This cartoon makes mocking use of the saying “Lafayette, we are here!” to argue for American intervention in World War II. The cartoonist Clifford Berryman was fond of the phrase and used it in several cartoons. The phrase is often associated with General John J. Pershing and the arrival of American forces in France during World War I, although it actually originated in a speech by his aide, Colonel C. E. Stanton, at Lafayette’s tomb on July 4th, 1917.
Published on the eve of Germany’s invasion of France, the cartoon shows a seated Uncle Sam in the center of America, safely behind a border wall and surrounded by weapons and planes. Three days earlier, German forces had gained access to the English Channel and split the Allied forces, leaving French and British troops trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. Berryman depicts American isolationism as a betrayal of France. By referring to the popular memory of America’s aid to France in 1917, Berryman argues that the United States should rescue France and honor its responsibility to its oldest ally.
This cartoon was drawn by Clifford Berryman, one of Washington, DC’s best-known cartoonists in the early to mid-1900s. Berryman drew for the Washington Post and Evening Star newspapers. His cartoons touched on a variety of subjects including politics, elections, and both World Wars.
This cartoon is featured in America and the World: Foreign Affairs in Political Cartoons, 1898–1940, a free PDF book from the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives.
