Slow & Steady Wins the Race

Presidential candidates Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan are shown in the middle of a horse race. At the left of the cartoon, Lincoln is in the lead as he rides "The Union Roadster," a horse labeled "Slow and Steady." He holds an American flag, labeled "Union, The Government, Laws," topped by a liberty cap. In the middle, McClellan is shown trying to ride two horses at once (a common circus trick at the time); he has one foot on the back of "Mac's War-Horse," labeled "Brag & Bluster," and his other foot on the back of "The Peace Donkey," labeled "Fawn & Cringe." This likely refers to McClellan's attempts to campaign both on his military reputation as a Union general and on a platform of reconciliation with the South. The donkey carries a sack labeled "Rebel War Debt," filled with notes, and kicks behind him. Behind the donkey is a McClellan's running mate, George H. Pendleton of Ohio, dressed as a circus clown or jester. Pendleton whips the donkey and holds a scroll that reads "Peace! Peace! Anything for Peace!" At far right, in the background, a man standing in a carriage, watching the race through a pair of binoculars, predicts Lincoln's victory in a thick accent. The Library of Congress and other historians identify this man as a stereotype of a Jewish peddler.