The Political Gymnasium

Presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the 1860 election, as well as their supporters in the press, are depicted exercising at the "Political Gymnasium." At left, Edward Everett, vice-presidential candidate for the Constitutional Union Party, lifts up a barbell on which sits presidential candidate John Bell. To the right of them, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley tries to swing his legs over a bar labeled "Nom[ination] for Governor." Abraham Lincoln, straddling a balance beam constructed of wooden rails, advises Greeley to ask for a boost. At far right, William H. Seward, supporting himself on crutches and wearing bandages on his feet, warns Lincoln not to fall. Below Lincoln, New York Courier editor James Watson Webb bends backward into a somersault. To Lincoln's right, Stephen Douglas and John Breckinridge, both Democratic presidential candidates, spar with boxing gloves.