Walt Lardner Collection of Jimmy Carter Editorial Cartoons

Descriptive Summary
Title: Walt Lardner Collection of Jimmy Carter Editorial Cartoons
Creator: Lardner, Walt, 1931-2023
Inclusive Dates: 1976-1980
Language(s): English
Extent: 3 box(es) (42 cartoons)
Collection Number: RBRL016JCPC
Repository: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: The collection consists of original ink drawn, editorial cartoons by Walt Lardner from 1976 to 1980. Created for a South Carolina newspaper, the cartoons depict issues surrounding Jimmy Carter and his term as President including the energy crises, welfare reform and Carter's relationship with Congress. Other personalities depicted by the cartoons include Burt Lance, Herman Talmadge, and Israeli Prime Minister Begin.

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Collection Description

Biographical Note

Walt Lardner was born in Queens Village, New York, in 1931. After a tour of duty with the U.S. Army, he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, 1953 to 1955. He sold his first cartoon in 1954 and for the next decade his free-lance cartoons appeared in such magazines as Argosy, Collier's, Look, The Saturday Evening Post, and True. He also illustrated the Archie comic book series. In 1967, Lardner moved to South Carolina, where he began a long association with South Carolina Educational Television, eventually becoming the network's chief animator. During this period, he was also a regular free-lance contributor to The State a newspaper that was first published on February 18, 1891 by N.G. Gonzales and his two brothers Ambrose E. and William E. They started the newspaper as a voice in opposition to the political "bosses" whom they perceived as dishonest and incompetent. The name The State embodied the brothers' desire to create a record of events not only in the capital of Columbia, but across all of South Carolina. Lardner drew for The State during the 1970s and 1980s, commenting on the politics of that time both locally and nationally.

Scope and Content

The Walt Lardner Collection of Jimmy Carter Editorial Cartoons are forty-two drawings by cartoonist Walt Lardner for The State, a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. These drawings are the actual pen and ink sketches by the artist, which cover four basic subject areas: domestic issues, international issues, political activities, and individual subjects. The cartoons cover a variety of topics, with the majority of the cartoons falling under the domestic issues heading and within that subject heading the energy crisis is predominately covered.

Organization and Arrangement

The drawings are organized in four series: I. Domestic Issues, II. International Issues, III. Political Activities, and IV. Individual Subjects, and are arranged alphabetically by subject within each series.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Walt Lardner Collection of Jimmy Carter Editorial Cartoons, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

User Restrictions

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

Copyright Information

Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2008.

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Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Related Collections in this Repository

Clifford H. (Baldy) Baldowski Editorial Cartoons

Gene Basset Editorial Cartoons

Related Collections in Other Repositories

Walt Lardner Cartoons, Modern Political Collections, University of South Carolina

Jimmy Carter papers, Jimmy Carter Library

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Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

I. Domestic Issues

16 item(s)

This series covers major domestic issues during Jimmy Carter's presidency. It includes cartoons on gas taxes, balancing the budget, unemployment, welfare, big government, and nuclear energy. There are six cartoons on the topic of the energy crisis in this series.

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1

JC02

Pres. Carter says, "I believe I've got the message to everyone on cutting back on big government! Everyone that is… except Rosalynn!" Who has a long line of people waiting in front of a now hiring sign for interviews. W. Lardner, 1977

1

JC04

Pres. Carter rolls down the window of his limousine while the car is being filled with gas and yells back at the service station man, "Thief!", circa 1977-1978

1

JC10

Pres. Carter is lugging around an enormous anchor -- his pledge to balance the budget -- and says, "It makes it a little difficult to get around!", circa 1977-1980

1

JC12

Pres. Carter drives a large car -- his energy program -- into the Congressional Carwash. Once the car has been through, it exists and is reduced to about a quarter of its original size, circa 1977

1

JC13

Pres. Carter sitting at a drafting desk with a bag of peanuts nearby looks out a picture window at an old mansion -- the welfare system -- while trying to draw up a more modern welfare policy in the form of a skyscraper, circa 1977-1980

1

JC14

Byrd, wielding a massive gavel that has the word resign written on it in large letters, pounds on Bert Lance's finger, the only link holding the director of the federal office of management and budget, to a beam of a skyscraper under construction, circa 1977

1

JC15

A man looking extremely frazzled and run through the mill -- Carter's Energy Bill -- elicits the response, "If I didn't know you I'd never recognize you!" from Pres. Carter, circa 1977

