ENVIRONMENT
|
"And now some more official information on the accident
at Chernobyl" |
The disastrous nuclear power plant accident on April 25-26, 1986, at
Chernobyl in the Ukraine area of the Soviet Union, cost lives and released
masses of polluted air that endangered the health of thousands and contaminated
millions of acres of land. In this cartoon, Herb Block drew a family
of skeletons, representing the unverified numbers of people who died
immediately, or soon afterward, of radiation sickness. Block included
a portrait of President Mikhail Gorbachev and a television set to allude
to the failure of the government and media to communicate timely information
to their own people and the world. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 6, 1986.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white with paste-on
over blue
pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (1)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11965
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12398
|
|
Rip-Off |
In 1975 President Gerald Ford vetoed the proposed
Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, despite an overwhelmingly pro-environment
vote in the House of Representatives. Ford argued that jobs would be
lost, utility bills would increase, Americans would be more dependent
on foreign oil, and coal production would be unnecessarily reduced. Herb
Block attacked the coal strip mining interests by depicting a man literally
peeling off the Earth's crust east of the Rocky Mountains, implying that
President Ford was in the pockets of the coal lobbyists. |
Published in The Washington Post,
June 1, 1975.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing
accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (2)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11966
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12399
|
|
The Drums |
In this cartoon, Block portrayed the "Grim Reaper" pounding a deadly
beat as toxic waste containers spill noxious contents into an ominously streaked
river of pollution. His cartoon reflected mounting public concern in 1979 over
safe storage of such drums in the wake of news coverage about lawsuits involving
illegal dumping of wastes, and instances of health and environmental problems
surfacing in the proximity of hazardous waste sites in New Jersey, New York,
Kentucky, and elsewhere. The reported problems included higher rates of cancer
deaths and seepage of life threatening chemical waste into rivers, water supplies,
and homes.
|
Published in The Washington Post,
March 21, 1979.
Ink, graphite, porous point pen, and opaque white
over
blue pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (4)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11968
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12400
|
|
The Gray Plague |
With his image of the Grim Reaper coming for those who dared to breathe
in America's cities, Herb Block indicated that air pollution had become
a major issue by 1967. President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress to authorize
federal regulation of air quality to protect the environment. When he
signed the Air Quality Act of 1967 into law on November 21, 1967, Johnson
quoted Dante's Inferno, ". . . dirty water and black snow
pour from the dismal air to. . .the putrid slush that waits for them
below." |
Published in The Washington
Post, January 29, 1967.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (5)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11969
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12401
|
|
ETHICS
|
"Mink is for peasants" |
Herb Block used the mink coat, a familiar symbol
of unethical conduct in public office, as a point of departure for a scathing
denunciation of congressmen in collusion with big business. The title,
voiced by his smug, crowned figures in ermine-trimmed robes decorated with
dollar signs, makes the point that corruption has reached a grandiose scale
previously unseen. Block highlighted his objections to the tidelands quitclaim
bills, whereby Congress could vote to claim submerged oil lands off the
coastlines of three states, and the continuation of tax loopholes for special
interests including the oil and utilities industries. |
Published in The Washington Post, March 19, 1951.
Ink,
graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (6)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11970 |
|
Haunted House |
Although Herb Block frequently castigated
President Richard Nixon and his Republican administration, in this cartoon
he reminded the 91st Congress--led by Democrats--that they,
too, had considerable skeletons in their closet. In the cartoon's foreground,
Block derided the seniority system. The cartoonist later railed: "This
is a system not for operating a representative government but for strangling
it. It often makes fiefdoms of Congressional committees--fiefdoms in
which the people's representatives are subject to the whims of chairmen
who have little responsibility to anybody." |
Published in The Washington Post, July 12, 1970.
Ink,
graphite, and opaque white over blue pencil underdrawing.
Quote from Herblock's
State of the Union
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972).
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (7)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11971 |
|
"Quitting time and
all's well" |
This cartoon appeared
after Congress failed to censure unethical behavior by elected members
in both houses. In September 1976, the Senate ethics committee voted
not to pursue allegations that minority leader Senator Hugh Scott (R-Penn)
received $45,000 from Gulf agents, despite Scott's admission of doing
so. On October 2, the House of Representatives refused to expel Representative
Andrew Hinshaw (R-Calif), who had been convicted of bribery. Herb Block's
image of both committees as fortress towers echoed his 1980 published
statement: "Perhaps the biggest scandals in Congress are the ones
in which it operates as a private mutual protection club." |
Published in The Washington Post,
October 3, 1976.
