The political cartoon, Thurgood Marshall, created by Steve Greenberg, focuses on former President George Bush’s overly elated emotions regarding the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1991.
As background to the cartoon, the former President, George Bush, Sr. was our 41st President and he was a republican. Thurgood Marshall was a well-respected Supreme Court Justice, and a democrat. The President appoints Supreme Court Justices, and history tells us that most of the appointments are based on whether or not a person is the same political affiliation as the President. In this case, President Bush did not appoint Justice Marshall, he was appointed by former President Lyndon Johnson in 1967. Justice Marshall was the first African American man to serve on the Supreme Court. He was also a strong civil rights leader, respected legal figure and instrumental in the desegregation of public schools.
The backdrop of this cartoon takes place outside of the Supreme Court Building. You see two people; one is Thurgood Marshall and the other George Bush. A loading ramp behind a truck is also shown.
President Bush is shown dressed as a furniture mover. President Bush, as a furniture mover, is pushing a high-backed, leather chair up a loading ramp on to a moving truck. The back of the chair has the words “civil rights” stamped across it. The moving truck itself is named “George Moving,” just to add to the satire of it all. Bush is also shown in a much smaller perspective than Thurgood Marshall is. President Bush’s face is a bit exaggerated. His nose is larger than it actually is, and his overall demeanor is more of a cartoon character rather than an actual political figure. He shows this by painting a smirk on the President’s face as if to say, “I’m thrilled to be pushing Thurgood Marshall out of the Supreme Court altogether.” The artist draws the President as if he has no respect for the Justice, and is happy to see Marshall retire.
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Thurgood Marshall is depicted in an entirely different light. His stature and demeanor are that of a strong, professional and confident person. He is standing upright in the cartoon. He is given a height that not only towers above President Bush, but also sets him above the height of the Justice building. This seems to symbolize the Justice as being an equal to the powers of justice, or a powerful force in the legal community. His face is drawn in a way more reminiscent of his own natural features rather than being overly exaggerated, as is seen in the President. He doesn’t resemble a cartoon character as much as the President. He appears to be a leader. The artist draws Justice Marshall in his judge’s robe and leans his right hand on a cane, and his left hand carrying a briefcase. The artist captures the reason behind Thurgood Marshall’s retirement, his age and health deterioration. However, the artist shows the Justice as if he were walking away from his position with a clear mind and positive attitude. He shows this by not making the Justice look back, not smiling and not focusing on what President Bush may or may not be doing; he does not seem to be concerned.
The artist displays his characters’ size differences to indicate the political differences between the Justice and the President, and perhaps the artists’ political preferences.
On the one hand, the artist paints George Bush as a silly cartoon character. This is to reflect a conservative republican, and this is not to the artists’ liking. During the time of this cartoon, it was well known that White House aides to President Bush were overjoyed by Marshall’s retirement announcement so they could be rid of the left-wing justice (Justice Marshall).
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George Bush’s administration knew that with Thurgood Marshall no longer serving on the Supreme Court, he would be able to elect someone with views more reflective of his own. Consequently, Bush would gain political control of the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, Greenberg paints Thurgood Marshall as a distinguished, older gentleman with a briefcase. This shows the artist’s pleasure with the more liberal democrat, Justice Marshall. Also, during this time, many people across the country viewed Thurgood Marshall’s retirement as sad, unfortunate and a great loss to liberal thinkers in government and elsewhere.
In summary, the political cartoonist, Steve Greenberg, played on the conservative nature of President George Bush, and how Bush would be favorably affected by the retirement of Thurgood Marshall. The artist expressed this with sarcasm and satire by depicting Bush as smaller than Marshall, siding more with liberals than with conservatives, and presenting Bush as a cartoon character. He presented Marshall in a more genuine and professional manner, showing his respect for Marshall. The cartoon indicates that with Justice Marshall leaving the Supreme Court, the “George Bush” truck containing “Civil Rights” would be on an uphill ramp, and the hopes for civil rights would retire with Justice Marshall.
