The Press: Herblocked

To the Fund for the Republic, it seemed a solid journalistic coup. The Fund, an offshoot of the Ford Foundation, had signed up the Washington Post and Times Herald’s famed cartoonist, Herbert Lawrence Block (Herblock), to make 26 15-minute TV films of news comment illustrated by his cartoons, had allocated $200,000 to put on the programs.

Then the Fund for the Republic ran into trouble. The American Legion denounced it, charged that it was telling Americans that Communism was no serious threat to the nation. Herblock, a Fair Deal Democrat whose best target is the Republican right wing, is also a prime target for the Republicans. Recently, the right-wingers bombarded him heavily because of a cartoon that turned out to be badly timed. The cartoon portrayed President Eisenhower carrying Vice President Nixon on his back, with the caption: “You’re going to run again, aren’t we?” Herblock had drawn the cartoon before Ike’s heart attack, and many U.S. papers carried it the day Ike was stricken. Last week the Fund for the Republic decided Herblock was too hot to handle, canceled his TV show. Official reason: he is too political. By permitting him to take sides in political controversies, the Fund was afraid it might lose its tax-exempt status.