Primary Resources

The Rise of the New Right

Baldy Editorial Cartoons, 1946-1982, 1997: The Clifford H. Baldowski Collection

Using ESSEX History has excerpted political cartoons that deal with Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, the influence of the moral majority. While most of the collection is undated, the circumstances of the cartoons are made clear by the content. You can find these cartoons on the website with the search engine.

“1980 Election and Republican Party” – Reagan, George H.W. Bush, James Baker, and an unidentified man cheer on a Republican elephant in the 1980 election but the elephant stumbles over hurdles labeled with the names of specific cities.
“A few Questions” – A cartoon about the heavy hand of the moral majority.
“Barry Goldwater – No Offense Folks” – Dipicts Barry Goldwater shooting targets labeled “Health for Aged,” “Social Security,” “Farm Support,” etc.
“Don’t Tell Me We’re Bugging Ourselves Now” – Depicts Mary Crips pulling wires out of the ceiling in the offices of Bill Brock. Crisp was a Republican Party leader, serving with Bill Brock as chairperson of the Republican National Committee in 1976. Crips cam under fire for her outspoken support of the ERA and abortion rights and her party loyalty was publicly questioned by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 campaign. After that time, Crips was ostracized from the Republican Party’s administration.
“Freedoms of the Press and J. Denton” – Senator Denton expresses the limits of the First Amendment.
“Front Door Mac” – This cartoon implies that the Republican Party has access to secret accounts at the Riggs National Bank.
“Give you a Hand” – This cartoon references the power of the national Republican party beginning with the election of 1976.
“I Dunno Fellas” – The elephant director leads Ronald Reagan and John Anderson (independent candidate) in a debate.
“I’m Home Honey” – Ronald Reagan is trying to woo a southern bell labeled “Southern Politics.” Georgia politician Bo Callaway, who served as Ford’s campaign manager in ’76, is walking through the door and George Wallace is hiding behind the sofa.
“John Wayne” – This cartoon references the fact that John Wayne was the most famous Republican actor before Ronald Reagan and was often courted by Republican politicians (he spoke at the Republican Convention in 1968) to run for office.
“Let’s Try This Again” – Republican students learn from the “Political Primer”
“Nixon – It’s Now or Never” – Nixon and a Republican elephant try to catch a wave entitled “18 year old vote support” in 1970.
“Reagan’s Extravaganza” A Hollywood director marshals star including Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Charlton Heston for the “Reagan Extravaganza.”
“Repeat After Me” Senators Jeremiah Denton, John East and Jesse Helms (with Jerry Falwell) force Goldwater to sign a register titled “Moral Majority”.
Republican and Democratic Views” – A horse and donkey ridicule each other’s positions.
“Sandra Day O’Connor and Religious Right” – Jerry Falwell, Strom Thurmond, and Phyllis Schlafley (political activist – anti-abortion and anti-ERA) carry signs opposing the appointment. The religious right opposed the nomination because of O’Connor’s support of abortion rights.
“The Reagans and the Bakers” – Depicts the Reagans attending the Academy Awards with Tammy Faye and Jim Baker.
“Yahoooo” – Depicts a man labeled “Far Right” riding an elephant at the edge of Depression.
“You Can’t Come Busting in Here without Proper Identification” – The Statue of Liberty is thrown out of a GOP convention by Ronald Reagan and Senator John Tower.
“You’re Crowding Me Gerry” – Reagan and Gerald Ford both try to ride the Republican elephant. Reagan tells Ford “You’re crowding me Gerry – I was here first.” This refers to Ford’s increased support of the mainstream GOP issues as the more conservative Regan gained strength in the polls.
“You’re More Than Welcome” – Ronald Reagan tells a black man that he is “more than welcome” to enter a home called the Republican Party through the back entrance.

Courtesy of Boston Public Library - Congressional Records

"Bible Translation Day" - Records of the Seante's passage of 1968 legislation to mark September 30, 1968 as "Bible Translation Day" in order to recognize the importance of projects to translate the Bible into other languages to help missionize foreign populations.

Courtesy of JFK Library

Sargent Shriver Papers
 Sargent Shriver Papers, 1948 – 1976 1972 Vice-Presidential Campaign Files, compiled 1971 - 1972
Sargent Shriver was Kennedy’s brother-in-law.  He was active in JFK’s 1960 campaign  and ran for political office himself in the 1970s.

Box 161
Folder Republican Party: Platform (Issues)
Contains a large report, which has been excerpted to highlight portions relevant to Kansas (“Agriculture”), Massachusetts (“Civil Rights”), and a central issue which in turn, is crucial to understanding these issues in more detail for both states (“Poverty and Welfare”).  These excerpted portions of the report directly discuss issues with both of these states and the republican stance on these specific issues in relation to each state’s politics.

(Note from Ilse: This document is not on the disc; if anyone would like a copy of this, I can provide the document to you at your request).

Profile – Kansas City, KS A demographic profile of Kansas City, Kansas, prepared in 1972.

Letter to Shriver from Kansas Council of Catholic Women – A letter indicating that Shriver, the 1972 Vice Presidential candidate, should drop by their next meeting.

Profile of Massachusetts Politics – Prepared for the 1972 election, this study of Massachusetts politics states that Shriver (VP Candidate) should campaign in MA in order to bring important political factions who had been alienated by McGovern (Presidential candidate) back into the fold.  The document also contains a profile of important MA politicians and a demographic study of the population.

