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Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
If Only I Could Pull the Plug
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

If Only I Could Pull the Plug

Artifact ID1973.1.390
Object Type Cartoon Drawing
Artist (United States, 1911 - 1992)
Gifter
Date ca. March 1968
Medium Ink and grease pencil on illustration board
DimensionsOverall H 14 1/2 in x W 11 7/8 in (36.8 cm x 30.2 cm )
Physical Description
Physical DescriptionOriginal cartoon drawing. LBJ is trying to pull the plug ("Vietnam Peace") to let the water out of a sink. Several men (identifiable as Nixon, Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and George Wallace, "Presidential Hopefuls”) swim around in the sink. Caption: “If Only I Could Pull the Plug”. Artist signature lower right: "Liederman”.
Inscriptions and MarkingsHandwritten at lower right: [blue] “57”.
Historical NotePresident Johnson was up for his second term during the 1968 election, but he would later withdraw from the race on March 31, 1968. By 1968, the Vietnam War had escalated to hundreds of thousands of troops deployed and the war’s unpopularity in the United States was increased further by the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive in January 1968. Former Vice President Richard Nixon secured the Republican nomination during the 1968 election. His platform emphasized crime and he criticized Johnson’s Vietnam policy, but was vague about his own plans to end the war. New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a prominent critic of the Vietnam War, ran for president in 1968 as a Democrat with an anti-war platform until his assassination in June 1968. Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy ran for president in 1968 during the Democratic primaries as an antiwar candidate. Alabama governor George Wallace left the Democrat Party to run for president in 1968 as an American Independent Party candidate with a pro-segregation platform.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteThe item was a gift from the general public to President Johnson during his term in office. It was received by President Johnson, until the President donated it to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in 1973.
Credit LineGift of Lyndon Baines Johnson
National Archives Catalog CollectionLyndon B. Johnson Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 192413)
National Archives Catalog SeriesGifts from the General Public (National Archives Identifier 189698395)
Use Restriction StatusRestricted - Fully
Use Restriction NoteCopyright or other proprietary rights are held by individuals or entities other than the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum. The LBJ Presidential Library and Museum does not warrant that the use of materials will not infringe on the rights of third parties holding the rights to these works, or make any representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement, treaty, or protections that may apply. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy any copyright or other use restrictions. Pertinent regulations can be found at 36 C.F.R 1254.62.
Person Referenced Robert F. Kennedy (United States, 1925 - 1968)
Person Referenced Richard Nixon (United States, 1913 - 1994)
Person Referenced Eugene J. McCarthy (United States, 1916 - 2005)
Person Referenced George Wallace (United States, 1919 - 1988)
Person Referenced Lyndon Baines Johnson (United States, 1908 - 1973)
In Collection(s)
Not on view
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