Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning

The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartoon is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1922 for a distinguished editorial cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect.

Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

Winners and citations

In its first 92 years to 2013, the Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer was awarded 87 times; none was given in five years and it was never split. Many cartoonists won it more than once (below).

• 1922: Rollin Kirby, New York World, "for 'On the Road to Moscow'"
• 1923: no award given
• 1924: Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, Des Moines Register and Tribune, "for 'In Good Old USA'"
• 1925: Rollin Kirby, New York World, "for 'News from the Outside World'"
• 1926: D. R. Fitzpatrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "for 'The Laws of Moses and the Laws of Today'"
• 1927: Nelson Harding, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "for 'Toppling the Idol'"
• 1928: Nelson Harding, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "for 'May His Shadow Never Grow Less'"
• 1929: Rollin Kirby, New York World, "for 'Tammany'"
• 1930: Charles R. Macauley, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "for 'Paying for a Dead Horse'"
• 1931: Edmund Duffy, The Baltimore Sun, "for 'An Old Struggle Still Going On'"
• 1932: John T. McCutcheon, Chicago Tribune, "for 'A Wise Economist Asks a Question'"
• 1933: H. M. Talburt, The Washington Daily News, "for 'The Light of Asia'"
• 1934: Edmund Duffy, The Baltimore Sun, "for 'California Points with Pride!'"
• 1935: Ross A. Lewis, Milwaukee Journal, "for 'Sure, I'll Work for Both Sides'"
• 1936: no award given
• 1937: C. D. Batchelor, New York Daily News, "for 'Come on in, I'll treat you right. I used to know your Daddy'"
• 1938: Vaughn Shoemaker, Chicago Daily News, "for 'The Road Back'"
• 1939: Charles Werner, The Daily Oklahoman, "for 'Nomination for 1938'"
• 1940: Edmund Duffy, The Baltimore Sun, "for 'The Outstretched Hand'"
• 1941: Jacob Burck, Chicago Daily Times, "for 'If I Should Die Before I Wake'"
• 1942: Herbert Lawrence Block (Herblock), Newspaper Enterprise Association, "for 'British Plane'"
• 1943: Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, Des Moines Register and Tribune, "for 'What a Place For a Waste Paper Salvage Campaign'"
• 1944: Clifford K. Berryman, Evening Star (Washington D.C.), "for 'Where Is the Boat Going?'"
• 1945: Sergeant Bill Mauldin, United Features Syndicate, "for distinguished service as a cartoonist, as exemplified by the cartoon entitled, 'Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, battle-weary prisoners', in the series entitled, 'Up Front With Mauldin'"
• 1946: Bruce Alexander Russell, Los Angeles Times, "for 'Time to Bridge That Gulch'"
• 1947: Vaughn Shoemaker, Chicago Daily News, "for his cartoon, 'Still Racing His Shadow'"
• 1948: Reuben L. Goldberg, New York Sun, "for 'Peace Today'"
• 1949: Lute Pease, Newark Evening News, "for 'Who Me?'"
• 1950: James T. Berryman, Evening Star (Washington D.C.), "for 'All Set for a Super-Secret Session in Washington'"
• 1951: Reg (Reginald W.) Manning, Arizona Republic, "for 'Hats'"
• 1952: Fred L. Packer, New York Mirror, "for 'Your Editors Ought to Have More Sense Than to Print What I Say!'"
• 1953: Edward D. Kuekes, The Plain Dealer, "for 'Aftermath'"
• 1954: Herbert Lawrence Block (Herblock), The Washington Post & Times-Herald, "for a cartoon depicting the robed figure of Death saying to Stalin after he died, 'You Were Always A Great Friend of Mine, Joseph'"
• 1955: Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "for a cartoon published on June 8, 1954 entitled, 'How Would Another Mistake Help?' showing Uncle Sam, bayoneted rifle in hand, pondering whether to wade into a black marsh bearing the legend 'French Mistakes in Indo-China'. The award is also given for distinguished body of the work of Mr. Fitzpatrick in both 1954 and his entire career."
• 1956: Robert York, Louisville Times, "for his cartoon, 'Achilles' showing a bulging figure of American prosperity tapering to a weak heel labeled 'Farm Prices'"
• 1957: Tom Little, Nashville Tennessean, "for 'Wonder Why My Parents Didn't Give Me Salk Shots?' published on January 12, 1956"
• 1958: Bruce Shanks, Buffalo Evening News, "for 'The Thinker', published on August 10, 1957, depicting the dilemma of union membership when confronted by racketeering leaders in some labor unions"
• 1959: William H. (Bill) Mauldin, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "for 'I won the Nobel Prize for Literature. What was your crime?' published on October 30, 1958"
• 1960: no award given
• 1961: Carey Orr, Chicago Tribune, "for 'The Kindly Tiger', published on October 8, 1960"
• 1962: Edmund S. Valtman, Hartford Times, "for 'What You Need, Man, Is a Revolution Like Mine', published on August 31, 1961"
• 1963: Frank Miller, Des Moines Register, "for a cartoon which showed a world destroyed with one ragged figure calling to another: 'I said we sure settled that dispute, didn't we!'"
