Cartoonist Paul Conrad: Iowa Time Machine June 27, 1924

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On June 27, 1924, American cartoonist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Conrad was born in Cedar Rapids.

Conrad served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II and then studied art at the University of Iowa, where he began drawing cartoons for the Daily Iowan and found his calling as an editorial cartoonist. He started his professional career at The Denver Post, where he worked for fourteen years, before moving to the Los Angeles Times in 1964 as chief political cartoonist.

Conrad won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1964, a second in 1971, and a third in 1984, an achievement matched by only two other cartoonists in the post-war period. He was known for long, pointed lines and jagged angles that exposed political shortcomings, and he made Richard Nixon’s enemies list while also drawing famous images of Ronald Reagan that annoyed the governor and his wife.

Conrad’s cartoons from the Vietnam War era, civil rights era, and Cold War era still appear in archives and exhibitions, showing how the cartoonist’s desk remained a place where history was interpreted and debated. #Iowa #OTD #History #Cartoon #Commentary