Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1995 Edition

It is a historical and political look at the year, a gauge of public opinion, a wealth of humor, and a perspective on the issues that may have been overlooked. In Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1995 Edition, the most newsworthy events of 1994 are lampooned or championed by the best cartoonists across the U.S. and Canada.

Among other things, this year's edition covers the Clinton Health Care Reform Bill, the O. J. Simpson murder trial, and the United States' involvement in Haiti.

President Clinton's health care reform received mixed reviews. Many feared this bill would open the floodgates to too much governmental control and limit the freedom to choose the best health care possible. Others saw Clinton as health care's knight in shining armor, waging a war for those without health insurance. But weighing in at almost one-seventh of the total budget, the bill had little chance of getting through Congress.

Cartoonists' reactions ran the gamut from somber to satirical concerning the O. J. Simpson trial. The fact that this event got round-the-clock coverage was of interest, as was the search for unbiased jurors.

Although American involvement in Haiti resulted in some bloodshed, Jimmy Carter's emissarial influence helped reinstate a semblance of representative government in this torn nation.

The year had its ups and downs, its expected turns as well as surprises. The twenty-third installment in the series, this collection of the funniest and most memorable cartoons may make you laugh or make you sad but will always make you think.

In addition to his lifetime of work as an editorial cartoonist, Charles Brooks has had another rewarding long-time career: that of editor of Pelican's Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year Series. This landmark series, begun in 1972, showcases the work of editorial cartoonists from the United States and Canada.  Throughout his life, Brooks has not only seen history unfold before his eyes, but he also has recorded it for posterity in his cartoons. So, too, do the editorial cartoonists that he chooses to appear in each edition of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year. The cartoons, inevitably more famous than the cartoonists themselves, become a part of the history that they capture.  Charles Brooks is past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and was a cartoonist for the Birmingham (Ala.) News for thirty-eight years. He has been the recipient of thirteen Freedom Foundation awards, a national VFW award, two Vigilante Patriot awards, and a Sigma Delta Chi award for editorial cartooning.  Brooks' cartoons appear in more than eighty books, including textbooks on political science, economics, and history, as well as encyclopedias and yearbooks. His original cartoons are on display in the archives of many libraries.