Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Money Well Spent, I say, 1957 US cartoon: A ragged donkey warms its hands over a can on a small fire at the bottom

Money Well Spent, I say

A ragged donkey warms its hands over a can on a small fire at the bottom of a ditch, while a top-hatted elephant smoking a cigar looks down from the edge. A newspaper on the ground reads '56 Campaign Costs: G.O.P.-$20 Million, Dems.-$10 Million. The tell is contrast of costume and setting, with the printed figures as the evidence; the cartoon presents the two parties' spending as rich versus poor.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Card stacking
Date
February 5, 1957
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
Themes
Elections and party politics, Economy and finance
Event
1956 US Election
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, 5743240 (NAID 5743240).

Text on the object

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

'56 CAMPAIGN COSTS
G.O.P.-$20 MILLION
DEMS.-$10 MILLION
JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR

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