South Vietnam’s reaction 

• 1968 
• Shevchik, John 
• Drawing 
• Historical item 

6090961

Drawings / paintings

South Vietnam’s reaction

33 x 27 cm

1968

Original editorial cartoon in ink on paper for the Beaver Falls News Tribune (Pa.), 1968, shows President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) as peace dove offering a ‘first step towards peace!’ at the ‘US and North Vietnam Paris talks’ and receiving an ‘icy’ stare from ‘Saigon’, which is clearly ‘cool to peace talks’. The first significant moves toward peace talks came in May 1968, with an informal meeting between US and North Vietnamese envoys in Paris. Each had demands of the other before any serious peace negotiations could commence: Hanoi wanted a halt to all American bombing missions over their country, while the Americans insisted on a de-escalation of Viet Cong activities in South Vietnam. Five months later, Johnson agreed to suspend all bombing runs over North Vietnamese territory, paving the way for formal peace negotiations. The Paris peace talks would continue for more than four years and were plagued with setbacks and breakdowns. Paper size 33 x 27 cm (13 x 11 inch), image size 28.5 x 24 cm, signed lower right, caption in pencil in upper border. Cartoon has been folded along the width at some time so there is a light crease, otherwise in good condition.