Ink, graphite, opaque white, and blue pencil with paste-ons
over graphite underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketches.
Quote from Herblock
on All Fronts
(New York: New American Library, 1980).
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (8)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11972
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12402 and ppmsca-12403 |
|
Death of a Salesman |
Dwight Eisenhower ran for president on a
vow to clean up political corruption. On September 18, 1952, with the
election just weeks away, the New York Post revealed that his
vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon had received secret funding
from California businessmen. Herb Block depicted Nixon cast aside, like
the lead character Willie Loman in Arthur Miller's 1949 play of the same
title. Nixon has packed up his bags, his corruption-sweeping brooms,
and a $16,000 secret fund contribution. Nixon saved his political career
and the Republican hold on the election with his now-famous "Checkers" speech,
in which he defended his honor in a televised broadcast. |
Published in The Washington Post,
September 20, 1952.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing,
accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (9)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11973
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12404 |
|
EXTREMISM
|
"The founders would have loved it if they'd
thought of it" |
By altering the U.S. flag with a cross of stars, Herb Block highlighted
the debate about the meaning of the founding fathers' belief on the separation
of church and state. By placing the presidential portrait next to the
cross of stars, Herb Block underscored the friendly relations between
President Ronald Reagan and the religious right during his second term
of office. |
Published in The Washington Post,
January 24, 1985.
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, and opaque white
over
blue pencil underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (11)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11975
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12398
|
|
"You using a pinch of salt in your recipe, dearie?" |
Herb Block depicted a scene with two witches brewing
potions to criticize the Eisenhower administration's efforts to "ferret
out and destroy communist influence in government." The witch labeled "Civilian
Employee Security Procedures" asks the other if she's using a pinch
of salt, as her companion stirs her kettle of "Accusations." To
Block, the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) security regulations for
personnel revised on May 9, 1956, permitted extreme, unwarranted intrusions
of privacy. These regulations included inquiries about employees' organizational
memberships, questioning of informants, and the AEC's power to subpoena
witnesses. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 17, 1956.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over
graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (12)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11976
|
|
"We don't want no troublemakers from the United
States " |
In the early 1960s civil rights movement, Freedom
Riders endured violent attacks as they rode through the South seeking
integration of the bus, rail, and airport terminals. In this cartoon,
Herb Block used three armed thugs to criticize the mob that attacked
the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 21, 1961. The title,
an adaptation of a quote from the city's Police Commissioner, implied
that the South's sense of justice differed from that of the rest of the
U.S. When local leaders failed to prevent mob brutality, Freedom Ride
organizers pushed for national intervention. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 23, 1961.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing
accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (13)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11977
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12405
|
|
An American Tragedy |
Herb Block viewed the 1964 presidential campaign
of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater as ruthless and extremist. Goldwater's
support of ultra-conservatives contrasted with the long tradition of
Republican moderates, which Block depicted as drowning. In his nomination
acceptance speech on July 16, 1964, Goldwater said, "I would remind
you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind
you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." The
nation's overwhelming support for the Democratic candidate, Lyndon Johnson,
tempered Goldwater's victory in the Republican Party. |
Published in The Washington Post,
June 5, 1964.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white with overlay
over graphite
underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (15)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11979
|
|
"GET OUT THE VOTE"
|
Contract on America |
Based on President Ronald Reagan's 1985 State of
the Union Address, the Republican Party's "Contract with America" promised
specific legislative actions if their party won a majority in the House.
The tactic worked as voters went to the polls in record numbers in an
off-year election, restoring both a Republican majority and Reagan-era
economic policies. Herb Block demonstrated his distaste for the "Contract" by
portraying it as a death warrant to President Bill Clinton's administrative
policies. |
Published in The Washington Post,
October 7, 1994.
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, overlays, and opaque
white
over blue and red pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite
sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (32)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11996
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12417
|
|
"Are the campaign speeches over?" |
Herb Block lambasted President Ronald Reagan's fiscal
policies by depicting symbols that contrasted sharply in form and meaning.
