Herblock

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Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October 13, 1909 – October 7, 2001), was a American editorial cartoonist.

He won three Pulitzer Prizes (1942, 1954, 1979) and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994). He received the National Cartoonist Society Editorial Cartoon Award in 1957 and 1960, their Reuben Award in 1956, and their Gold Key Award (the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame) in 1979.

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. Herblock's last cartoon was published on August 26, 2001.

Herblock coined the term "McCarthyism" in this cartoon in the March 29, 1950 Washington Post

During the 1930s, 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 aggression, the growing Nazi menace, and opposed 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 in 1950. He won a second Pulitzer Prize in 1954.

Herblock vigorously attacked the political abuses and scandals 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.

[edit] Books of collected cartoons by Herbert Block

Herblock's history: political cartoons from the crash to the millennium. Library of Congress, 2000.
Herblock: a cartoonist's life. Maxwell Macmillan International, 1993.
Herblock at large: "Let's go back a little ..." and other cartoons with commentary Pantheon Books, 1987.
Herblock through the looking glass Norton, 1984.
Herblock on all fronts: text and cartoons New American Library, 1980
Herblock special report Norton, 1974
Herblock's state of the Union. Simon and Schuster, (1972)
The Herblock gallery. Simon and Schuster, (1968)
Straight Herblock. Simon and Schuster (1964)
Herblock's special for today. Simon and Schuster, (1958).
Herblock's here and now. Simon and Schuster, (1955).
The Herblock book (1952)
Herblock looks at Communism [s.l. : s.n., 1950?]