June 22, 2015

Finest Hour 106, Spring 2000

Page 37

Abstract by Chris Hanger

“Low and Churchill,” by Timothy Benson, History Today 50(2), February 2000, pp 9-15.

Sir David Low was the supreme British political cartoonist of his age. Churchill’s beliefs regarding the Empire, working classes, and the Labour Party made him an excellent subject for the socialist Low and newspapers that supported Labour. During Churchill’s unsuccessful campaign against Russian Bolshevism, Low depicted him as a “war mongering arch-reactionary” wearing a worn-out Napoleonic uniform sitting astride an equally worn-out donkey.

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During the Twenties, Winston Churchill’s position with both his party and the public rendered him a misguided and solitary figure, distrusted by friend and foe alike, in the eyes of the Press. One Low cartoon depicted Churchill walking away from two stodgy men who appear quite puzzled. With a couple in the foreground, the man whispers to the female character: “That’s Mr. Churchill. His party don’t know whether to regard him as a Pitt or a pity.”

Little evidence exists that Churchill disliked Low. Instead, he found an appreciation of Low’s ability to capture the essence of political figures and issues of the day without the benefit of hindsight. In January 1924 Churchill paid tribute: “It was the turn of the Press to satirize the politician at the present moment if they were not satisfied already by the very full indulgence which we daily see in the brilliant cartoons of Low.”

During the “wilderness years,” Churchill and Low became colleagues on the Evening Standard. Churchill wrote fortnightly articles, primarily on foreign affairs. At first the two men had strikingly opposite views on Europe’s emerging dictators. While Churchill was initially impressed with Mussolini and Hitler as saviors of their countries, Low detected their true spirit, particularly in Hitler’s case, as early as 1931. Later in the decade, Churchill’s opinion changed and by 1938 both were in agreement, rallying support for Czechoslovakia. Low’s wartime support for Churchill was total, although Low was quick to point out the government s lack of aggressiveness in pursuing the enemy.

Churchill was very much aware of the power of political cartoonists. Low once even claimed that Churchill’s image as a wartime leader was the creation of cartoonists. Indeed, politicians in general have a love-hate relationship with the artists who draw them. Often, cartoonists accentuate stage props and physical peculiarities, which advance the politician’s image. Churchill’s “props” were of course his V-sign and cigar. Regardless of how outlandish and derisive cartoons might seem, politicians appear universally to delight in such publicity, and worry when they are not targets of leading cartoonists.

One of Low’s later cartoons depicted a much-revered Churchill being toasted on his eightieth birthday by a room full of Winston Churchills in earlier guises, portraying the different periods and accomplishments of the statesman’s life. Low presented the original drawing of this moving tribute to Churchill with the inscription “from your old castigator.” Churchill accepted it with delight. (A very good reproduction occupied the centerspread of Finest Hour 80, and is available unfolded for framing from Churchill Stores. -Ed.)

Low died in 1963, Churchill in 1965. By the time of their deaths, each left an indelible mark on twentieth century British politics.

Our article abstracts resume under the editorship of Mr. Hanger. An attorney since 1974, Chris had a career change in 1994 and is now a county paramedic in Austin, Texas. He is also taking classes to become a registered nurse. In his “spare” time, he and his wife teach Emergency Medical Service classes.