# Was there always this much comedy in U.S. politics?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-always-this-much-comedy-in-u-s-politics/641355>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [November 17, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-always-this-much-comedy-in-u-s-politics/641355 "2012-11-17T22:52:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-always-this-much-comedy-in-u-s-politics/641355/21 "2012-11-19T18:34:01Z")

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This would be more persuasive if I could remember who said it, but some politician in the era of the yellow press complained to (Hearst?) that he didn’t care what was in the editorials and articles (because nobody read them), but people actually looked at the political cartoons in the paper.

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-always-this-much-comedy-in-u-s-politics/641355/22 "2012-11-19T18:41:05Z")

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Just outside the 5 minute window, it was Boss Tweed:

> [@Tweed](#):
>
> [Stop them damned pictures. I don’t care so much what the papers say about me. My constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Tweed)

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-always-this-much-comedy-in-u-s-politics/641355/23 "2012-11-19T19:07:43Z")

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> [@bup](#):
>
> Just outside the 5 minute window, it was Boss Tweed:

See post #19 – [Tweed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_Tweed) was referring specifically to Thomas Nast’s anti-Tweed cartoons in _Harper’s._ Nast waged a total crusade to expose Tweed’s (and Tammany Hall’s) corruption, and bring him down through satire. In the end, it worked; Tweed died in jail.

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