Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
What makes you think I'm going to run?, 1955 US cartoon: A donkey in a cap, holding a stopwatch and firing a starter's pistol

What makes you think I'm going to run?

A donkey in a cap, holding a stopwatch and firing a starter's pistol into the air, stands beside a flag marked 'START'; a man labelled 'Stevenson' crouches at the line in a sprinter's stance, half out of a checked coat, and gestures with a raised finger. The cartoon argues that Adlai Stevenson is already poised for the presidential race while professing otherwise; the technique is a weak fit for card-stacking, as it presents a single framing of his intentions.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Card stacking
Date
November 12, 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, NAID 5743216 (NAID 5743216).

Text on the object

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

START
STEVENSON
JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR

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