Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Simon Appleford, "Drawing Liberalism: Herblock's Political Cartoons in Postwar America" (U Virginia Press, 2023)
Date: November 21, 2025
Host: Shu
Guest: Dr. Simon Appleford, Associate Professor of History, Creighton University

Theme:
This episode centers on Dr. Simon Appleford's book, Drawing Liberalism, an exploration of legendary cartoonist Herblock (Herbert Block) and his pivotal role in visualizing and shaping American liberalism in the postwar era. Through political cartoons, Herblock navigated debates within the Democratic Party, contributed to the discourse on anti-communism, civil rights, the rise of the New Right and New Left, and most famously, the public image of Richard Nixon. Appleford’s analysis illuminates how cartoons, more than words, crystallized the ideological battles and anxieties that defined the mid-20th-century United States.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Appleford's Academic Background & Path to Herblock (01:49–07:04)

• Background: Dr. Appleford introduces himself as an Associate Professor at Creighton University and director of the Digital Humanities Initiative.
• Initial Interest: He recounts being drawn to Herblock during undergraduate studies, especially through Watergate and Herblock’s depictions of Richard Nixon:

  “I found more and more quotes from Nixon himself talking about how much he hated Herblock and how much the depiction of him in the cartoons bothered him.” (04:00, Appleford)

• Significance of Cartoons: Political cartoons, though less studied than graphic novels, have shaped public understanding of pivotal events, e.g., Herblock’s 50-year career at the Washington Post.
• Point on Visual Culture: Cartoons offer a mass, accessible translation of intellectual debates that might otherwise remain elite:

  “This seemed like an opportunity to kind of understand how a cartoonist might be able to navigate the space between... public intellectuals like Arthur Schlesinger and Richard Hofstadter... and how Herblock takes this and translates these ideas and makes it into a form that is palpable, that's understandable for a more general audience.” (06:38, Appleford)

2. Herblock, Anti-Communism, and the Division within Liberalism (07:04–15:52)

• Context: Postwar liberalism is described as a broadly white, middle-class, male consensus.
• Internal Divisions: The Democratic Party, committed both to anti-communism and a New Deal coalition that included leftists, experienced tension both ideologically and electorally.
• Herblock’s Position: He largely supported mainstream Democratic approaches, critiquing the leftmost elements (e.g., Henry Wallace) while also opposing the extremism of McCarthyism.

  “He spends a good chunk of the first part of the 1950s drawing these cartoons that steadily depict Joe McCarthy more as a thug… progressively making Joe McCarthy look more and more bestial…” (13:03, Appleford)

• Historical Impact: Herblock coined “McCarthyism” (with the cartoon visualizing the term a day after its textual debut), embedding it in the national conscience.

  “The visual of this cartoon really played a significant role in cementing McCarthyism... in the American public's imagination…” (15:22, Appleford)

3. Herblock and the Limits of Racial Justice in Liberal Politics (17:04–25:12)

• Advocacy & Shortcomings: Herblock aspired to support civil rights, but his cartoons, especially before 1962, often omitted Black agency, focusing instead on white political actors.

  “Notably absent from the cartoons of sort of any black people and especially any black children. Those people are largely absent from much of Bloch's civil rights cartoons. It's only into 1962 that he begins to draw black activists…” (20:11, Appleford)

• Representation: Black activists often appear as stoic, silent bystanders, with change portrayed as dispensed by white liberal leaders.
• Resistance to Militancy: Herblock rejected Black Power and more radical civil rights approaches, aligning with the establishment's preference for incrementalism.

  “The cumulative impact… seems to say that it's on the terms of the white liberal establishment...the impact is that black protesters...are never depicted having any agency…” (24:25, Appleford)

4. Herblock’s Cartoons and the Early Culture Wars (25:34–36:47)

• Conservatism Returns: The 1960s’ rightward turn—through the John Birch Society and Goldwater’s 1964 campaign—was a key focus in Herblock’s work.
• Visual Rhetoric: Herblock depicted conservatives and right-wing activists as archaic, often transforming the Republican elephant into a “woolly mammoth”—an outmoded relic.

