Political Humor - With a “Willie and Joe” touch
Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) is best known for his World War II cartoons, wherein he portrayed the lighter side of the average soldier’s rather grueling daily life. After the war, political humor in cartoon form presented the most viable and consistent career outlet for Bill Mauldin’s talent.
Bill Maudlin grew up in the American West of the nineteen twenties and thirties. This depression era up-bringing meant that Mauldin’s sympathies were firmly tied to the “little guy” of American culture. Mauldin sold his first cartoon at the age of nine, so by the time Mauldin enlisted in the pre-World War II Army, his skills were sufficiently developed to land him on the staff of the Army newspaper, “Stars And Stripes”. His ability to entertain and speak for the common soldier earned him a huge following causing him to be picked up by United Feature Syndicate in 1944, and his cartoons began appearing in newspapers across the United States. A Pulitzer Prize in 1945 opened many doors for Mauldin, including a movie deal, feature articles for various magazines, and advertising work. Political humor for United Feature Syndicate was to be his bread and butter, however in the post-war years.
More so than political humor, Mauldin’ first post-war cartoons focused on the problems confronting the returning soldiers; a demographic of about 13% of the US population of that time. As America settled back into the business of peacetime, so did the focus of Mauldin’s work begin to shift to the issues of peacetime America. Bill Mauldin’s emphasis on the “little guy” perspective in much of his political humor gained him a grass-roots following in many areas, but his strong stand against racism, the Ku Klux Klan and McCarthyism meant that many small town and Southern newspapers saw little funny in his brand of political humor, and dropped his cartoons. Mauldin retired from the political humor arena from 1950 until 1958, when he joined “St. Louis Post-Dispatch”. In 1962, Mauldin joined the staff of the “Chicago Sun-Times” in a move that gave him more control over his editorial content. The collapse of a vehicle on his drawing hand in 1991 marked the final retirement of Bill Mauldin from the world of political humor that he had done so much to shape.
Only a tiny fraction of Mauldin’s cartoons were collected in books. For example, his 1985 volume, “Let’s Declare Ourselves Winners …and Get the Hell Out” contains about 200 of the 5,000 editorial cartoons that he produced since his previous book, “I’ve Decided I Want My Seat Back” of 1965. Those interested in Mauldin’s brand of political humor may also want to check out “What’s Got Your Back Up?” of 1961 and “Back Home” of 1947.
A new generation of political humor takes aim at President George Bush, former presidential opponent John Kerry, Bill Clinton, Democrats, the Republican agenda, and all current politics and policy in the news. Make no mistake…the creators, of political humor and satire, are writing a new page in history.