Cedar Rapids Native, Cartoonist Paul Conrad Dies at 86

The Gazette & Wire Services

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Huntington Library/Independent Television Service shows cartoonist Paul Conrad at his drawing board. Conrad, the political cartoonist who won three Pulitzer Prizes and used his pencil to poke at politicians for more than 50 years, died Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 of natural causes at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (AP Photo/Huntington Library/Independent Television Service, File) NO SALES

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Sep 5, 2010 at 11:24 AM CST

Story Updated: Sep 5, 2010 at 12:33 PM CST

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, California - Paul Conrad, the political cartoonist who won three Pulitzer Prizes and used his pencil to poke at politicians for more than 50 years, died Saturday.

He was 86.

Conrad, a Cedar Rapids native and graduate of the University of Iowa, died before dawn at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes surrounded by his family, said his son, David Conrad. He said the death was from natural causes, but did not offer specifics.

Paul Conrad took on U.S. presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush, mostly in the Los Angeles Times, where he worked for 30 years.

He was fierce in his liberalism and expressed it with a stark, unmistakable visual style. Southern California political junkies for decades would start their day either outraged or delighted at a Conrad drawing.

Conrad's favorite target was President Richard Nixon. At the time of the president's resignation, Conrad drew Nixon's helicopter leaving the White House with the caption: 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest.' 'He always said he was most proud of being on Nixon's enemies list,' David Conrad said.

Democratic politicians weren't safe from his barbs either. After Jimmy Carter admitted that at times he had 'lusted in his heart,' Conrad drew him mentally undressing the Statue of Liberty.

Conrad and his identical twin James were born in Cedar Rapids in 1924, the sons of a railroad worker who dabbled in art. They moved to Des Moines a little more than a year later.

Conrad served in the Pacific during World War II in the Army Corps of Engineers. He came to the UI in 1946 to study art but, as he told The Gazette, left as an editorial cartoonist with a sheaf of clips from the Daily Iowan.

'I saw the other side of the river,' he said, referring to the UI arts campus. 'That wasn't for me.' In 1999, Conrad returned to Iowa for the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communications' 75th anniversary conference, 'Drawing the Line: Political Cartooning Under Pressure.' His 1949 Daily Iowan editor, Charlie Carroll, ribbed Conrad during the appearance.

'I've been walking around with this on my conscience. Oh, look at what I did,' he said about giving Conrad his start at the Daily Iowan.

Conrad's first job after college was at the Denver Post, where he worked for 14 years before moving to Los Angeles. Conrad's total of three Pulitzers is matched by just two other cartoonists in the Post-World War II era.

In addition to David, Paul Conrad is survived by another son, two daughters, and his wife of more than 60 years, Kay.

Memorial plans were still uncertain, David Conrad said.

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