Review of
As Ding Saw Hoover,
by Jay N. Darling
Four out of five stars
Output from a cartoonist friend
Jay N. Darling (tagline Ding) was a very talented
editorial cartoonist of the early twentieth century, he produced nearly one a day
for many years. In that field, he created flattering and unflattering images
and text of major figures of the day. One of those people was Herbert Hoover in
his many iterations as an administrator and as a president.
The book opens
with an introduction and then a chapter called, “My Association with Herbert
Hoover,” written by Darling himself. In it, he makes it clear that he and
Hoover were very good friends, doing many things together. It is clear that
Darling was a strong supporter of Hoover, even when his political fortunes were
declining due to the deepening Depression.
The cartoons
that appear in this collection are but a sampling of Darling’s output, but they
all are laudatory of Hoover. The timeframe begins in 1917, when Hoover was
appointed by President Wilson to head the Food Administration. The cartoons
then follow Hoover’s public life with the last dated November 3, 1932, right
before the presidential election. In that election, Franklin Roosevelt won in a
landslide. Each cartoon is dated and has an explanatory page of text associated
with it.
This book is
interesting for the positive way in which Hoover is depicted. Popular when he
was elected, Hoover was pummeled by the economic forces and left office with
his reputation shattered. Which is unfortunate, for he was without question one
of the most capable administrators to ever be elected President.
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