Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Vertical Take-Off...Destroyer Assisted, 1955 US cartoon: A caricatured figure labelled BURKE, in an admiral's cocked hat

Vertical Take-Off...Destroyer Assisted

A caricatured figure labelled BURKE, in an admiral's cocked hat with stars and an epaulettes coat, is catapulted upward out of a US warship's deck, trailing a banner reading APPOINTMENT AS NAVY CHIEF. The tell is transfer: historic admiral's dress lends the appointee the dignity of naval tradition; the cartoon's own joke is the rocket-like launch.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Transfer
Date
May 27, 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
War and the military
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, 5743205 (NAID 5743205).

Text on the object

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

BURKE
APPOINTMENT AS NAVY CHIEF
JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR...

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