The American Presidency in Political Cartoons, 1776-1976

Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Caricatures are often the truest history of the times." The American Presidency in Political Cartoons: 1776-1976 is the work of a seminar co-sponsored by the Departments of History of Art and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Under the direction of Professor Emeritus Thomas C. Blaisdell, Jr. and Professor Peter Selz, thirteen students spent a year's time studying the history of American political caricature, focusing on the office of the Presidency. Their efforts resulted in this publication, which accompanied an exhibition of the same name held at the University Art Museum, Berkeley in January/February 1976. The cartoons are discussed chronologically.