His obese "Deficit" figure and the Washington Monument visually
juxtaposed debt with a homage to one of the nation's most admired presidents.
During both terms of office (1981-1989), Reagan tried to foster economic
growth through policies based on supply-side economics. According to
the administration's Office of Management and Budget, by the 1986 elections,
the federal deficit had ballooned to nearly one trillion dollars. |
Published in The Washington Post,
November 1, 1986.
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, overlays, and opaque
white
over blue pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (33)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11997
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12418
|
|
"One of these days" |
Revolution is afoot in Herb Block's drawing of frowning
figures rolling a guillotine toward the Bastille-like walls of "Royal
Congress Palaces." In a banner unfurled from the U.S. Capitol reading "Government
By the Congressmen For the Congressmen," Block adapted hallowed
phrases from Lincoln's Gettysburg address, "government by the people,
for the people." In 1978, there were reports of Democratic congressmen
taking bribes, receiving large fees for speaking, and accepting lavish
gifts. Passage of Proposition 13 in June in California enacted large
state tax cuts, possibly inspiring Block's dream of a Proposition 14
that would unseat corrupt incumbents. |
Published in The Washington Post,
August 12, 1978.
Ink, graphite, porous point pen, and opaque white
over blue pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketches.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (35)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11999
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12419, ppmsca-12420,
ppmsca-12421, and ppmsca-12422
|
|
"Out, damned 'spots'" |
Herb Block adapted a quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth and
depicted an outraged television viewer reacting angrily to the thirty-second
television campaign advertisements called "spots." While spot
advertisements on television had played a role in political elections
since 1952, the amount of money candidates spent on them soared with
the 1970 election. Mean-spirited spots, which candidates used to attack
their opponents rather than address issues, also increased in number. |
Published in The Washington Post,
October 6, 1970.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (36)
Digital ID # ppmsca-12000
|
|
"You wanted something modern, didn't you?" |
Herb Block poked fun at the 1966 election reform
law by likening it to a modernist sculpture, which he fashioned from
an assemblage of disparate, outdated auto parts. President Lyndon Johnson
had called on Congress in May to pass legislation to update outmoded
regulations for election campaign financing and advocated tax deductions
for campaign contributions. The Campaign Contribution Law, passed by
Congress in October of 1966, provided for direct subsidy of presidential
elections, but the measure was attacked as an unworkable hodgepodge of
old and new that would never prevent bribery of elected officials through
campaign contributions. |
Published in The Washington Post,
October 25, 1966.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (37)
Digital ID # ppmsca-12001
|
|
"You mean some can and don't do it?" |
In his reminder to vote on November 7, 1950, Herb
Block conveyed his own global perspective on the priceless value of voting
rights. Two ragged drudges, who are portrayed as physically oppressed
by the yoke of totalitarianism, express incredulity that U.S. citizens
with the precious right to vote sometimes choose not to exercise it.
In the fall of 1950, an off year for elections, the news media gave notable
attention to stories about voter registration drives and the expectation
of high voter turnouts in close races in New York City, Ohio, and Chicago. |
Published in The Washington Post,
September 18, 1950.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (39)
Digital ID # ppmsca-12003
|
|
"He's taking an awful beating, folks" |
Herb Block believed that voters were the real losers
in the 1946 off-year election in which Republicans accused Democrats
of being Communists and the Democrats equated their Republican counterparts
with Hitler. Voter discontent with rising food prices and shortages of
such staples as meat and sugar, as well as the growing fear of the spread
of communism from Europe, led to a Republican majority in both the House
and the Senate. The newly elected congressmen included Richard Nixon,
John F. Kennedy, and Joseph McCarthy, each of whom had a profound impact
on American politics in the postwar era. |
Published in The Washington Post,
October 19, 1946.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (40)
Digital ID # ppmsca-12004
|
|
"So Much For the Preliminaries. Your First Real
Match Will Be--" |
The 1974 election brought large, expected Democratic
gains in both houses of Congress. Herb Block acknowledged this fact by
portraying the donkey's triumph in a boxing match. He also depicted
a referee warning the puny victor verbally and visually about its future
giant opponent, the "Congressional Seniority System." Years
of observing legislators had convinced Block that the power of seniority
in key committee positions, many held by Democrats, often impeded the
work of elected people's representatives. A bi-partisan effort
to reform House committee system problems including seniority was defeated
by Democrats in a secret vote earlier in 1974. |
Published in The Washington Post,
November 8, 1974.
