“No Longer a Stepping Stone” (July 7, 1941)
by Charles (Chuck) Werner (1909-1997)
14 x 16 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

Charles (Chuck) Werner won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1939 for a cartoon he did for the Daily Oklahoman titled “Nomination for 1938” which allowed for the transfer of the Sudetenland to Hitler’s Germany (October 6, 1938). At age 29, Werner was the youngest person to win the Pulitzer. Werner left the Daily Oklahoman to be the Chief Editorial Cartoonist at the Chicago Sun in 1941 before leaving for the Indianapolis Star in 1947. Throughout his nearly sixty-year career, many U.S. Presidents expressed interest in Werner’s cartoons, including Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry Truman requesting cartoons for their presidential libraries.

On 7 July 1941, the defense of Iceland, which was part of Denmark, was transferred from Britain to the (still officially neutral) United States. US Marines replaced the British troops. Iceland’s strategic position along the North Atlantic sea-lanes, perfect for air and naval bases, brought new importance to the island.

Iceland officially remained neutral throughout World War II.