Well everything helps
As the Depression tightened its hold on American life, avid angler
President Herbert Hoover cast about for ways to improve the economy.
He sometimes took working vacations at his fishing camp on the Rapidan
River (now in Shenandoah National Park) with members of Congress
and his administration.
Well everything
helps, 1930 or 1931
Ink over graphite underdrawing with
scratching out on layered paper.
Published in the Chicago Daily News (3)
LC-USZ62-127207
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"O, death! O, change! O, time!"
On February 5, 1937 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed
increasing the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to fifteen.
He announced that for every justice who did not quit the bench after
turning seventy, he would be empowered to appoint a new justice,
totaling six. This would have altered a court that had struck down
such New Deal creations as the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA). After six months,
the plan failed under opposition from both Democrats and Republicans.
"O, death!
O, change! O, time!" 1937
Ink, crayon, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing on layered paper
Published by NEA Service, Inc. (8)
LC-USZ62-127205
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"Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them"
During the 1948 presidential election, Southern Democrats rebelled,
protesting President Harry Truman's civil rights program, while
left-leaning Democrats split off to form the Progressive Party under
the leadership of Henry A. Wallace. This prompted Herb Block to
invoke the heroic, if ill-fated warrior in Alfred Tennyson's The
Charge of the Light Brigade. Truman surprised almost everyone by
winning the election in November.
"Cannon
to right of them, cannon to left of them,"
February 23, 1948
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered
paper
Published in the Washington Post (19)
LC-USZ62-127199
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"Tsk Tsk -- Somebody Should Do Something About That"
President Dwight Eisenhower was frequently accused of failure to
provide leadership on domestic problems. Among Herb Block's criticisms
of the administration was Eisenhower's lack of support for the Supreme
Court's 1954 ruling for desegregation. Eisenhower said we all have
opinions and lamented that "you can't change the hearts of
men by laws." The leadership vacuum persisted long after the
Court's ruling, which allowed time for the organization of White
Citizens councils, of "massive resistance" and confrontations
that continued beyond Eisenhower's term. In 1956, two years after
the Court's ruling, Eisenhower's view on integration was that it
should proceed more slowly.
"Tsk Tsk
-- Somebody Should Do Something
About That," April 3, 1956
Reproduction of original drawing
Published in the Washington Post (145)
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"Throw him some more flowers, honey -- let's see how long
he'll keep playing"
President John F. Kennedy gave stirring speeches proposing initiatives
of the New Frontier, among them a payroll plan for aid to the elderly
that later became Medicare and proposals to remedy civil rights
problems. But even his own congressional leaders didn't seem completely
saddled up for the New Frontier. And "anti-administration"
Democrats joined with Republicans in a coalition that resisted his
programs and proposals.
"Throw him
some more flowers, honeylet's see how long he'll keep playing,"
July 18, 1962
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered
paper
Published in the Washington Post (51)
LC-USZ62-127085
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"Ev tu?"
On May 24, 1966, Illinois Republican Everett Dirksen took the Senate
floor to call for a "thorough discussion of the diplomatic,
military and political situation in Vietnam." He attacked President
Lyndon Johnson for lack of candor as military engagements increased
and United States warplanes carried out a record number of air strikes
on North Vietnam. The cartoon alludes William Shakespeare's Julius
Caesar, where Caesar says, "Et tu, Brute?" when stabbed
by Brutus, and the title plays on Dirksen's first name, Everett.
"Ev tu?"
June 10, 1966
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered
paper
Published in the Washington Post (63)
LC-USZ62-127072
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National-security blanket
On May 22, 1973, President Richard Nixon admitted that he had concealed
aspects of the case involving the break-in at Democratic headquarters
in the Watergate Hotel in Washington. He did so, he said, to protect
national security "operations." Nixon affirmed his innocence
and said he would stay in office. Herb Block, whose earliest cartoons
critical of Nixon had appeared twenty-five years before, saw Nixon
seeking cover amidst evidence of wiretapping, break-in, political
sabotage, laundered FBI funds from Mexico, and other illegal activities.
National-security
blanket, May 27, 1973
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered
paper
Published in the Washington Post (75)
LC-USZ62-126917
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"Gee! A medal from Gen. Goldwater"
During the 1976 presidential election, incumbent President Gerald
Ford received only modest support from his influential colleague
Senator Barry Goldwater. In a letter to delegates of the Republican
National Convention, Goldwater wrote that his endorsement "rests
solely on the fact that at this time in our history I do not believe
that our government can suffer through months and months of reorganization
that [would] be necessary" if Ford lost the election. President
Ford, visiting Valley Forge at the time to celebrate the nation's
Bicentennial, ultimately received the Republican nomination but
lost in the general election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
"Gee! A
medal from Gen. Goldwater," July 2, 1976
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over
graphite underdrawing on paper
Published in the Washington Post (82)
LC-USZ62-126887
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"It comes out fuzzy"
On May 12, 1978, President Jimmy Carter agreed to a tax-cut package
under pressure from Congress and the Federal Reserve Board, seeking
to end an economic recession. Image consultant Gerald Rafshoon set
about to alter the public perception of Carter as being indecisive.
But his efforts were soon overwhelmed when Iranians took Americans
hostage. Carter's ill-conceived attempt at a military rescue of
the hostages resulted in a desert disaster, with loss of American
lives and planes.
"It comes
out fuzzy," May 21, 1978
Ink, graphite, crayon, porous point pen,
opaque white, and overlays over
graphite underdrawing on paper
Published in the Washington Post (88)
LC-USZ62-126935
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Cardboard Ronald Reagan
Unlike Carter, President Ronald Reagan projected a strong image.
His own Iranian hostage situation exploded in scandal, and his attempts
to establish a presence in Lebanon cost the lives of 241 Marines.
Among the Reagan administration domestic scandals was one involving
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which led to the indictment
of one EPA official and the forced resignation of another. Herb
Block notes, "The agency was one of many stacked to fit Reagan
policies. Corruption in the Housing and Urban Development Agency
took the form of awarding agency money to developers who would make
campaign contributions. But it was the Iran-Contra scandals that
shook the country and his administration. Through all this, Reagan
remained popular, and his image was upheld."
[Cardboard Ronald
Reagan], March 5, 1987
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, and
opaque white, over blue pencil
underdrawing on paper
Published in the Washington Post (102)
LC-USZ62-126874
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"I was out of the loop"
During the 1992 election, President George Bush came under scrutiny
for his role as vice-president during the Iran-contra scandals.
Bush claimed to be "out of the loop" about the arms deal.
Democratic candidate Bill Clinton made Bush's role a central issue
in his run for the White House. Clinton's running mate, Senator
Al Gore, referred to notes released by an aide to former Secretary
of State George Shultz that belied Bush's claim. As the campaign
drew to a close, more information linked Bush to the scandal. One
of Bush's last acts as president was his issuance of pardons to
Iran-contra figures who had been indicted, pled guilty or been found
guilty.
"I was
out of the loop", October 4, 1992
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, and
opaque white, over blue pencil
underdrawing on paper
Published in the Washington Post (108)
LC-USZ62-126895
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Balance
Allegations of an affair between President Bill Clinton and former
White House intern Monica Lewinsky became public on January 21,
1998. Although Clinton repeatedly and forcefully denied. any improper
relationship, which later testimony proved his statements untrue
and resulted in a House vote of impeachment. While fending off these
accusations, Clinton proposed the first balanced budget in nearly
30 years.
Balance,
February 4, 1998
Ink, crayon, porous point pen,
opaque white, and overlays over blue pencil
underdrawing on paper
Published in the Washington Post (114)
LC-USZ62-126900
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