Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840–December 7, 1902) was a famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning.

He was born in the military barracks of Landau, Germany (in the Rhine Palatinate), the son of a musician in the 9th regiment Bavarian band. His mother took him to New York in 1846. He studied art there for about a year with Alfred Fredericks and Theodore Kaufmann and at the school of the National Academy of Design. After school (at the age of 15), he started working in 1855 as a draftsman for Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper; three years afterwards for Harper's Weekly. He drew for Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. In 1860 he went to England for the New York Illustrated News to depict the prize fight between Heenan and Sayers, and then joined Garibaldi in Italy as artist for The Illustrated London News. Nast's cartoons and articles about the Garibaldi military campaign to unify Italy captured the popular imagination in the U.S. In the early 1860s, he married Sarah Edwards.

His first serious work in caricature was the cartoon "Peace in 1862," directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the American Civil War. This and his other cartoons during the Civil War and Reconstruction days were published in Harper's Weekly. He was known for drawing battlefields in border and southern states. These attracted great attention, and Nast was called by President Abraham Lincoln "our best recruiting sergeant". Even more able were Nast's cartoons against the Tweed Ring conspiracy in New York City. His biting wit was generally focused on political corruption, and was instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed. It was said his caricature of Boss Tweed was used by the officials of Vigo, Spain when Tweed fled justice there. They were able to arrest Tweed using one of Nast's cartoons. In general he was well known in his time for his political cartoons supporting American Indians, Chinese Americans and advocating abolition of slavery.

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Nov 7, 1874=1st time the GOP was symbolized as an elephant in cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Wkly mag--the Dem "jackass" is from 1828
gunboatgraphix (gunboatgraphix) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:49:08 -0000
Nov 7, 1874=1st time the GOP was symbolized as an elephant in cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Wkly mag--the Dem "jackass" is from 1828
@phendragon Aaahhh, mas o criador do Papai Noel “comercial” foi Thomas Nast, não Norman Rockwell. Disso ele não pode ser acusado.
Octavio_Aragao (Octavio Aragão) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:42:03 -0000
@phendragon Aaahhh, mas o criador do Papai Noel “comercial” foi Thomas Nast, não Norman Rockwell. Disso ele não pode ser acusado.
Illustrator Thomas Nast created our modern image of Santa Claus, as well as the Democratic and Republican Party symbols.
uselessknowledg (Useless Knowledge) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:39:08 -0000
Illustrator Thomas Nast created our modern image of Santa Claus, as well as the Democratic and Republican Party symbols.
Thomas Nast, you did it again! http://twitpic.com/oa4hi
lowposts (lowposts.com) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:14:46 -0000
Thomas Nast, you did it again! http://twitpic.com/oa4hi
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/27/hajjar.female.cartoonist/index.html Her and thomas Nast Rock!
McomicsMatos (Melissa Matos) Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:52:47 -0000
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/27/hajjar.female.cartoonist/index.html Her and thomas Nast Rock!

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