L'etat, C'est Moi

A seated man in a bicorne hat, epaulettes and a cloak lettered 'De G', with an ermine-style robe draped over the throne and a staff topped with the letters 'RF', gazes upward. The title is the phrase 'L'etat, c'est moi' ('I am the state'), traditionally attributed to Louis XIV; the cartoon argues that Charles de Gaulle rules like a monarch, and the technique is name-calling by royal caricature.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Name-calling

Date: January 31, 1963
Period: Cold War
Made by: Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Cartoon
Issuer type: Media
Regime: Kennedy Administration
Leader: John F. Kennedy
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Warn or inform
Themes: Security and surveillance, 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, NAID 5743296 (NAID 5743296).