What does he know about "Depressed Areas?"
A ragged elephant sits by a campfire beside a railway embankment, holding a newspaper headed MANSFIELD TO BRING "DEPRESSED AREAS" BILL BEFORE SENATE, while a train marked DEMOCRATIC "GRAVY TRAIN" passes above. The tell is the loaded label 'gravy train', which characterises the Democratic measure as patronage, with the elephant drawn as a hobo outside the benefit.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- March 13, 1961
- 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
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Economy and finance, 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, 5743288 (NAID 5743288).
Text on the object
MANSFIELD TO BRING "DEPRESSED AREAS" BILL BEFORE SENATE DEMOCRATIC "GRAVY TRAIN" JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR
