September 24, 1970

Democratic candidates leapfrogging to the edge of a cliff

By September 1970 domestic protest of the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and rising inflation and unemployment had eroded Nixon's approval ratings. His efforts to regain momentum by "positive polarization" -- vilification of all opponents -- intensified dissent. Increasing numbers of Democrats saw themselves as presidential candidates. Oliphant's cartoon was prescient: Ultimately 13 Democrats sought the 1972 nomination.

Courtesy of Pat Oliphant and the Susan Conway Gallery of Washington, D.C.