He Drew What??

Sometimes history throws us strange surprises. How many of us realize, and I didn't until just this week, that one of our favorite childhood authors started his career as a political cartoonist, and a fairly pointed one at that . See if you can spot his name in this cartoon about American isolationism during the 1930's.

That's right. It's Theodor Seuss Geisel. And not only did he do political cartoons he started even earlier helping peddle insecticides.

Geisel, or should we call him what he called himself, Dr. Seuss first took on America's unwillingness to confront Hitler during the 1930's

Does Uncle Sam look vaguely familiar in this cartoon?

One of his most bitterly attacked persons was none other than the hero of the 1920's, Charles Lindbergh, who was going out of his way to praise Nazi Germany. Dr. Seuss thought not.

Once the war started, he was unmerciful in his depictions of both Hitler and the Japanese.

He chided the United States for being taken by surprise at Pearl Harbor.

Though he sometimes slipped into racial stereotypes himself, like contributing to the internment of the Japanese.

One of the really interesting things about his work is that it attacked head on the problems of racism in this country, both in the war effort...

and beyond.

He went after things like voting rights,

unfair tax policies,

And attacks on the New Deal.

Once the war was over, he could finally turn to what we remember him best for, and which he did equally well at.

So, the next time you are reading to your children or grandchildren, you can recall his long and glorious history.