Gift of Mrs. Frank Miller. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
UM83.101
This depiction of Congress and the GOP administration was drawn during the Nixon presidency. Representing a split government, both the Senate and the House held a Democratic majority, while Nixon and his administration represented the Republican views at the time and depicted here by the typical symbol of an elephant. Instead of the usual stylization of the Democratic Congress as a donkey, they are depicted as a slow-moving tortoise, looking bogged down under the weight of the congressional dome. The elephant and tortoise look at each other angrily, as if they are annoyed with the idea of moving together in any bi-partisan effort. A frustrated figure rides in a wagon behind, unable to see forward towards the national goals over the hulking mass of these two figures.
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