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Allison Singleton
April 19, 2013
WWII Project
Dr. Seuss and WWII
Most Americans have heard of the childrens book author, Dr. Seuss, but not many
people know him to be much more than that. Many would be surprised to learn about the other
work that Dr. Seuss did. In the early 1940s, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) drew for a popular
newspaper in New York, the PM. He made all his arguments for the war very well-known by
helping the public become aware of foreign situations. All the political cartoons that helped
shape Americas view of the war were due to Dr. Seusss history, his moral beliefs, his political
beliefs, his war propaganda, his armed force time, and even the way the citizens of the United
States viewed his work.
Dr. Seuss was born into a very German family. Not only were they Germans, but they
were also strong Republicans. Growing up, Geisels family would attend his Evangelical
Lutheran church services in German with his family. These roots are not exactly to be expected
considering as Seuss grew, he fought the Germans and he was very liberal. When Seuss was able
to vote in the 1940 election, against his fathers disapproval, he voted for FDR, a democrat. This
marked the beginning of a strong political career. This helps to show that Dr. Seuss would not
change his beliefs just because the people around him or even the people he grew up around
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viewed things differently. This shows the strong will of Dr. Seuss to be exactly who he believed
he was, and to not change for anyone (Richard Minear).
As previously stated, Dr. Seuss was no push over. He had a very strong set of moral
beliefs. He was anti-fascist, anti-isolationism, anti-racism, and anti-Semitics. Many of Dr.
Seusss childrens books even portray his hidden moral messages. Books like The Sneetches
shows the importance of acknowledging racial tolerance, The Lorax explains the dangers of
harming the environment, or The Butter Battle Book was hinting at the disarming of nuclear
weapons in 1984. It seems that no matter what works Dr. Seuss came up with, there was always
a hidden message underneath the rhyming words. During the war, one of the main focuses of his
political cartoons was Charles Lindbergh who actively spoke for the American First Committee.
He gave speeches that were riddled with Semitism and anti-war involvement. This caused him to
be the center of Seusss moral focuses for quite a while. Dr. Seuss did not put up with
Lindberghs reproachful behavior (Richard Minear).
Along with his strong moral beliefs, he also had very strong political beliefs. He was an
advocate for going to war and helping Britain end Germany, Italy, and Japan. He showed this
through his political cartoons which were published in the left wing newspaper company, PM.
PM and Dr. Seuss both agreed that war was the answer, and Seuss knew that it was his job to
promote to the people and give them the information that they needed in order to rally with him
(Andres Jauregui).
Dr. Seusss political cartoons were said to be some of the most in depth political cartoons
of the era, while somehow still capturing the whimsy of his childrens books. From 1941 through
1943, Theodore Geisel graced America with his finely sketched works and managed to draw
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over 400 cartoons that appeared throughout PM and especially in the editorial pages. These
cartoons were featured weekly, but often times multiple would be found within the same
newspaper. Seuss felt rather obligated to push his beliefs through his artistry because he was too
old to be drafted. He felt that he could not just sit back and do nothing, so he put his talent to
good use, before he realized there was another option (A+E Networks).
After he finished his political cartoon publications, he joined the army. Being too old to
fight, he was put into the Information and Education Division where he taught the soldiers what
not to do by negative example. He thrived in this field after producing the films, Your Job in
Germany, along with Design for Death. These videos helped the soldiers understand their job
and the importance of what they were doing for the United States and ultimately for democracy
(The National World War II Museum).
The whole point in this essay is to show how Dr. Seuss affected the American people.
The PM newspaper was one of five New York newspaper companies and they had about 15,000
daily subscribers as compared to the New York Times who had 500,000, and the Daily News who
had 2,000,000. Those statistics show that a lot of people were reading the newspaper that Seuss
was putting all his work into. He played a major role in promoting the efforts to go to war
because of how current all of his cartoons were. Every single week he would have a different
drawing to show America exactly what he thought of the current issues was. Also the people
who were reading the newspaper that he published in were probably doing it because of him. PM
cost five cents a copy as compared to the competitions two or three cent papers, which show
that if they were willing to pay more money for possibly the array of political cartoons that were
sure to fill the pages (Richard Minear).
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In conclusion, Dr. Seuss is definitely more than just a childrens author. He chose his
own path even as a young adult and stood up for what he believed in. He was never afraid to say
what he thought through his political cartoons. His morals guided him through his life and his
politics made him famous. Dr. Seuss has one of the most complete groups of WWII cartoons and
they are all truly his. His unique drawings and whimsical way of portraying characters helps the
person viewing the cartoon to really capture who he was and what he believed in. He helped
shape the American view of the war and ultimately dedicated a large portion of his life to the
United States cause.











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http://www.biography.com/people/dr-seuss-9479638 - biography.com A+E Networks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/dr-seuss-world-war-2-cartoons-
photos_n_1559760.html -Huffington Post
Dr. Seuss Goes to War
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-teachers/lesson-plans/pdfs/dr-
seuss-lesson-plan.pdf - Life after war