The Great Depression: A Political Cartoon Analysis

The Great Depression, which began in October of 1929, was a time of great troubles for the United States of America. President Herbert Hoover thought it was merely “a passing incident in our national lives”, and so did not do much to change the situation. The American people were not liking Hoover’s decisions, and a new president was elected after Hoover’s first term. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stepped into office, he immediately took action. He enacted a series of programs (including Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act, ending Prohibition through the 21st Amendment, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act), many of which were enforced by the first 100 days. These programs and acts were collectively

known as the New Deal. However, since the Supreme Court was declaring many of Roosevelt’s acts unconstitutional, the president announced a plan to appoint six new Supreme Court Justices. His plan was not carried out, partly because lots of people didn’t like it and partly because the existing Justices found out about the plan and began voting in favor of Roosevelt’s wishes.
All those events were depicted in many ways, including newspaper articles, radio, photographs, and paintings. But one medium not always considered was cartoons. Cartoons, and more specifically political cartoons, did an amazing job delivering the intended message both directly and accurately. During the New Deal, political cartoons showed many of the things that were going on in the country. Even more specifically, political cartoons in the New Deal depicted detailed, though conflicted, opinions of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s various ideas and actions.
One idea represented in New Deal cartoons was that after Hoover left, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had to take over and act swiftly to effectively lift the nation out of its struggles.

He was faced with a huge challenge but willingly took it. For example, in the picture at left, the viewer can see that FDR was faced with the task of “busting” the bronco, which was labeled as “Our National Problems”. Something else to notice here is that the Democratic Leaders are all huddled together under a protected roof, only looking on and not helping FDR (even though he explicitly asks them for some advice). This political cartoon shows that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a huge responsibility to shoulder, without much help from the Democratic

Leaders.
Looking at the cartoon at right titled “The March 4th Reception Committee”, the viewer gets the clear idea that as FDR stepped into office, he was faced with a great deal of controversies and questions.

In the below picture, titled “The New Chauffeur”, the cartoonist was trashing Hoover and praising FDR at the same time. The viewer can deduct that fact from many details of the cartoon – that Hoover is running as fast as he can away from the crisis (which just so happens to be that the United States of America is stuck in a tar pit), and that FDR is stepping up to take the job. In the cartoon, FDR is depicted with a wide grin on his face, and it looks from him rolling up his sleeves that he is getting ready to really take charge and do all he can to restore America’s

greatness.
In the two pictures below, the ideas portrayed are both very similar to the cartoon titled “The New Chauffeur”. Essentially, the message being sent in all of these cartoons is that the United States is in lots of trouble, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be the one to take charge, though whether that was for the better or for the worse citizens would have to wait and see.

Once President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in office, he made many changes to the country. As depicted by political cartoons of the time, some people thought that he could –and should – be trusted, while others were not so sure about supporting his decisions.
As seen in the cartoon at left, titled “NRA and the Future Generation”, some people thought FDR was making a mess of history. They thought he was just messing things up and not really considering his actions. The cartoonist who drew the cartoon below right thought FDR was just using all the other Congressmen’s ideas to make a giant soup to attempt to make a “Democratic Recovery Broth”. As shown using the speech bubble, “Frank are you sure it won’t explode?” the artist thought that doing so could have potentially dangerous outcomes.
However, there were also people who supported what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was doing. As seen in the picture below left, titled “A Clear Track!” some people thought FDR was doing a marvelous job getting rid of “That old time depressed feeling”. The man labeled as “That old time depressed feeling” is drawn as fat, which may have the purpose of showing that he had been weighing down the nation’s confidence (the train), as well as its progress. With FDR in office, though, he was getting rid of that feeling, which would increase the nation’s confidence.
In the picture at right, even the title “Confidence in your Doctor is Half the Battle,” sends the message that people needed to trust FDR. The patient, labeled “U.S.”, has a lot of injuries, and needs a competent, caring doctor to heal him. The doctor, who represents Roosevelt, is portrayed with a friendly smile on his face to show that he was a nice guy and he was one to be trusted with fixing the problems of the United States.
In the picture at left, titled “Man of the Hour”, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is portrayed in a very manly, dignified pose to symbolize his confidence. In addition, an American flag is waving high behind him to symbolize that with him, the nation would rise again. This cartoon does a great job instilling a sense of pride and trust in both the United States of America and her president.
Political cartoons drawn during the New Deal were evidently very detailed. They portrayed various thoughts and opinions on events happening at the time. More specifically, they played a large role in showing President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, good side and bad, to the citizens of the United States of America.