Cartoon Anaylsis (American History)

Description

PDF File will be given to analyze five of the following seven cartoons. Your analysis should (1) pay attention to the details of the cartoon and (2) explain its historical context and (3) interpret its message.  here is an example of an analysis that would receive an A: This is an example of an answer: This cartoon packs a lot of information and a biting commentary into a small space. Titled “Blind Leading the Blind,” it caricatures the presidents who led the United States into the war in Vietnam. At the beginning (left) is Eisenhower, sporting sunglasses (he does not see the situation clearly) and holding a golf club. (Ike played a lot of golf.) He is leaning toward his successor, Kennedy, and lightly pushing him forward. This refers to the fact that Eisenhower’s policy of supporting Diem and scuttling the elections in South Vietnam deepened US involvement there. Kennedy, also sporting shades, carries a cane (he had a bad back and often used a cane), and his feet are getting wet. He leans more heavily on Johnson than Eisenhower had leaned on him. This signifies Kennedy’s escalation of US involvement in Vietnam, sending approximately 17,000 military advisers there, while using Agent Orange, napalm, and counterinsurgency tactics. Johnson, still not seeing the situation clearly (wearing sunglasses), is ankle deep in the water and shoves Nixon forward, which refers to his dramatic deepening of the war in Vietnam by sending a half million US soldiers there. Nixon, although seeing the situation clearly, plunges into the quagmire.