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Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Kibitzers
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

Kibitzers

Artifact ID1973.1.1773
Object Type Cartoon Drawing
Artist (United States)
Gifter
Medium Ink and grease pencil on drawing paper
DimensionsOverall H 13 1/8 in x W 11 in (33.3 cm x 27.9 cm )
Physical Description
Physical DescriptionOriginal cartoon drawing. LBJ and a man (identifiable as Ho Chi Minh) ("Hanoi") play poker with stacks of chips ("Vietnam"). LBJ looks at four men ("Bobby", “Nixon”, “McCarthy”, “Wallace”) who stand beside him, looking and talking. Caption: “Kibitzers”. Artist signature lower right: "Buescher".
Inscriptions and MarkingsHandwritten at lower right: "To the President, respectfully, Alfred Buescher".
Historical NoteNorth Vietnam did not want to recognize the government of South Vietnam and had the goal of reunification, while South Vietnam did not recognize the National Liberation Front. Meanwhile, the United States followed Containment policy, hoping to keep Communism from diffusing to other Southeast Asian nations, and aimed to leave Vietnam without the humiliation of defeat. 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 Eugene J. McCarthy (United States, 1916 - 2005)
Person Referenced Richard Nixon (United States, 1913 - 1994)
Person Referenced Lyndon Baines Johnson (United States, 1908 - 1973)
Person Referenced Robert F. Kennedy (United States, 1925 - 1968)
Person Referenced George Wallace (United States, 1919 - 1988)
Person Referenced Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam, 1890 - 1969)
In Collection(s)
Not on view
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