Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Conrad has skewered 11 presidents — from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush — over the course of six decades as an editorial cartoonist. To celebrate Conrad’s remarkable career and draw attention to the role of the cartoonist as political commentator and satirist, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California presents Conrad & the Presidents.

"As underlined by his three Pulitzer Prizes, Paul Conrad is an iconic figure," says Geoffrey Cowan, dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. "I have admired his work for three decades and have long wanted to host an exhibition of his editorial cartoons, which so boldly, clearly and deftly convey his point of view. The impact of his work has been momentous and his cartoons boldly demonstrate the power of political satire."

Presented in partnership with the Armory Center for the Arts, Conrad & the Presidents features nearly four-dozen cartoons on loan from the artist and The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. The exhibition spans Conrad’s career and includes his Pulitzer-winning cartoons, as well as two sculptures — of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy — from his personal collection. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

"Paul Conrad is one of the most brilliant [contemporary] editorial cartoonists and I think one of the most brilliant of all time," writes Sara S. Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts for The Huntington Library, who manages a collection of some 10,000 original Conrad cartoons. "One of the most important themes in Paul Conrad cartoons is the American presidency. As the most visible representatives of the nation’s government, presidents have been some of the most frequent targets for Conrad’s pen. Whether the subject is Nixon’s tapes and the famous 18-minute gap, or Bush’s broken promise of ‘Read my lips — no new taxes,’ Conrad has probed the all-too-human failings of these larger-than-life figures."

Widely acclaimed as one of the nation’s most notable and quotable editorial cartoonists, Conrad was chief cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times from 1964 to 1993. He continues to draw new cartoons four days a week and is syndicated internationally by Tribune Media Services. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he began his career at the Daily Iowan while a student at the University of Iowa in the late 1940s. After earning his B.A. in art in 1950, he joined The Denver Post, where he met and married the newspaper’s society writer, Kay King. He remained at The Denver Post, where he earned his first Pulitzer, until the couple moved to Los Angeles in 1964.

"Presidents learn the limits of their power when they find themselves on the end of Paul Conrad’s pen," said former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw.

"I like politicians, particularly those who approach every issue with an open mouth — and a closed mind," Conrad once quipped.

He is particularly proud of earning a place on Richard Nixon’s enemies list in 1973, and relishes the irony of earning a one-year appointment as the Richard M. Nixon Chair at Whittier College, Nixon’s alma mater, during the 1977-78 academic year.

Among Conrad’s many awards are three Pulitzer Prizes, two Overseas Press Club Awards, four Robert F. Kennedy Journalism awards, the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for Print Journalism and the University of Southern California Journalism Award. He has won seven Distinguished Service Awards for Editorial Cartooning from the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi, making him the only journalist with that many awards in any category.

Conrad has published six collections of cartoons: Drawing the Line (1999), CONartist (1993), Drawn and Quartered (1985), Pro and Conrad (1979), The King and Us (1974) and When in the Course of Human Events with Malcolm Boyd (1973). His limited-edition bronze sculptures of national and world leaders have been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and other museums.

Conrad & the Presidents is curated by Jay Belloli, director of gallery programs at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Calif. Between October and May, when the exhibition closes, USC Annenberg plans to hold a bimonthly series of events on the art and journalism of editorial cartooning.
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