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Herblock Gallery
Herblock Looks at 1964: Fifty Years Ago in Editorial Cartoons
During the first year of his presidency, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973) made the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a priority, honoring slain President John F. Kennedy's (1917–1963) legacy. The legislation continues to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and dominates the memory of American life fifty years ago. Herblock had long championed equality and civil rights for African Americans through his political cartoons.
After Kennedy's assassination in 1963, however, Herblock did not attack Johnson or his policies. His attention was drawn to the Republican Party and its internal discord between the moderate course favored by Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979) and the right-wing politics of Barry Goldwater (1909–1998). Their rancor came to the fore in the 1964 presidential campaign. Herblock also emphasized the need for gun control to protect America's children. Having quit smoking after a heart attack in 1959, the cartoonist also frequently used his pen as a weapon against the tobacco industry. Internationally, Herblock understood the different interpretations of communism in China and the Soviet Union, which led to increased political tension in the world. |