In our last look at Doonesbury during the Carter years, we saw how Jimmy Carter’s fondness for political symbolism – initiatives like a “human rights award banquet” meant to bolster a new, rights-driven approach to foreign policy – played into Garry Trudeau’s takedown of the American political and cultural Establishment’s hypocritical support of the Shah … Continue reading “Picking through the Rubble of Three Generations of U.S. Foreign Policy”: Carter’s “New Foundation” and Garry Trudeau’s Nonordinary Realities
Tag: Jimmy Carter
Interrogated, Brutalized, and Rarely Heard from Again: Doonesbury Goes to Iran.
Montreal Gazette, 26 January 1981. Thanks to Zan for the help getting this image. On 26 January 1981, the Montreal Gazette, the newspaper my family subscribed to, ran a front-page story about a comic strip that, at the time, I, like most young readers, had always skipped over on my way to Peanuts or B.C. … Continue reading Interrogated, Brutalized, and Rarely Heard from Again: Doonesbury Goes to Iran.
“Catchy Lyrics about Busing and Abortion”: Doonesbury, Rock’n’Roll, and Politics.
Last time out looking at Doonesbury in the Carter years, we focused on how Jimmy Carter’s early presidency was defined by symbolic gestures like cutbacks to limos for government officials, a live presidential phone-in, and wardrobe choices calculated to reinforce his “down home” vibes. This time, a look at how Garry Trudeau wrote about one … Continue reading “Catchy Lyrics about Busing and Abortion”: Doonesbury, Rock’n’Roll, and Politics.
“But Duane! He Won the Election!”: Political Symbolism and the First Ten Days of the Carter Administration.
Our last look at Doonesbury in the Carter years ended just after Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, with Zonker and his friend Nemo the Begonia discussing the new president’s political navieté. Nemo saw Carter’s campaign stump-speech touchstone about wanting to lead a government that was as unselfish and kind as the American people as a sign of … Continue reading “But Duane! He Won the Election!”: Political Symbolism and the First Ten Days of the Carter Administration.
“Cronies, Retreads, and Tokens”: Jimmy Carter Goes to Washington
Something I’ve returned to as I’ve examined Doonesbury during the Carter years is Jimmy Carter’s self-presentation as an “outsider,” an alternative to the lies and corruption that had soured many Americans’ faith in government after the twin crises of Vietnam and Watergate. The story of B.J. Eddy – the Head Tulip from the White House … Continue reading “Cronies, Retreads, and Tokens”: Jimmy Carter Goes to Washington
“Out Back, Catchin’ Frogs”: Jimmy Carter Meets the Policy Establishment.
When Democratic domestic policy advisor Arthur Rumsey and his foreign-affairs counterpart, Sutton, came to brief candidate Jimmy Carter before the 1976 debates, Miss Lillian Carter, the family matriarch, made it clear that she – and as an extension the campaign – was leery of their Establishment credentials: decent folks didn’t need experts to tell them … Continue reading “Out Back, Catchin’ Frogs”: Jimmy Carter Meets the Policy Establishment.
“Then You Admit He’s Shrewd”: Miss Lillian, Amy’s Lemonade Stand, and Jimmy Carter’s Southern Populism. (Doonesbury and the Carter Years, Part IV)
During the 1970s, the Walden College football team’s huddle was a frequent site of political debate and a forum for one of Doonesbury’s central characters to express his personal brand of Republican politics. On 10 October 1976, Walden’s star quarterback B.D. used the huddle to solicit donations for his favorite charity, the Young Republican Club. … Continue reading “Then You Admit He’s Shrewd”: Miss Lillian, Amy’s Lemonade Stand, and Jimmy Carter’s Southern Populism. (Doonesbury and the Carter Years, Part IV)
“Is This an Ethnically-Pure Neighborhood?”: Jimmy Carter on the Campaign Trail
On 13 October 1976, Lacey Davenport, a “little old lady” the “Republicans [were] running” in a California Congressional contest, gave an informal press conference over tea at her tastefully-appointed home. A reporter asked a follow-up question to an inquiry about her relationship with her husband, Dick: “Lacey, have you ever looked at other men with … Continue reading “Is This an Ethnically-Pure Neighborhood?”: Jimmy Carter on the Campaign Trail
“I Can’t Change the Teachings of Christ!”: Hunter Thompson, Playboy, and the Moral Ambiguities of Jimmy Carter.
This is Part II of our look at how Doonesbury covered the Carter presidency. Last time, I discussed how Garry Trudeau addressed some of the political and economic questions that faced Americans as they approached the 1976 election: between the hangovers of a final defeat in Vietnam and the resignation of Richard Nixon on the … Continue reading “I Can’t Change the Teachings of Christ!”: Hunter Thompson, Playboy, and the Moral Ambiguities of Jimmy Carter.
Doonesbury in the Carter Years. Prelude: A Nation in Crisis
(Recently, I’ve been looking at the history of underground comix in preparation for an eventual exploration of Doonesbury’s roots. I’m still working on the next instalment in that series: in the meanwhile, I want to get back into writing more directly about the strip itself, so here’s the first in what I expect to be … Continue reading Doonesbury in the Carter Years. Prelude: A Nation in Crisis
Reading Doonesbury 