Existing comment:
World War II:
Before the United States entered World War II in December 1941, cartoonists, like the rest of the United States, were divided over the issue of American intervention. Although public opinion initially leaned toward an isolationist position in response to the European war, by late 1941, 70 percent of the American people thought that defeating Germany was more important than staying out of the war. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor most Americans ceased to be ambivalent and threw themselves into the war effort. Herblock worked for the conservative Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1933 to 1943 and drew the ire of his editor for drawing cartoons increasingly in favor of intervention in Europe. However, during the same period, many of his fellow cartoonists discounted Hitler or chose to focus on national defense. |