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JC16

Pres. Carter and Congress -- dressed as mechanics -- are in a garage with car engine parts laying around them in disorder. Carter says, "Gads, here comes the customer now!," as a man -- the public -- brisky approaches, circa 1977

1

JC18

Pres. Carter, with lines of cars in front and behind his, waiting at a gas station, leans out his car window and asks a gas station attendant, "You mean there really is a gas shortage?", circa 1977

1

JC21

An airplane -- Carter's Energy Program -- is heading straight into a mountain; the pilot says, "Somebody better make a decision!", circa 1977

1

JC22

Pres. Carter, sitting at his desk, receives a Texan cowboy hat with a rattlesnake's tail -- the gas tax -- poking out from beneath. His secretary reads the card and says, "It's from one of your many admirers!", circa 1977

1

JC26

Pres. Carter, dressed as a doctor and sitting at his desk, says to a huge fat man -- unemployment --" I take it my diet didn't work!", circa 1978

1

JC30

Pres. Carter, presenting visual aids to portray the status of the energy situation, a picture of a person bawling, says, "Do you get my message?", circa 1977

1

JC35

Gerald Ford says to Pres. Carter as they are walking together, "Well Jimmie, I hope you can do something about all this unemployment. I need a job!," eliciting dismay from Carter. W. Lardner, 1977

1

JC40

Pres. Carter, smiling at a group of U.S. Governors, takes their energy proposals and tosses them in a trash can of other proposals and says reassuringly, "You fellows have come up with some great ideas and I want you to know I'm filing em all away!", circa 1977

1

JC36

Pres. Carter, sitting out behind an old gas station beside an outhouse, enjoying a barbeque sandwich and coke, says, "Now for the Cabinet members," making a list while a customer beeps their horn wanting gas, circa 1977

 

II. International Issues

9 item(s)

This series, like domestic issues, has been arranged according to the event receiving coverage during Carter's presidency. It includes cartoons on Korea, Cuba, Russia, U.S. Arms Proposal, Middle East Peace Process, foreign policy, and the Panama Canal.

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JC03

Two scenes: One: "U.S. Cuban Relations," Fidel Castro politely holds a lighter for Pres. Carter's cigar. Two: "Cubans in Africa," The lit cigar blows up in Carter's face. Entitled "A flick of the Cuban bic!", circa 1978-1979

2

JC05

Pres. Carter calls Baker at the crack of dawn -- a rooster crows outside the bedroom window. Baker responds, "As of the moment I haven't made up my mind on the Canal Treaty" with Panama, circa 1978-1979

2

JC06

Pres. Carter is supporting an eye patch over his right eye, grinning as Israeli Prime Minister Begin, sporting a left eye patch leaves. They do not see "eye-to-eye.", circa 1977-1980

2

JC09

Pres. Carter, speaking across a desk to Sec. of State Vance, opens an empty briefcase that reads, Middle East Peace Talks and Carter exclaims, "I don't see anything there!", circa 1977-1979

2

JC19

Pres. Carter yells across his desk to Israeli Prime Minister Begin, who has a briefcase that says West Bank. Begin responds, "You're irritated; I can tell!", circa 1978

2

JC29

Pres. Carter yells across his desk at a U.S. general, "You may be a much decorated war hero, General, wounded twice, decorated six times in three wars, with the strategic services, Central Intelligence Agency in Europe and China, CIA Battalion commander in Korean War, a commander of an intelligence group in Vietnam... but I know the best policy for Korea... after all, General, for four years I was the Governor of Georgia!", circa 1977-1980

2

JC31

Sec. of State Vance shows up at Pres. Carter's doorstep with the return of a huge box from the U.S.S.R. -- U.S. Arms Proposal -- and says, "It was something about the way it was wrapped they didn't like!", circa 1979

2

JC39

Pres. Carter holding up a sign that says human rights, frowns, along with other international leaders sitting around a table, on Cuba and Russia who are squashing lots of people beneath them. Brezhnev and Castro say, "The way he talks -- you'd think we were in the wrong", circa 1978-1979

2

JC11

Pres. Carter presents to Congress -- a huge, fat man wearing dark sunglasses -- a stack of papers and says, "Here's my foreign policy and I don't want any changes." Congress yells, "What!?" and Carter does an about face turn saying, "On second thought", circa 1977-1979

 

III. Political Activities

12 item(s)

This series covers Carter's run for the presidency in 1976 and the attitude and stereotypes that followed him when he won the election. It also covers his relationships with special interest groups like the NAACP and labor organizations.

