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Herblock Looks at 1965: Fifty Years Ago in Editorial Cartoons, Part I
After winning a landslide victory in the 1964 presidential election, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973) promoted legislation that improved education, medical care, retirement benefits, and voting rights for all Americans. Through his cartoons, Herblock sided with Johnson on his Great Society programs -- aimed at reducing poverty in America -- and the implementation of democratic immigration reform. However, the cartoonist felt Johnson's Vietnam policy was too aggressive.
Despite legislative protection gained under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, voting rights remained an issue. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 permitted the federal intervention when states prevented minorities from registering to vote. For Herblock, the right to vote was a basic civil right, and he quoted President Johnson's speech on March 15, 1965: "Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right."
Herblock also addressed other issues in 1965. Believing that the right-wing put a stranglehold on the moderates, the cartoonist focused on the internal discord in the Republican Party. As more nations built nuclear weapons during the Cold War, Herblock used Mr. Atom, rough and unshaven, to remind Americans of the fragility of life. |