Ink, graphite, overlay, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing .
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (41)
Digital ID # ppmsca-12423
|
|
MIDDLE EAST
|
"Explain slowly--what does he need all those
weapons for, and why does
he need nuclear reactors?" |
In this cartoon, Block drew Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger delivering a box of nuclear material to Iranian Shah Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi. In 1975, the United States signed a cooperative agreement
with then-ally Iran, permitting the U.S. to sell nuclear energy equipment
to the middle eastern country. Herb Block agreed with critics of President
Gerald Ford's foreign policy and questioned why Iran needed nuclear technology
when it was so rich in oil. |
Published in The Washington Post, March 20, 1975.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite and
blue pencil underdrawing
accompanied by graphite sketches.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints
and Photographs Division (16)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11980
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12406 and ppmsca
|
|
"This'll show everyone how tough we are" |
Herb Block portrayed "Syria" and Egyptian
President Gamal Abdel Nasser expressing a dangerous bravado and apparent
willingness to ignite a powder keg of built-up arms. In the late spring
of 1967, both countries had increased troops and military supplies near
their borders with Israel as a response to Israel's warning that it would
attack if guerrilla raids from Syria did not cease. Earlier, Egypt had
banned United Nations' forces from the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip,
then barred Israeli ships from the Gulf of Aqaba. Block pictured the
heightened tension resulting from these developments in the Middle East,
which escalated into the Six-Day War, from June 5 to June 10, 1967. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 24, 1967.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing
with graphite sketches.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (17)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11981
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12408 and ppmsca-12409
|
|
"'I think it's better if the Iranians go to bed
every night wondering what we might do' --Reagan" |
In this cartoon created during the Iran-Iraq War
(1980-1990), Herb Block suggested that President Ronald Reagan's remark
in response to an Iraqi attack that killed Americans would cause sleepless,
anxious nights not only in the Middle East but also the United States.
Following the Iraqi aircraft attack that killed thirty-seven men aboard
the U.S. Navy frigate Stark on May 17, the Reagan administration
gave no hint of what the United States might do if its ships in the Persian
Gulf were attacked by Iran's new land-based missiles. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 29, 1987.
Ink, crayon, tonal film overlay, overlays, and porous
point pen
over blue pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (18)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11982
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12410
|
|
"It came from out of nowhere" |
Here, Herb Block depicted the complete surprise of
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Uncle Sam at the Suez War of
1956. In July 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized
the Suez Canal, which had been controlled by the British. On October
29, Israel successfully invaded both the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.
England and France did not inform the United States when they secretly
backed Israel against Egypt in the war and used their military power
to attempt to force Egypt to surrender the canal, but Nasser retaliated
by sinking forty ships in its waters. |
Published in The Washington Post,
November 2, 1956.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (19)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11983
|
|
PRIVACY/SECURITY |
"This
will make him a fine, useful animal" |
Threats to civil liberties take many forms in Herb
Block's cartoons, as exemplified by his sleek, lunging "Wiretapping
beast," later described by Block as "the illegal and unlicensed
pet of supposed law enforcement officers." With his depiction
of the uncaged panther, Block warned against the Kennedy administration's
expression of support in July of 1961 for legislative proposals to permit
federal wiretapping related to threats to national security, kidnapping,
and serious federal crimes. |
Published in The Washington Post,
July 20, 1961.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Quote from Straight Herblock (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1964).
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (21)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11985
|
|
The Recording Angels |
Herb Block depicted government wiretapping of private
telephone conversations as bats in the night snooping for private gain
rather than as guardian angels. In 1955, Block wrote: "The Attorney
General of the United States, in his boundless zeal to protect the government
from anything which protects the rights of individuals, has modestly
requested that he be empowered to authorize taps on telephones at his
own discretion." At this time, the Eisenhower administration argued
that the fear of communism pervading the country justified investigating
American citizens. |
Published in The Washington Post,
March 14, 1955.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Quote from Herblock's Here and Now
(New York: Simon and Schuster,
1955).
