Thomas Nast Dutch hundreds of years before Nast was born. Thomas Nast Thomas Nast (; ; September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine. Among his notable works were the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus (based on the traditional German figures of Sankt Nikolaus and Weihnachtsmann) and the political symbol of the elephant for the Republican Party (GOP). Contrary to popular belief, Nast did not create
Editorial cartoonist the Association of American Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Thomas Nast Award from the Overseas Press Club, and the Herblock Prize. There are several North American books that have collected together the majority of cartoonists being published at the time. "Attack of the Political Cartoonists", written by J. P. Trostle, was published in 2004 and includes profiles of 150 mainstream American and Canadian cartoonists. "Attack" was an effort to update the 1962 tome "Today's Cartoon", by "New Orleans States-Item" cartoonist John Chase, which included most of the editorial cartoonists working in the U.S. at