G.O.P. elephant and 'sudden attacks of schizophrenia' (Taft-Eisenhower rift)

A dizzy, sweating elephant in a dressing gown reaches for a prescription bottle labelled 'for sudden attacks of "Schizophrenia"', with a newspaper on the floor headed 'Taft-Eisenhower rift out in the open after Ike's final cabinet appointments'. The cartoon attaches a medical label to a party's internal split (name-calling by label, using a then-common lay sense of the word).

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Name-calling

Date

December 4, 1952

Period

Cold War

Made by

Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)

Region

North America

Country

United States

Medium

Cartoon

Issuer type

Media

Regime

Truman Administration

Leader

Harry S. Truman

Audience

Domestic public

Purpose

Persuade or win support

Theme

Elections and party politics

Event

1952 US Election

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, 5743171 (NAID 5743171).

for SUDDEN ATTACKS OF "SCHIZOPHRENIA"
Rx
TAFT-EISENHOWER RIFT OUT IN THE OPEN AFTER IKE'S FINAL CABINET APPOINTMENTS
JIM BERRYMAN