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JC07

Pres. Carter, being bombarded by spit balls from the democrat Congress, yells in distress, "I thought we were going to be friends?", circa 1977

3

JC17

Pres. Carter is laying on an emergency room table with a knife suck in his back, put there by Chicago's Mayor Byrne. He says, "I thought we had something going!," as the doctor looks on in shock, circa 1977-1980

3

JC20

The press asks Sen. Talmadge and the Congressional Ethics Commission, "Who won?," and both respond, "I did!" Talmadge, accused of misusing his pretty cash, is reprimanded by the Ethics Commission, but not censored, 1979

3

JC23

Pres. Carter collects his mail from his mailbox and says, "Nothing but bills," when he receives mail from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Labor Union, to settle up on unemployment problems, particularly for the black population, circa 1978

3

JC24

Pres. Carter, wielding a long tailed whip, lets Representatives Bella Abzug, who looks ferocious, out of a cage and says, "Go get em Bella!" Entitled "Carter's Cat!" Possibly over civil rights, circa 1977

3

JC25

Pres. Carter, being sworn in at his inauguration, is carrying his own garment bag -- to symbolize that he plans to do for himself -- drawing shocked looks from the audience, circa 1977

3

JC28

The Labor Union washes its hands of Pres. Carter, saying, "Can't be right all the time," and throws out a peanut machine and propaganda that says, "Carter is our man," "Vote for Jimmy," and "Jimmy's for Labor.", circa 1978

3

JC32

Pres. Carter, at the Clinch River Nuclear Plant, standing beside a breeder reactor, yells through a speaker similar to the spy glass used in submarines to look above water, "Fire One!," symbolizing his first executive veto, circa 1977-1980

3

JC33

A White House maid and butler hold up a newspaper announcing Carter winning the presidency and complain, "Now I suppose we'll be picking up peanut shells all over the White House!", circa 1977

3

JC34

Pres. Carter boards AIRFORCE I, toting his own garment bag and spare pair of shoes, dressed casually, and says to four formally attired generals at attention, "Hi ya'll.", 1977

3

JC37

The Baptist Church Pres. Carter was a member of in Plains, GA refuses to admit black members, although their moto is "Welcome." A white man frowns at a black man when he knocks on the church door. Carter then revoked his membership, circa 1977-1980

3

JC42

Gerald Ford yells at Carter during the presidential debate, "Mr. Carter -- Mr. Carter would you keep your mind on the debate!" Carter is daydreaming of half naked women after giving an interview to Playboy Magazine, 1976

 

IV. Individual Subjects

6 item(s)

This series includes cartoons that cover two individuals associated with Carter. First is Jimmy Carter's brother Billy Carter. Second is Carter's association with Bert Lance, the Budget Director during Carter's administration, who was forced to resign in the wake of accusations of mismanagement of public monies.

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JC01

Bert Lance, director of the federal office of management and budget, comes to see Pres. Carter not about the federal budget or government reorganization as Carter expected, but instead about a personal loan. Entitled "Political Peanuts", 1977

3

JC27

Bert Lance, director of the federal office of management and budget, asks to borrow a few million dollars to pay off a personal loan. The banker is appalled when he asks Lance what his occupation is and Lance responds, "I'm in charge of the federal budget", circa 1977

3

JC38

Bert Lance, holding the phone says to Pres. Carter holding a $6,000 tax gift, "It's Billy, he wants to know if you've flipped you lid!!", circa 1977

3

JC41

As Pres. Carter enters his office, his secretary calls out, "Oh Mr. President…" right before Carter falls, "Oops!" Looking down at a mangled Carter surrounded by empty beer cans, the secretary says, "Billy was here!", circa 1977-1980

3

JC08

Bert Lance, director to the federal office of management and budget, arrives at ACE LOAN in his federal budget armored truck and says, "I'd like to see you on a personal matter", 1977

3

JC14

Byrd, wielding a massive gavel that has the word resign written on it in large letters, pounds on Bert Lance's finger, the only link holding the director of the federal office of management and budget, to a beam of a skyscraper under construction, circa 1977