'Farmer Garfield Cutting a Swath to the White House' cartoon   Save
James A. Garfield Collection
Description: This pro-Garfield illustration depicts presidential candidate James Garfield as a farmer cutting down grass and snakes with a scythe on his way towards the White House. The scythe is labeled "Honesty, Ability and Patriotism," while the evils he is cutting down are symbolized as snakes labeled "Malice," "Defamation," "Hatred," "Venom" and "Fraud." Beneath his feet are two snakes named "Calumny" and "Falsehood." The cartoon is captioned "Farmer Garfield Cutting a Swath to the White House," and was published by Currier and Ives in 1880. Born in Orange, Ohio, Garfield spent time teaching at Hiram College and attained the rank of major general in the Civil War. He served nine consecutive terms in the House of Representatives before he was elected President of the United States in 1880, but served for only four months before he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau while waiting for a train in Washington, DC. Garfield lived for two more months, before dying on September 19, 1881. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04094
Subjects: Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Ohio History--Presidents and Politics; Presidential campaigns; Assassinations
Places: James A. Garfield Collection