Tooning into history

Resources to help you include political cartoons in the study of different eras

Herblock's 20th Century:

From the Crash to the Millennium

Herbert L. Block published his first editorial cartoon six months before the 1929 stock market crash and continued commenting on world and national events until his death on October 7, 2001. Here's a sampling of what's available through the Library of Congress exhibiition:
1940s, 1950s: Atom Bomb
1950s: McCarthy Era
1970s: Richard Nixon era . . .
2000: Gore vs. Bush election

Presidential elections, 1860-1912 :

Cartoons from Harper's Weekly

Lincoln vs. Douglas, Lincoln vs. McClellan, Grant vs. Seymour, Grant Vs. Greeley, Hayes vs. Tilden, Harrison vs. Cleveland, McKinley vs. Bryan, Roosevelt vs. Parker, Taft vs. Parker, Wilson vs. Taft.
HarpWeek

1765-1865 :

America in Caricature

Highlights from the Lilly Library collection of political cartoons. Colony and Early Republic, 1765-1798; War of 1812; Abraham Lincoln, 1860-1865
America in Caricature

Baldy Editorial Cartoons, 1946-1982, 1997:

Civil Rights, Cold War, Vietnam

Clifford H. Baldowski, known by the pen-name "Baldy," depicted the local, national, and international news of his day in the editorial pages of the Augusta Chronicle, Miami Herald, and Atlanta Constitution. His work is a rich source for those studying political reorganization in Georgia and the growth of Atlanta as well as the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the Vietnam conflict, Middle East tensions, and Watergate.

Civil War and Reconstruction

Who was Thomas Nast?

His cartoons popularized the elephant to symbolize the Republican Party and the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic Party. He created the "modern" image of Santa Claus. He was the most influential cartoonist of his time.

Click here to find out more about Thomas Nast, including a biography, timeline and portfolio of his most important cartoons.

FDR:

Political cartoons from the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Waiting for the New Deal, Supreme Court Reform, War years 1942, 1943 . . .
FDR Cartoons

Harry S. Truman:

Post World War II cartoon resources

The 1948 campaign, the Berlin Airlift, Dixiecrats, The New Deal, Whistlestop campaigning, Taft-Hartley act, General Douglas MacArthur . . .
Cartoons from the Truman Presidential Library

Oliphant's Anthem:

Pat Oliphant at the Library of Congress

1966 through the 1990s including: Early Works in America, War and Diplomacy, Presidential Campaigns, Richard Nixon . . .
Library of Congress Exhibition Overview