Jeremiah McL. Rusk of Wisconsin, from the Presidential Possibilities series (N124) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1888

W. Duke, Sons & Co. created this promotional card for Honest Long Cut Tobacco, as part of their "Presidential Possibilities" series. These cards existed within a late 19th-century American culture grappling with rapid industrialization and westward expansion, fueled by a burgeoning tobacco industry that relied heavily on exploited labor. Jeremiah Rusk, the subject of this card, was a figure deeply embedded in these historical currents. As a former governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Agriculture, Rusk embodied the era's complex relationship between politics, industry, and agriculture. This image invites us to consider how leaders' images were manufactured and circulated to promote not only political ambitions but also consumer culture. It prompts us to reflect on the narratives we construct around leadership and the products we consume, especially when those narratives are intertwined with histories of exploitation and inequality.