To begin with, ‘I’ll paint the town red
1885
This biting 1885 political cartoon by Grant Hamilton features a devilish caricature of the Democratic Party—complete with a tail and a belt labeled 'Democracy'—gleefully painting Washington D.C. red. Standing atop a wall with the U.S. Capitol in the background, this grinning character dips a whip-like brush into a bucket labeled 'House of Principles,' splashing red paint everywhere while balancing on a ladder marked 'Solid South.' The phrase 'paint the town red' usually means to party hard, but here it suggests a chaotic or corrupt takeover of the government following the Democrats' victory in the 1884 election.
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