Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
I Tried that too, Adlai...It Didn't work., 1955 US cartoon: A ghostly Theodore Roosevelt in a wide-brimmed hat, labelled

I Tried that too, Adlai...It Didn't work.

A ghostly Theodore Roosevelt in a wide-brimmed hat, labelled 'Teddy Roosevelt', points at a caricatured man in a pith helmet and safari kit carrying a rifle, tennis racket and a bag tagged 'A. Stevenson Africa', with an airliner behind. The tell is transfer: the former president's persona is borrowed to frame a politician's trip as a bid for a similar image.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Transfer
Date
April 19, 1955
Period
Cold War
Made by
Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Cartoon
Issuer type
Media
Regime
Eisenhower Administration
Leader
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Theme
Elections and party politics
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
U.S. National Archives, 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, 5743202 (NAID 5743202).

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

I Tried that too, Adlai...It Didn't work.
TEDDY ROOSEVELT
A. STEVENSON AFRICA
JIM BERRYMAN EVENING STAR

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