He can do this --- but what can he do about this?
Split by a curved line, a man in a 'Citizen' hat holds a rifle tagged 'Selective Service' beside Uncle Sam, while on the other side Uncle Sam, seen from behind, faces a gate with a sign reading 'This essential war industries plant closed by strike'. The cartoon argues that the state can compel military service but not strike-bound defense work; the paired contrast presents one side of that question (card-stacking).
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- November 18, 1940
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Labor, War and the military
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Records of the U.S. Senate, Jim Berryman Political Cartoons (NAID 5730852), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Jim Berryman, Washington Evening Star. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Senate, 5743123 (NAID 5743123).
Text on the object
HE CAN DO THIS----- CITIZEN SELECTIVE SERVICE THIS ESSENTIAL WAR INDUSTRIES PLANT CLOSED BY STRIKE ---BUT WHAT CAN HE DO ABOUT THIS ? JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON EVENING STAR
