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Herblock

Herbert Lawrence Block, called Herblock (October 13, 1909 - October 7, 2001), was a U.S. editorial cartoonist.

He won three Pulitzer Prizes (1942, 1954, 1979) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994).

His first cartoon appeared in the Chicago Daily News on April 24,1929. It advocated for the conservation of America's forests. After working (1933-43) for the Newspaper Enterprise Association , in 1946 he joined the Washington Post, from which he never retired. His personal assistant for 44 years was Jean Rickard, now Executive Director of the Herb Block Foundation, and chosen by Block himself to fill that position. his last cartoon being published on August 26, 2001.

During the 1930's his own political views had become more liberal and he favored Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. He pointed out the dangers of Soviet imperialism, the growing Nazi menace, and American isolationists. In 1942 he won the Pulitzer Prize for the first time. He joined the Washington Post after serving in the military during World War II.

In the early 1950s Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of his recurring targets, for whom Herblock coined the term "McCarthyism" in a particular cartoon. He survived the McCarthy era and won another Pulitzer Prize in 1954.

Again he was instrumental in drawing attention to the abuses of the Nixon Administration and won his third Pulitzer Prize in 1979. Nixon canceled his subscription to the Post after Herblock drew him crawling out of a sewer.

A lot of Herblock's work can be found at the Library of Congress

Last updated: 05-15-2005 13:46:08