1943.03.13 “No More Worries”
by Ralph Lee (1906-1947)
14.7 x 23.4 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection
Ralph Lee was an editorial cartoonist for the Portland Oregonian. He died suddenly, at 41, in January 1947. His cousin, Art Bimrose, was the editorial cartoonist for the Oregonian for more than three decades. In 1937, the Oregonian hired him part-time to work on printing plates. Following Lee’s death, Bimrose was hired as the Sunday editorial cartoonist.
The key reference is FDR’s January 11, 1943, State of the Union Address, where he laid out what later became known as the “Second Bill of Rights.” Among its promises, the right to security “from the cradle to the grave.”
That phrase was widely quoted, debated, praised, and attacked throughout February and early March 1943. By March 13, it had become familiar enough to be instantly recognizable, and controversial enough to invite satire.
Delivered in the middle of a firefight, it becomes grotesquely misplaced. And the title: “No More Worries” is pure irony. Talk of lifelong security rings hollow to someone who may not live through the next five minutes.
