Foreign Affairs
Despite the wide and popular dislike for the Panama Canal treaties, Carter succeeded in getting them passed through Congress. Pictured with his Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and his Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, Carter walks in a brightly lit hall smiling broadly and holding a paper that says the Panama Canal Treaty. Teddy Roosevelt waits for them around the corner in a dimly lit hallway outside the Senate holding his trademark “Big Stick.” As the president that expanded American empire in Central America, Roosevelt does not express the same joy as Carter for the treaties. Many Senators rejected the Panama Canal treaties because they thought abandoning control over the canal made the United States look weak. Oliphant wonders if “Jingoism Liveth.” In other words, will the United States continue to pursue an aggressive, military style foreign policy to take what it wants?
~ Michael Crawford
Dick Locher criticizes the Panama Canal treaties by depicting Uncle Sam taking a bath in a tub that is labeled the Panama Canal. Uncle Sam looks shocked when he sees a small, plainly dressed, peanut farmer—Jimmy Carter—pulling the plug on his bath. U.S. prestige drains along with the water because the treaties make the United States look weak. Regardless, Carter forthrightly does what he feels necessary because he utilizes a humanitarian perspective when engaged in foreign policy and makes fairness key to his actions on the world stage.
~ Michael Crawford
The Carter Administration was taking a new approach—the New Mideast Peace Plan—to peace in the Middle East. Informed by the Brookings Institution, both the United States and the Soviet Union should work together to create peace between Arabs and Israel. Considered pro-Palestine because the Soviet Union supported Palestinian efforts, Israel rejected it because Palestinians would now have a say in the negotiations. In his cartoon, Lane opines that Israel will not be comfortable until the PLO, or Palestinian Liberation Organization, has no say in what happens during the negotiations. Israel maintained this attitude even though President Carter remained pro-Israel.
~ Dylan Swartz
While the Nixon Administration made progress in the Middle East, the Watergate Scandal compromised these gains. Borrowing a proposal made in 1975 by the Brookings Institution, President Carter intended the Soviet Union and the United States to work together on Middle East negotiations. His administration worked toward reconvening international peace talks in Geneva. The cartoonist pictured Carter’s Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, sitting behind the desk, optimistically concluding that both sides would soon agree to the meeting. MacNelly suggests that Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization are heading toward conflict, not peace. While not successful in 1977, these efforts represented one step toward the Camp David Accords in 1978.
~ Dylan Swartz
Bloody Sunday occurred on 30 January 1972 when British army members shot 14 civilians during a march against internment. After just witnessing the murder of innocent protesters by British Troops, Bernadette Devlin had to go to a debate as a representative. At this debate Reginald Maudling claimed self-defense for the troops, considering that to be untrue and insensitive, Devlin slapped Maudling in the face. Denver Post cartoonist Pat Oliphant draws Devlin as a crazed lunatic. With fist raised and wild eyes, Devlin stands over Maudling. While clearly against Devlin, Oliphant is poking fun at Maudling by making him look weak laying on the ground after being attacked.
~ Noah Weitz
In response to violent conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and the internment of Catholic civilians, parliament declared direct rule in the province to being March 30, 1972. At the same time, Prime Minister Heath threatened Protestants to find compromise otherwise they would lose the support of the United Kingdom, implying that a United Ireland would follow. This piqued an interest from those causing violence and wanting Britain out. Pat Oliphant makes a mockery out of the direct rule and threats. Not only does he illustrate Minister Heath lighting a fuse for trouble, but he also illustrates two oafy Irish Republican Army members who have their attention caught because they believe he is here to help unify Ireland.
~ Noah Weitz