I spent my teen years in the Washington, D.C., area. During that time, I picked up the habit of reading the newspaper — specifically, The Washington Post. I don’t know how many political cartoonists I was exposed to through The Post, but two names stuck with me: Herblock (Herbert Block) and Oliphant (Pat Oliphant).
Reading Jackie Ormes‘ biography reminded me of Herblock and made me want to learn more about him. I ended up borrowing Herblock: The Life and Works of the Great Political Cartoonist. By the time I returned the book, I’d developed a new appreciation for him as one of the most significant political cartoonists in history.
Let’s start with one of the things Herblock is best known for: the word “McCarthyism.” With one cartoon, he defined an era. But years before McCarthy became a household name, Herblock had been commenting on the government’s communist witch hunt. Many of his cartoons from the 1940s and ’50s expressed his concerns about the House Un-American Activities Committee as well as Senator Joseph McCarthy and his cronies (including Richard Nixon).
Of course, Herblock was no friend of communism. One of his most powerful cartoons (awarded a Pulitzer Prize) depicts Joseph Stalin walking away with the Grim Reaper. Stalin carries a sickle dripping with blood. The caption reads, “You were always a great friend of mine, Joseph.”
Herblock’s career spanned a little over seven decades. Although he definitely leaned to the left on most issues, he freely criticized both Republicans and Democrats. In one cartoon, Eisenhauer and Uncle Sam stand in front of a window facing a burning house labelled “Civil Rights Crisis.” Eisenhauer is wearing a fire chief’s uniform. “Tsk tsk,” he says, “somebody should do something about that.” A little over two decades later, Herblock drew Jimmy Carter standing in front of his Oval Office desk, pounding on it and yelling, “Who’s in charge here?”
Many of his cartoons were masterpieces. Herblock won two other Pulitzer Prizes in addition to the one I mentioned above. (He also shared a prize with his Washington Post colleagues for their work on Watergate.) Another of my favorites, from 1956, shows two white men standing at a Montgomery bus stop. They stare at a black family labelled “Passive Resistance.” The caption reads, “Somebody From Outside Must Have Influenced Them.” The family’s destination? A church.
Sadly, some of Herblock’s cartoons are still relevant. His 1950 get-out-the-vote cartoon shows two men yoked to a cart labelled “Totalitarianism.” One man gapes at the other and says, “You mean some can and don’t do it?” In the distance are billboards reminding readers to vote.
Still more heartbreaking is Herblock’s 1964 cartoon reflecting on Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign. The cartoon is simply titled “An American Tragedy.” It features a man labelled “Extremism” leaning over a boat, pushing GOP moderates under the water. The boat reads, “We’re in the mainstream of Republican thinking.” I wish I didn’t feel that the cartoon accurately reflects the state of the GOP today.
You can find several books that feature Herblock’s work. In addition, many of his cartoons can be found on the website for the Library of Congress.