Mightier Than The Sword

Originally Aired: January 8, 1941 In Cavalcade of America #208, "Mightier Than The Sword," legendary political cartoonist Thomas Nast prepares to take on one of the most corrupt political machines in American history. When Kate, the Nast family's maid, reveals that her innocent brother Tim has been jailed without cause by Boss Tweed's political machine, publisher Fletcher Harper and Nast realize that Tweed's corruption has reached into every corner of New York City. Harper gives Nast permission to use his powerful cartoons to expose the truth about Tweed and his ring of cronies, including Peter P. Sweeney, Slippery Dick Connolly, and Mayor O.K. Hall, who have been systematically plundering the city treasury. When Nast's first cartoon appears in Harper's Weekly, depicting Tweed as a fat clown leading an army of hoodlums, the Boss takes notice. As Tweed and his ring plot an elaborate Broadway improvement scheme designed to steal 25 million dollars from taxpayers, they discover they face an unexpected enemy: the power of the press and Nast's devastating illustrations that can reach even those citizens who cannot read.