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (22)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11986
|
|
Personal Profile |
Herb Block graphically conveyed his concern for individual
privacy by depicting a fragile silhouette being blasted into oblivion
by the collecting of personal data, which is exploited by the economic
and political forces of credit and government agencies. In late 1976
and early 1977, the individual's right to privacy as guaranteed by the
U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment (i.e., protection from unreasonable
search and seizure) was hotly debated as Congress and the judicial system
pondered decisions on access to such vital personal papers as medical
and banking records. A rough sketch for this cartoon identifies the types
of personal data and the collecting agencies at issue. |
Published in The Washington Post,
January 12, 1977 .
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, and opaque
white over blue
pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (23)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11987
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12412
|
|
To preserve secrecy we overclassify lots more material
. . . resulting in
more spying . . . |
In this cartoon, Herb Block portrayed the federal
government's approach to classified documents as an endless cycle. He
reinforced his point with the oval shaped text, an idea which may have
begun with the accompanying rough sketch. In 1985, the FBI exposed a
spy ring operated by Naval officer John A. Walker, Jr. It became clear
that many key documents relating to national security had been exposed
and that millions of people had access to them. On June 6, 1985, the
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation released a report calling
for a reduction in classification and further restriction in the number
of personnel who could access the records. |
Published in The Washington Post,
June 7, 1985.
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, and opaque white
over
blue pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite sketch.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (24)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11988
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12411
|
|
WAR
|
The streams are running again in Scandinavia, the
little streams of Norway |
At times, Herb Block attracted readers' attention
to important topics by altering his style. Here, he used ink wash to
heighten the emotional impact of his depiction of the fall of Norway
to the Germans. On April 9, 1940, during World War II, Nazi Germany began
its occupation of Norway, a neutral country in a location that served
the dual purpose of supplying much-needed iron ore and providing a means
to attack the British navy. The Norwegians found other means to defy
the Germans even though they were unable to put up military resistance.
For example, many Norwegians wore a paper clip on their lapels and refused
to support the Nazi government of Vidkun Quisling. |
[ca. 1940]. Published by NEA Service, Inc.
Ink,
ink wash, crayon, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (26)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11990
|
|
". . . Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a
walking shadow . . ." |
In May 1963 it looked as though negotiations for
the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
had failed. For the title of this cartoon, Herb Block quoted from Shakespeare's Macbeth to
indicate the folly of President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev's failure to agree to limit nuclear testing. Block's famous
character, Mr. Atom, snuffed out the light of Test Ban negotiations to
represent the darkening mood of the United States during the Cold War.
Protest against nuclear weapons persisted, compelling the Cold War leaders
to come back to the table and sign the treaty, which they did in July
1963. |
Published in The Washington Post,
May 14, 1963.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing
accompanied by graphite sketches.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (27)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11991
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12413 and ppmsca-12414
|
|
American Doubt about the Vietnam War |
Among his many cartoons about the Vietnam War (1965-1973),
Herb Block drew this symbolic warning about the United States being in
over its head during the Tet Offensive. North Vietnamese forces made
their bold assault in late January of 1968 with the aim of toppling the
Saigon government and obliterating U.S. hopes in the region. The Tet
Offensive did not prove decisive militarily, but it added to American
doubt about the war. Shown here is a larger-than-life Uncle Sam, hoisting
his rifle aloft and slipping into the morass of southeast Asia. The face
of Block's Uncle Sam embodied the American anxiety and ambivalence about
the Johnson administration's war policies. |
[Uncle Sam carrying an M-16 rifle].
Published in The Washington
Post, January 28, 1968.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (28)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11992
|
|
Bosnia |
On January 12, 1993, United Nations' officials reported
increased shelling of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, despite earlier calls
for a cease-fire. The same day The New York Times published
conclusions from a report commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International
Development, stating that the U.N.'s Bosnian relief effort was largely
a failure and charging that U.N. policies "were clearly failing
to prevent genocide." Herb Block's shocking image of a Bosnian woman
and child lying dead in their own blood underscored the brutality of
the Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001). He blamed both Milosevic Serbians and
world leaders by showing the woman impaled on a knife as well as an umbrella. |
Published in The Washington Post,
January 13, 1993.
Ink, crayon, porous point pen, overlay, and opaque
white
over blue and red pencil underdrawing accompanied by graphite
sketches.
Herbert L. Block Collection
Prints and Photographs Division (29)
Digital ID # ppmsca-11993
Rough Sketch Digital ID # ppmsca-12415 and ppmsca-12416
|
|