Bill Mauldin had studied drawing so he became the cartoonist for the 45th Division News where he drew raw, gritty, but often humorous World War II drawings of what his soldiers like Willie and Joe went through, “Up Front.” He was only 23 when he won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for his work. We will see his cartoons covering sea invasions, conflicts with officers and enlisted men, medics, artillery, tanks, German soldiers, and his run-in with General Patton. At the end of the war, Mauldin had time to star in war movies. But he did not forget the common man and his problems, and his later syndicated drawings ran from the 1950s all the way to the First Gulf War of the early 1990s. He took on issues as Joseph McCarthy, the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, then on to Reagan, Civil Rights, Iran, and Nicaragua. His liberal views came from his concern for the average guy, both at war and at home. These views earned him a second Pulitzer Prize for a drawing showing Boris Pasternak in a Russian slave camp, not being able to accept his Nobel prize in person. We will touch on other cartoonists during the course. Discussion and comments definitely encouraged.

This course will combine lecture with class discussions.