opponents of Grant. Instead of naming Greeley specifically, as such directness would hardly be considered witty satire, the veiled reference would have struck a chord with contemporary readers. Jefferson Davis is listed likely as a way to associate Sumner, who many saw as a northern traitor, with the very obvious southern traitor from the defeated Confederacy. Notably, Horace Greeley also recommended the release of Jefferson Davis from prison, even signing his bail bond. This additional connection would not have been lost on well-informed readers.
The phrase at the very bottom of the ticket was used by the Democrats in the 1864 election. There was some dispute over Horace Greeley's position in the 1864 election, some believing he either opposed Lincoln or did not believe Lincoln could win a second term in office. This last portion of the ticket might have been a jab at Greeley's early supposed disloyalty to the Republicans.
Source: Baxley, Steve. "The Sumner/Chase Satirical Tickets." The Keynoter, Summer 2007.
Ticket is intact with one small tear on left edge near top.Condition
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