On November 7 1944, Franklin D Roosevelt was elected President of the United States for a fourth term; the only person in US history to do so. Did the dynamic designs above have anything to do with his success at the polls?

'The Life of Franklin D Roosevelt' is a 16-page comic book created by the Office of War Information in 1943. A large number of these US government comics were developed, illustrated and published with the intention of educating citizens and military personnel. They aimed to reflect the life of American soldiers while deployed, and explain US foreign policy for specific actions and conflicts.

In the comic above Roosevelt is represented as personifying America - a persistent individual who is rugged, tough and dynamic. It depicts him playing football at Harvard, sailing the high seas, restoring American prosperity with giant public works projects, and his conduct during the first years of World War 2. However, some critics charged that the comic was simply election propaganda with no informational value to soldiers. Congressman John Taber argued that it was "purely political propaganda…designed entirely to promote a fourth term and dictatorship.”

Why is this comic at Archives New Zealand? A copy was collected by the New Zealand Army Archives Section during the Second World War, and sits alongside other short biographies in the Unit War Diaries, Unit Records and Supplementary Material collection: www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=18886

Archives Reference: WAII1 Box 292/ DA 406/384 www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=20110385

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