As Tom Nast Predicted It

Nast draws Benjamin Harrison in Roman imperial armor—laurel crown, starred breastplate, scepter in hand—riding a massive Republican elephant whose trunk curves downward toward the caption "Forward March!" The beast fills the frame, coiled and powerful, while Harrison sits stiffly erect, the posture of a Caesar rather than a republic's servant. The cartoon ran in the *San Francisco Examiner* reprinted from the *Chicago Inter Ocean* and carries Nast's own signature and year. By 1892 Nast was estranged from mainstream Republicanism, and the image critiques Harrison's position as party leader—a rider seemingly overwhelmed by the powerful machine backing him.