Herblock

Herbert Lawrence Block, more famously known as Herblock, was an American political cartoonist active during much of the 20th century. While we've learned about him only in the context of McCarthyism, Herblock's work has actually covered many other topics, and has even earned him multiple accolades for his work.

Herblock began practicing art at the age of eleven. He dropped out of college after two years to accept the position of editorial cartoonist at the Chicago Daily News, where he worked for a few years. In 1933, Block moved to Cleveland to work for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), which distributed his political comments around the US. Block received a Pulitzer Prize in 1942 for his cartoons. While working for the NEA, Block's comics took a much sharper stance than ever before, due to his national audience. As he was writing during the Great Depression, Block's work often focused on the unemployment and poverty that was plaguing his country, as well as the rise of fascism in Europe and the tyranny of communist leaders in the Soviet Union.

Block was a supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal, although he did question some of Roosevelt's decisions, such as his notorious effort to increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court.

As WWII broke out in Europe, Block advocated early on for American aid against the Nazis. He made many cartoons portraying both the Nazis and the Italian and Spanish fascists as tyrants who dreamed of conquest and empires.

Block faced backlash from the president of the NEA, who believed that Block's anti-isolationism messages in his cartoons were going against American public opinion. At the same time, Block received his first Pulitzer Prize for his work, which solidified his position as one of the most influential and important cartoonists in America.

As we learned in class, much of Herblock's fame post-WWII came from his political cartoons against McCarthyism. Block was one of the first people to take a stand against McCarthy, and even won another Pulitzer Prize in 1954 for his work on behalf of President Eisenhower. However, even Eisenhower himself faced criticism from Block for "insufficient action on civil rights and for not curbing the abuses of Senator McCarthy". Block pursued a policy of total editorial independence, claiming that the Post should publish his work even if the political statement he makes does not line up with the paper's political stance.

Herblock also received a lot of praise for his cartoons attacking the Nixon administration over Watergate. Block received his third Pulitzer Prize for these comics in 1979, and ended up on President Nixon's infamous enemies list. Throughout the next few decades, Block would continue to criticize presidents from both parties, as well as take stances on some of the most controversial issues even for today: abortion, gun control, cigarettes, and the influence of religion upon public policy, as well as many more. Block received the Presidential Medal of Honor from Clinton in 1994, and eventually passed away in 2001, just before his 92nd birthday, with a legacy that continues to live beyond him to this day.