Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, 1976

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Summary: Between Nixon and Carter the Ford editorial cartoon years
Review: Editorial cartoons might not be the first thing people turn to when they open up their newspaper (that honor would go to the regular comics page or the sports section), but they are probably the first thing you turn to when you get to the editorial page (how can it now be? It is usually the only visually compelling image there unless you are really enraptured by a small photograph of George Will). But the 1976 edition of "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year" celebrates the art form from the historical perspective, because we are over a quarter-century beyond the events of 1975. Whatever you remember from that year, when First Lady Betty Ford was more popular than the President and the strongest Democratic hopeful for the Presidency was a southerner (George Wallace and not Jimmy Carter), will come flooding back as you go through these pages. This is because nothing brings back the passions of an issue like a good editorial cartoon, and there are several examples to prove the point within these pages.

This pictorial history of the year's events is broken down into 26 major news stories, including the ups and downs of the Ford Administration, the machination of the CIA and the FBI, the energy crisis, and the growing parade of contenders for the Presidency. You will also see that some things apparently never change, such as the continuing strife in the Middle East and the controversial U.S. Congress. But ultimately what sticks out are those issues that were more specific to the year 1975, such as Nelson Rockerfeller becoming the lame duck Vice President, detente, and the end of the Vietnam War. There were also the assassination attempts on Ford, the bailout of New York City, the preparation for the nation's bicentennial, court-ordered busing in Boston, and the capture of Patty Hearst, all of which made the year rather unique.

This was actually only the fourth volume of this annual series focusing on the best of the year's editorial cartoons. For once Garry Trudeau's "Doonsbury" makes it into this collection, by virtue of his Pulitzer Prize award: the strip selected shows the stonewall being built in front of the Nixon White House, which is as fine a representation of the four panel editorial cartoon as you can find (there is even an editorial cartoon cartoon attacking Trudeau's win on page 153). Mike Peters won the 1974 Sigma Delta Chi Award and you will also find examples by Herblock, Pat Oliphant, and my personal favorite, Jeff MacNelly. One thing you will notice is that overall the editorial cartoonists of today are a lot better artists than most of what you see in this collection. However, you will discover a few cartoonists with distinctive styles that you will enjoy, such as Graham Pilsworth, Hugh Hayne, and David Simpson. Besides, the President with the most iconic set of molars in the history of the nation was just around the corner.