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Biography Bill Mauldin was born in New Mexico in 1921. Mauldin decided he wanted to become a professional cartoonist while he was still in his teens. After graduating from High School he attended the Academy of Fine Art in Chicago. He joined the U.S. Army in 1940 and began producing cartoons for the 45th News Division. In 1943 he took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. The following year he became a full-time cartoonist for the Stars and Stripes. His cartoons often featured 2 infantrymen, Willie and Joe. After Ernie Pyle, America's most popular journalist in WWII, wrote an article about Mauldin's work he was picked up by United Feature Syndicate in 1944, and his cartoons began appearing in newspapers all over the United States. He later recalled that: "I drew pictures for and about the soldiers because I knew what their life was like and I understood their gripes. I wanted to make something out of the humorous situations which come up even when you don't think life could be any more miserable." Mauldin's cartoons often reflected the anti-authoritarian views and this got him in trouble with some of the senior officers. In 1945, General George S. Patton wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes and threatened to ban the newspaper from his 3rd Army if it didn't stop carrying "Mauldin's scurrilous attempts to undermine military discipline." General Dwight D. Eisenhower did not agree and feared any attempt at censorship would undermine Army morale. He therefore arranged a meeting between Mauldin and Patton. Mauldin went to see Patton in March of 1945 where he had to endure a long lecture on the danger of producing "anti-officer cartoons". Mauldin responded by arguing that the soldiers had legitimate grievances that needed to be addressed. Will Lang, a reporter with Time Magazine, heard about the meeting and questioned Mauldin about what happened. Mauldin replied, "I came out with my hide on. We parted friends, but I don't think we changed each other's minds." When the comment appeared in Time Magazine George Patton was furious and commented that if he came to see him again he'd throw him in jail. In 1945, Mauldin's cartoons on the Second World War earned him the Pulitzer Prize. The citation read: "For distinguished service as a cartoonist, as exemplified by the series entitled 'Up Front With Mauldin'." Mauldin, the youngest person to be awarded the prize, was now one of the best-known cartoonists in the United States. His book, "Bill Mauldin's Army" was published in 1951. As a member of the United Feature Syndicate, Mauldin's cartoons attacking racism, the Ku Klux Klan, and McCarthyism appeared in newspapers all over the U.S. Mauldin's cartoons were unpopular with newspapers in small towns and he had difficulty getting them published. Disillusioned, Mauldin gave up cartooning. He returned in 1958 when he replaced the retiring Bill Fitzpatrick at the St. Louis-Post Dispatch. The newspaper was willing to publish his strong views on racism. In 1959 he won another Pulitzer Prize for his cartoon: I won the Nobel Prize for literature, what was your crime? In 1962 Mauldin moved to the Chicago Sun-Times where he worked with another radical cartoonist, Jacob Burck. His drawing of a crying Abraham Lincoln on the death of John F. Kennedy, became one of the most famous cartoons in American history. During his career Mauldin wrote and illustrated more than 12 books. This included "Up Front" (1945), "Back Home" (1947), "Mud and Guts" (1978), "Hurray for B.C." (1979), "Bill Mauldin's Army" (1983), and "Let's Declare Ourselves Winners and Get The Hell Out" (1985) Sadly, Bill Mauldin died of respiratory failure at a nursing home in Newport Beach, CA., on January 22, 2003.
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