• 1964: Paul Conrad, The Denver Post, "for his editorial cartooning during the past year"
• 1965: no award given
• 1966: Don Wright, The Miami News, "for 'You Mean You Were Bluffing?'"
• 1967: Patrick B. Oliphant, The Denver Post, "for 'They Won't Get Us To The Conference Table ... Will They?' published February 1, 1966"
• 1968: Eugene Gray Payne, Charlotte Observer, "for his editorial cartooning in 1967"
• 1969: John Fischetti, Chicago Daily News, "for his editorial cartooning in 1968"
• 1970: Thomas F. Darcy, Newsday, "for his editorial cartooning during 1969"
• 1971: Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times "for his editorial cartooning during 1970"
• 1972: Jeff MacNelly, Richmond News-Leader "for his editorial cartooning during 1971"
• 1973: no award given
• 1974: Paul Szep, The Boston Globe "for his editorial cartooning during 1973"
• 1975: Garry Trudeau, Universal Press Syndicate, "for his cartoon strip Doonesbury"
• 1976: Tony Auth, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "for 'O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain', published on July 22, 1975"
• 1977: Paul Szep, The Boston Globe
• 1978: Jeff MacNelly, Richmond News Leader
• 1979: Herbert Lawrence Block, The Washington Post, "for the body of his work"
• 1980: Don Wright, The Miami News
• 1981: Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
• 1982: Ben Sargent, Austin American-Statesman
• 1983: Richard Locher, Chicago Tribune
• 1984: Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times
• 1985: Jeff MacNelly, Chicago Tribune
• 1986: Jules Feiffer, The Village Voice
• 1987: Berke Breathed, Washington Post Writers Group
• 1988: Doug Marlette, Atlanta Constitution and Charlotte Observer
• 1989: Jack Higgins, Chicago Sun-Times
• 1990: Tom Toles, The Buffalo News, "for his work during the year as exemplified by the cartoon 'First Amendment'"
• 1991: Jim Borgman, Cincinnati Enquirer
• 1992: Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
• 1993: Stephen R. Benson, Arizona Republic
• 1994: Michael Ramirez, The Commercial Appeal, "for his trenchant cartoons on contemporary issues"
• 1995: Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Constitution
• 1996: Jim Morin, The Miami Herald
• 1997: Walt Handelsman, Times-Picayune
• 1998: Stephen P. Breen, Asbury Park Press
• 1999: David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• 2000: Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader
• 2001: Ann Telnaes, Los Angeles Times Syndicate
• 2002: Clay Bennett, Christian Science Monitor
• 2003: David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "for his perceptive cartoons executed with a distinctive style and sense of humor"
• 2004: Matt Davies, Journal News (White Plains, New York), "for his piercing cartoons on an array of topics, drawn with a fresh, original style"
• 2005: Nick Anderson, Courier-Journal, Louisville, "for his unusual graphic style that produced extraordinarily thoughtful and powerful messages"
• 2006: Mike Luckovich of Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "for his powerful cartoons on an array of issues, drawn with a simple but piercing style"
• 2007: Walt Handelsman of Newsday, "for his stark, sophisticated cartoons and his impressive use of zany animation"
• 2008: Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily, for "his provocative cartoons that rely on originality, humor and detailed artistry"
• 2009: Stephen P. Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune, "for his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor"
• 2010: Mark Fiore of SFGate.com, for "his animated cartoons [...] where his biting wit, extensive research and ability to distill complex issues set a high standard for an emerging form of commentary"
• 2011: Mike Keefe of The Denver Post, "for his widely ranging cartoons that employ a loose, expressive style to send strong, witty messages"
• 2012: Matt Wuerker of Politico, "for his consistently fresh, funny cartoons, especially memorable for lampooning the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington"
• 2013: Steve Sack of Star Tribune, "for his diverse collection of cartoons, using an original style and clever ideas to drive home his unmistakable point of view"
• 2014: Kevin Siers of The Charlotte Observer, "for his thought provoking cartoons drawn with a sharp wit and bold artistic style"
• 2015: Adam Zyglis of The Buffalo News "who used strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in a few words."

Repeat winners

Through 2013, seventeen people have won the Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer twice and five of them have won it three times.

• 1922, 25, 29, Rollin Kirby
• 1931, 34, 40, Edmund Duffy
• 1942, 54, 79, Herblock
• 1964, 71, 84, Paul Conrad
• 1972, 78, 85, Jeff MacNelly

The other repeat winners are Steve Breen, Jay N. "Ding" Darling, Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, Walt Handelsman, Nelson Harding, David Horsey, Mike Luckovich, Bill Mauldin, Michael Ramirez, Vaughn Shoemaker, Paul Szep, and Don Wright.

Nelson Harding won the prize consecutively in 1927 and 1928.

Further Reading

This book chronologically states the awards, displays the artwork, and then describes the cartoon: