“Salesman Comes Back from the Road” (August, 1936)
by Gerald Aloysius (Jerry) Doyle, Jr. (1898-1986)
14 x 17 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

Jerry Doyle spent most of his career at The Philadelphia Record, The Philadelphia Daily News(1951) and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He retired in 1973. Doyle’s support for the New Deal meant that his cartoons generally expressed support for President Roosevelt, whom he depicted as tall, imposing, powerful, and larger-than-life. Doyle’s early and continual criticism towards Hitler and Mussolini made him the only American cartoonist to be put on the Nazi hit list. He wrote the book “According to Doyle – A Cartoon History of World War II” (1943). His son, who carried his name, was also a part-time cartoonist (1926-2009).

James Farley was the mastermind of FDR’s early campaigns, and was particularly effective during the campaign of the first re-election in 1936. He was one of the first to use polling effectively.

Historians of political polls know of the 1936 fiasco of the Literary Digest poll, which was forecasting a big win for PDR’s opponent, Alf Landon.  The Digest was the gospel of its day, but Farley had a different impression, declaring publically, “Landon will only carry Maine and Vermont. 7 electoral votes.”

And on election day, he was exactly correct.