A Cartoon History of United States Foreign Policy, 1776-1976

by Daniel P.--Introduction MOYNIHAN

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688029760
• ISBN13: 9780688029760
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Not Avail
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Examples of how American public opinion regarding foreign affairs was shaped through cartoons

When Boss Tweed was being assailed by what his critics were writing in the newspapers, he dismissed it by saying, "My constituents can't read." However, when cartoonist Thomas Nast turned his drawings against Tweed, it was the beginning of the end of Tweed and the power of Tammany Hall. As even Tweed admitted, his constituents could understand the pictures. Throughout the history of the United States, political cartoons have been a powerful force in the shaping of public opinion, both for and against specific foreign policy proposals. This book is a collection of some of the best to appear in the first 100 years of the United States. They are presented in chronological order, and a few paragraphs of explanation accompany each image. Wars, the reasons to fight them and the reasons to stay out of them are the most common theme. Until the middle of the twentieth century, the strong isolationist trends backed by the two wide oceans on each side kept the United States from being involved in foreign entanglements. There was even a point in the late nineteenth century when the United States had no navy and almost no state department. If you are interested in how public opinion about what was going on outside the borders of the United States was shaped, then this book will explain a lot. However, you will need to read in order to truly understand the point of the cartoons.