An available candidate--the one qualification for a Whig president

Political cartoon showing man in military uniform, with epaulets and plumed hat, holding sword and seated on pile of skulls. A scathing attack on Whig principles, as embodied in their selection of a presidential candidate for 1848. Here the "available candidate" is either Gen. Zachary Taylor or Winfield Scott, both of whom were contenders for the nomination before the June convention. The figure sits atop a pyramid of skulls, holding a blood-stained sword. The skulls and sword allude to the bloody but successful Mexican War campaigns waged by both Taylor and Scott, which earned them considerable popularity (a combination of attractiveness and credibility termed "availability") among Whigs. The figure here has traditionally been identified as Taylor, but the flamboyant, plumed military hat and uniform are more in keeping with contemporary representations of Scott. The print may have appeared during the ground swell of popular support which arose for Scott as a rival to Zachary Taylor in the few months preceding the party's convention in Philadelphia on June 7, 1848. On June 9 Zachary Taylor captured the Whig nomination.

Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 0354.
Weitenkampf, p. 93
Lorant, p. 190
Image of America, no. 40
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1848-19.