Letter from Billy Graham – Though Shriver attempted to meet with the religious leader during the 1972 election, Graham declined.  Citing his wish to remain out of politics altogether and his respect for both candidates, Graham instead offered to meet with Shriver after the campaign.

Miscellaneous Newspaper Clippings 1972 – Accounts of the Watergate scandal and analysis of the McGovern and Nixon campaigns.

Republican Pamphlets and Miscellaneous – Campaign pamphlets detailing Nixon’s concern for the elderly, education, and African-Americans (complete with a picture of Nixon and his “top Black White House advisor.”)  The end of this group features a RNC memo about strategies to court the ethnic press and different foreign voting populations within the US. 

 

David L. Hackett Papers, 1943 - 1968
Delegate Cards, compiled 1960 - 1968
Textual Records from Hackett, David L., 1927-
Box 2 and Box 3 contain delegate cards for the Democratic National Committee in Kansas and Massachusetts.  Each Kansas delegate card lists the names and personal information of the delegates as well as what they could bring to JFK’s campaign.  The Massachusetts delegate cards have less information, presumably because the state was obviously going to go for JFK.  These delegate cards provide an interesting biographical overview of Democrats in Kansas and Massachusetts during the 1960 campaign.

Box 2
Delegate Cards—1960
Kansas (A-J) 1 of 2, Kansas (K-Z) 2 of 2

Box 3
Delegate Cards—1960
Massachusetts (A-K) 1 of 2
Massachusetts (L-M) 2 of 2

Box 13 – This box of campaign materials has some RFK propaganda from the election of 1968.  It also has a list of Kansas and Massachusetts delegates to the Democratic National Convention.  The Massachusetts delegates are annotated with handwritten notes detailing whether they are for Kennedy or not.
RFK Campaign Materials—1968 Kansas
RFK Campaign Materials - Massachusetts, Folder 1
RFK Campaign Materials 1968, Folder 2

Box 17 –
Kansas Delegates 1968
Massachusetts Delegates 1968
Delegate cards from Kansas and Massachusetts during RFK’s campaign in 1968

 

John F. Kraft Papers, 1938 - 1978 – John Kraft was a political consultant who prepared voter surveys for a variety of different candidates, organizations, and political parties.

Box 45

State Surveys: Completed Studies: Kansas, Study 1964
This 6-page document gives an overview of the political makeup of Kansas and notes the state’s Republican bent as the only state in the Union with an all-Republican Congressional delegation.  The document assesses the viability of Presidential and Congressional candidates.

State Surveys: Completed Studies: Kansas, Study 1966
A study to assess how Kansas Republicans feel about their elected official’s positions on key issues.  This study assesses the opinions of “key groups” such as farmers, union member, urban populations, and different ethnic groups.

Box 52

 State Surveys: Massachusetts
Kraft created this document for ABC.  It assesses how well Massachusetts residents feel their elected officials are doing and the viability of different candidates in 1966.

Box 85

Electoral Maps of Kansas City

John Kraft to John Montgomery – Memorandum Number One
This appears to be a draft of the 1964  survey being compiled by John Kraft.  At the back of the survey is the questionnaire used to gather data.

Kansas Township Map

Electoral Map of the city of Liberal, Kansas

 

JFK-207: Viola Jean Schoeck Papers, 1960-1968,  Political Memorabilia, compiled 1960 - 1968, ARC Identifier 638176 -  Viola Schoeck was a collector of Kennedy memorabilia.

Box 1
Misc. Newspaper Clippings and Publications – These newspaper articles are from the 1960 election.  They range from coverage of JFK’s inner circle, details of the election day, and Eisenhower’s endorsement of Nixon.

JFK-347: Kathryn Carey Papers, 1968 – 1970
Political Memorabilia, compiled 1968 - 1970  John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA  Carey was a political activist who collected RFK memorabilia.

Box 1
           
“The Dan Smoot Report” – Conservative political activist Dan Smoot published the Dan Smoot Report from the 1950s to 1971.  In this issue he examines the question of whether 3rd party candidate George Wallace would take enough votes from Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey that the 1968 election would have to be decided in the House of Representatives.

“McGovern Letter and 1970 Senate Race” – McGovern wrote a letter to his supporters asking them to contribute to the campaigns of several Democratic Senators who were up for reelection in 1970.  Also included in this group of materials is a chart detailing the number of Senators up for reelection and a newspaper clipping about the unusually high stakes of the congressional election.

“Mexican-Americans for Hubert Humphrey” – This campaign flyer exhorts Mexican-Americans to vote for Humphrey.  Cesar Chavez, Director of the United Farmworkers Organizing Committee, similarly calls on farmworkers to support Humphrey as a champion of the worker and categorizes Nixon as a representative of the rich.

“Miscellaneous Newspaper Clippings” These clippings are from the 1968 election.  The last clipping details Nixon’s lead in the electoral votes by analyzing each region of the country.

Willard Voit – “On Third Parties” An analysis of the historical roots of the two-party system in the wake of the 3-way race for President in 1968.

Senator Edward Kennedy, Time Magazine, 10 January 1969 An in-depth profile of Senator Kennedy.

Wallace Campaign flyer, 1968 This flyer details Wallace’s stand on the issues.