Greatest Political Cartoonists Ever

Thomas Nast

The godfather of American political cartooning literally brought down New York's corrupt Boss Tweed, who reportedly said his illegiterate constituents 'can't read but they can see pictures.' Nast also invented the modern image of Santa Claus and cemented the Republican elephant a

Years Active: 1859–1886Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: Harper's WeeklyLegacy Rating: 10/10

added by IJRThomas Nast

Herblock (Herbert Block)

Herblock coined the term 'McCarthyism' in a single 1950 cartoon, giving the era its name before the Senate hearings even peaked. Across seven decades at the Washington Post he skewered every president from Truman to Clinton, winning three Pulitzers along the way. His deadline dra

Years Active: 1929–2001Pulitzer Prizes: 3Signature Outlet: Washington PostLegacy Rating: 9.5/10

added by IJR

Honoré Daumier

Daumier spent six months in a French prison for 'Gargantua,' a caricature of King Louis-Philippe literally gobbling the nation's wealth. His lithograph 'Rue Transnonain' turned a government massacre into an unforgettable indictment, proving cartoons could be treated as serious jo

Years Active: 1830–1872Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: La Caricature / Le CharivariLegacy Rating: 9.5/10

added by IJRHonoré Daumier

James Gillray

Working out of Georgian London print shops, Gillray essentially invented the modern political cartoon's visual grammar of caricature, symbolism, and grotesque exaggeration. His relentless mockery of Napoleon as a tiny tyrant shaped British public opinion during decades of war. Tw

Years Active: 1780–1811Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: London print shopsLegacy Rating: 9.5/10

added by IJRJames Gillray

David Low

Low's recurring character Colonel Blimp became shorthand for pompous, out-of-touch British establishment thinking, entering the language itself. His pre-war cartoons mocking Hitler and Mussolini were reportedly so effective that Low was on a Nazi arrest list for after a hypotheti

Years Active: 1919–1953Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: Evening StandardLegacy Rating: 9/10

added by IJR

Bill Mauldin

Mauldin drew Willie and Joe, two exhausted, mud-caked GIs, straight from the WWII foxholes, and General Patton reportedly wanted him court-martialed for undermining morale with the unglamorous truth. He won his first Pulitzer at 23, making him one of the youngest ever, and a seco

Years Active: 1940–1991Pulitzer Prizes: 2Signature Outlet: Stars and Stripes / Chicago Sun-TimesLegacy Rating: 9/10

added by IJRBill Mauldin

Pat Oliphant

Oliphant's tiny wisecracking penguin sidekick 'Punk' became a running gag that let him editorialize twice per cartoon, and his syndication across hundreds of papers made him arguably the most widely read cartoonist of his generation. He won the Pulitzer in 1967 but later refused

Years Active: 1956–2015Pulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Denver Post / syndicatedLegacy Rating: 9/10

added by IJRPat Oliphant

Garry Trudeau

Trudeau shattered the wall between comic strips and hard political commentary with Doonesbury, becoming the first strip cartoonist ever awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1975. Papers regularly yanked his strips over Watergate and later Iraq War material, a ba

Years Active: 1970–presentPulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Doonesbury (syndicated)Legacy Rating: 8.5/10

added by IJRGarry Trudeau

Paul Conrad

Conrad reportedly earned a spot on Richard Nixon's official enemies list purely for his Los Angeles Times cartoons, a distinction he displayed like a trophy. He won three Pulitzers over a career defined by unflinching attacks on power, from Nixon to Reagan. His bronze sculpture m

Years Active: 1950s–1993Pulitzer Prizes: 3Signature Outlet: Los Angeles TimesLegacy Rating: 8.5/10

added by IJRPaul Conrad

Jeff MacNelly

MacNelly won his first Pulitzer at just 24 years old and went on to collect three total, an unmatched pace for the medium. Beyond editorial work he created the beloved comic strip Shoe, proving he could be both a Beltway bruiser and a gentle humorist. His crisp, confident linewor

Years Active: 1970–2000Pulitzer Prizes: 3Signature Outlet: Chicago TribuneLegacy Rating: 8/10

added by IJRJeff MacNelly

Walt Kelly

Kelly's swamp-dwelling possum strip Pogo delivered one of the most quoted political lines ever, 'We have met the enemy and he is us,' aimed squarely at Cold War paranoia. He drew a thinly veiled caricature of Senator Joseph McCarthy as a bobcat named Simple J. Malarkey right as M

Years Active: 1948–1973Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: Pogo (syndicated)Legacy Rating: 8/10

added by IJRWalt Kelly

Jules Feiffer

Feiffer's sparse, dialogue-driven strips for the Village Voice brought a psychoanalytic, neurotic sensibility to political cartooning that no one else was doing. He won a Pulitzer in 1986 after three decades of quietly redefining what the form could look like without a single pun

Years Active: 1956–2000Pulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Village VoiceLegacy Rating: 7.5/10

added by IJRJules Feiffer

Gerald Scarfe

Scarfe's grotesque, melting caricatures for the Sunday Times made him Britain's most feared satirist of politicians' faces, but he's arguably best known outside cartooning circles for designing the nightmarish animated imagery in Pink Floyd's 'The Wall.' His willingness to render

Years Active: 1960s–2010sPulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: Sunday TimesLegacy Rating: 7.5/10

added by IJRGerald Scarfe

Steve Bell

Bell's long-running 'If...' strip for The Guardian gave British readers a daily dose of absurdist political satire for over four decades. His decision to draw George W. Bush with a permanently smaller-than-normal chimp-like appearance became one of the defining visual insults of

Years Active: 1981–2023Pulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: The GuardianLegacy Rating: 7.5/10

added by IJR

Mike Peters

Peters won his Pulitzer in 1981 for editorial work at the Dayton Daily News before pivoting to create the long-running syndicated strip Mother Goose and Grimm. His ability to move fluidly between hard-edged political satire and mainstream comic-strip humor showed the versatility

Years Active: 1969–2010sPulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Dayton Daily NewsLegacy Rating: 7.5/10

added by IJRMike Peters

Ann Telnaes

Telnaes became the first woman to win the Pulitzer for Editorial Cartooning as a solo artist in 2001, breaking a barrier in a field long dominated by men. She later pioneered animated editorial cartoons for the Washington Post's website, dragging the medium into the digital era.

Years Active: 1993–presentPulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Washington PostLegacy Rating: 7.5/10

added by IJRAnn Telnaes

Signe Wilkinson

Wilkinson became the first woman ever awarded a Pulitzer for editorial cartooning, in 1992, cracking open a profession that had been essentially all-male for over a century. Her Philadelphia-rooted cartoons combined local grit with sharp national commentary for decades. She later

Years Active: 1985–presentPulitzer Prizes: 1Signature Outlet: Philadelphia Daily NewsLegacy Rating: 7/10

added by IJRSigne Wilkinson

Ralph Steadman

Steadman's ink-splattered, frantic illustrations for Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo journalism turned political and cultural commentary into a visceral, almost violent visual experience. His work on 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72' fused cartooning with a new brand of su

Years Active: 1970s–2000sPulitzer Prizes: 0Signature Outlet: Rolling StoneLegacy Rating: 7/10

added by IJRRalph Steadman