John L. Magee · Ulysses S. Grant · General George B. McClellan · Abraham Lincoln · Andrew Johnson

**John L. Magee** (c. 1820 – 1870s?) was an American lithographer, engraver, cartoonist, and genre painter whose career spanned the mid-19th century, particularly the turbulent years of the Civil War era. Born in New York, he began creating lithographs for prominent New York publishing houses, including Nathaniel Currier, and exhibited paintings at the National Academy of Design as early as 1844, including the genre scene *The Mischievous Boy*.)

By 1850 he had established his own business and relocated to Philadelphia around 1852, where he produced prints documenting current events, sports, and especially political controversies. Magee became renowned for his sharp political cartoons that reflected his strong opposition to slavery, the Confederacy, and later President Andrew Johnson. His works often favored Whig and Republican figures such as Winfield Scott and John C. Frémont, employing vivid imagery to comment on national debates.)

Among his notable pieces are the 1856 lithograph *Southern Chivalry – Argument Versus Club*, which condemned the caning of Senator Charles Sumner, and the circa 1865 cartoon *Satan Tempting Booth to the Murder of the President*, depicting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Other prints addressed themes involving Ulysses S. Grant, General George B. McClellan, and Andrew Johnson, capturing the era’s partisan fervor. His final publications appeared in 1866–1867.)

Magee’s legacy endures through his contributions to American political printmaking. His lithographs, preserved in major collections such as the Smithsonian and the Library Company of Philadelphia, offer vivid visual records of 19th-century social and political tensions. Though details of his personal life remain limited, his output as a commercial artist and commentator helped shape public discourse during one of the nation’s most divisive periods.