30 | OCTOBER 29 • 2020 

ance of information is done in 
the viewer’
s mind,
” Schwartz 
explained about the focus on 
images. “The expression of the 
artist speaks to the feeling the 
viewer gets when appreciat-
ing what the artist is trying to 
convey. Bush and Dukakis, for 

example, are shown in a pretty 
tough fight, and that conveys 
the spirit of the election.
”

CLASSIC BATTLES
Among the cartoons are those 
capturing Dwight Eisenhower 
versus Adlai Stevenson, 

Lyndon Johnson versus Barry 
Goldwater and Andrew Jackson 
versus John Quincy Adams. 
A favorite among many 
favorites in his collection pits 
Richard Nixon against John 
Kennedy in debate.
“I lived through that election 
as a little boy, and the Nixon era 
was impressionable,
” Schwartz 
explained. “The artist shows 
Kennedy at the lectern with 
Richard Nixon hanging upside 
down in a Dracula suit. Nixon 
[was seen] as evil because of 
the war and his engagement 
with Kent State. To see Nixon 
portrayed [this way] is a great 
joy to me.
”
While Schwartz commissions 
artists to depict particular elec-
tions, he gives them complete 
freedom in what they do. He 
also gives artistic liberty to 
the people who have designed 
complementary frames, John 
Rowland and Alex Rosenhaus. 
Adam Weiner, the website 
designer, drew the caricatures at 
the bottom of the website. 
Schwartz, a member of The 
Shul and a board member of 
Kadima and Friendship Circle, 
has tried his hand at artistic 

expression through abstract 
paintings. His wife, Robin, 
enjoys fashioning designs from 
recycled clothing. His three 
children, in their 20s, also have 
artistic hobbies — Jacob with 
drawing, Louis with clothing 
and Samantha with German 
expressionism.
Family art also has been 
framed for display.
“I want to engage people 
in taking an interest in gov-
ernment and in the election,
” 
Schwartz said. “I don’
t care what 
their perspectives are, and I 
don’
t care what their politics are. 
“I also think it’
s very import-
ant not to take everything so 
seriously. [We’
re in] such a divi-
sive time, which is not neces-
sarily beneficial to the country, 
but because of that, there are 
aspects of the election which 
will be commissioned by future 
artists to portray in a distorted, 
comedic way. 
“For the next presidential 
election, I will display my car-
toons in a gallery.
” 

To view the election cartoons, go to 

potustoons.com.

Roosevelt vs. Parker, 1904,

cartoon by Victor Juhasz

Jefferson vs. Adams, 1800,

cartoon by Victor Juhasz

Schwartz's gallery of POTUS cartoons.

continued from page 29

