Framed Marines , First to Fight for Democracy by Leon Alaric Shafer

U.S. Marines, First to Fight for Democracy by Leon Alaric Shafer is a stirring World War I recruiting poster that captures the martial pride and patriotic urgency of America’s entry into the Great War. Created in 1917, the artwork depicts determined U.S. Marines advancing confidently beneath the American flag, embodying courage, discipline, and readiness for combat. The phrase “First to Fight for Democracy” reflected the Marine Corps’ effort to present itself as the nation’s elite shock force at a moment when democratic ideals were framed as being under threat in Europe. Like many wartime posters of the era, Shafer’s composition combines heroic imagery, dramatic movement, and bold symbolism to inspire enlistment and national unity, making it both a powerful piece of propaganda and an enduring example of American military art from the First World War.