ComicBook Experience

From the exhibition

Andy's Trip: "Who Has Suffered More for You and for This Union Than Andrew Johnson?"

Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, artist · c. 1866–1868, Harper's Weekly

Andy's Trip: "Who Has Suffered More for You and for This Union Than Andrew Johnson?"
This double-page spread fills both folio pages with a dense constellation of vignettes anchored by a stern oval portrait of President Andrew Johnson at center, his name rendered in bold display type — ANDY'S TRIP — arching across the gutter. Surrounding panels carry sardonic captions: *"Don't Get Mad, Andy,"* *"Our Soldiers & Sailors,"* *"Our Wives & Children,"* and *"I Am Prepared to Fight Traitors at the North."* Smaller scenes lampoon Johnson's Swing Around the Circle speaking tour, depicting him haranguing crowds, losing his dignity, and contradicting his own pledges. Nast's argument is systematic: Johnson, who styled himself the Union's great martyr, betrayed Reconstruction, coddled former Confederates, and embarrassed the presidency with his rambling stump speeches. The mock-heroic central quotation — *"Who has suffered more for you and for this Union than Andrew Johnson?"* — turns the president's own rhetoric into the punchline.

Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, artist Public domain