  “He takes the elephants that Thomas Nast has...to depict the Republican Party, takes the elephant and he transforms it into a woolly mammoth...what was now the Republican Party...really was a relic of the past.” (32:30, Appleford)

• Reader Reaction: Diverse, educated Americans expressed outrage in letters regarding Herblock’s unflattering depiction of conservatism, foreshadowing the entrenched polarization in American politics.
• No Compromise: The mutual refusal among liberals and conservatives to find common cause or language is a recurring motif:

  “The lesson...would have been that they had no interest in common cause...this sort of political division, unwillingness to compromise...is very much a presence in Herblock's cartoons throughout the 1960s...” (34:32, Appleford)

5. Herblock’s Response to the New Left (36:47–47:41)

• Liberal Core: Herblock rejected labels like “Democrat” but fully embraced “liberal.” He was shaped by Schlesinger-style consensus liberalism.
• Critique from the Left: Challenges from the New Left, Black Power, and antiwar radicals were depicted as threats to the liberal order.
• Depiction of Youth Activism: Herblock’s cartoons satirized and delegitimized groups like SDS, showing them as destructive slackers, reinforcing negative stereotypes.

  “Students for Democratic Society becomes, in Blok's cartoons, students for destroying society. They're shown as slackers, they're shown with long hair, hippies...” (44:45, Appleford)

• Chicago 1968: He blamed antiwar protesters for the chaos and for Humphrey’s loss to Nixon, a view shared and praised by Humphrey himself.

  “Humphrey himself wrote to Herblock after he drew that cartoon and said that he got it just right—that this is what cost him the election.” (46:36, Appleford)

• Underlying Insight: Herblock’s artistic stance policed the boundaries of “acceptable” liberalism, isolating both right-wing and left-wing challenges.

6. Herblock and Richard Nixon: Iconography of Corruption (47:57–56:24)

• Long Relationship: Appleford tracks Herblock’s “relationship” with Nixon from 1946 onward, mapping Nixon’s rise and Herblock’s persistent caricatures.
• Key Imagery: Early depictions as a witch hunter (burning the Statue of Liberty) then as slinking, shadowy, two-faced—a visual motif that took hold in the public imagination.

  “He then started…depicting Nixon as having two faces…choosing between various masks that he was going to wear on that particular day.” (52:40, Appleford)

• Lasting Effect: Nixon himself attested to the psychological toll of Herblock’s cartoons:

  “One of the comments that Nixon himself makes is that Herblock no longer gets to me, which, you know, is a clear sign that the first thing he does almost every day is probably go and see…how Nixon is depicted in that day's Herblock cartoon.” (55:37, Appleford)

• Cultural Power: Herblock’s Nixon became the default image—“almost Shakespearean”—of the man’s moral ambiguity and duplicity.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Power of Political Cartoons:

  “Cartoons just have this really long history that seemed to be untapped...the idea of just exploring how comics shape, reflect the public's understanding of events was something that really appealed to me.” (05:16, Appleford)

• On Visualizing McCarthyism:

  “Herblock helped coin the phrase McCarthyism…a visual idea that lodged in Americans' minds that was reinforced by other writers who likewise picked up on Herblock's cartoons...” (14:50, Appleford)

• On Historical Legacy:

  “The vision of who Richard Nixon was…when they think of Richard Nixon, it's the Herblockian Nixon, which is almost Shakespearean in how it gets into your imagination and sticks with you...” (54:05, Appleford)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Dr. Simon Appleford’s Background & Entry to Herblock: 01:49–07:04
• Herblock, Anti-Communism, and McCarthyism: 07:04–15:52
• Herblock on Civil Rights and the Limits of Liberalism: 17:04–25:12
• Cartoons and the Birth of the Culture Wars: 25:34–36:47
• Herblock vs. The New Left: 36:47–47:41
• Herblock and the Public Image of Richard Nixon: 47:57–56:24

Conclusion

Dr. Simon Appleford’s discussion reveals how Herblock’s cartoons were not mere illustrations, but active agents in shaping, defending, and defining American liberalism—and its boundaries—across decades of tumult. The images left by Herblock live on in the national psyche, especially the “Herblockian Nixon,” illustrating the visual, emotional power of political cartooning in American history.