Office of the President falls from founding father to convicted felon

When a New York jury convicted* former US president Donald Trump last week, on all 34 charges of falsifying business records, he became the first president to be convicted of a felony* and faces the possibility of being sent to prison. He says he will appeal the decision after he is sentenced in July.

Trump is a self-propelled news-making machine and the US court’s decision put him back on front pages around the world and in political cartoons as well. It is an election year in the US and Mr Trump is the hot favourite to win a second (though not consecutive*) term in the White House. But we could see him serve that term not in the oval office but in a small rectangular room with concrete walls and bars on the window, if the judge imposes a custodial sentence*. Most likely he will be put on probation*.

But what great fodder* for a cartoon, a presidential felon! But I didn’t have to draw the cartoon when the jury brought down its decision, because I had already drawn it nine months earlier when the court case was first announced.

I remember at the time thinking about the possibility of Donald Trump being found guilty and my cartoonist’s mind immediately went back to all those famous presidential portraits I had seen hanging in the White House: George Washington*, Abraham Lincoln*, Harry Truman*, Ronald Reagan* – towering figures in US politics and leaders who had changed the course of history.

I wondered what President Trump’s portrait might look like after being found guilty of a crime? So I sketched a wall in the oval office, and hanging there were the four portraits of those giant presidential figures, but above the fireplace and centrestage would be President Trump’s portrait. How would I make a political comment in the painting? How would I portray President Trump to illustrate his historical moment in being the first president convicted of a felony?

In the end, the image of Trump in the painting was easy. I decided on drawing his mugshot when he was charged with the offences. It is a picture that we were all familiar with from the news. The inscription on the gilt* frame (no, not guilt frame) was his inmate number when he was charged. I added the orange jumpsuit for effect. The cartoon is an example of compare and contrast.

And so nine months after drawing the cartoon of a guilty Mr Trump, the event did come to pass. Just call me Nostradamus* …

POLL

GLOSSARY

• convicted: having officially been found guilty of a crime in a law court
• felony: a serious crime that can be punished by more than one year in prison
• consecutive: happening one after the other without interruption
• custodial sentence: a term of imprisonment
• probation: period of time in which an offender is supervised, must behave and not commit any further crimes
• fodder: information or ideas thought to be in large supply, also food given to animals
• George Washington: first president of the United States, a founding father of the American republic (22 February, 1732 – December 14, 1799)
• Abraham Lincoln: 16th president of the US, known for leading the nation during the Civil War (12 February, 1809 – assassinated 15 April, 1865)
• Harry Truman: 33rd president United States (8 May, 1884 – 26 December, 1972)
• Ronald Reagan: 40th president of the United States (6 February, 1911 – 5 June, 2004)
• Nostradamus: French physician and astrologer whose prophecies made him famous (14 December, 1503 – 2 July, 1566)

EXTRA READING

Guilty: Can Donald Trump still run?

Don trumps Swift’s Super Tuesday

Trump’s golden sneakers sell out

QUICK QUIZ

1. What was the crime Donald Trump convicted of?
2. Trump became the first US president in history to be what?
3. Which presidential portraits did Mark Knight see hanging in the White House?
4. What put Trump back on the front page around the world?
5. How long ago did Mark Knight first draw the cartoon?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
What happens next?
Imagine this story is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part One. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the other presidents portrayed in the cartoon. Think what would be their response would be to a convicted criminal becoming the next president.

Write or draw your response below.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Describe it
Look at the cartoon and make a list of five nouns that you see. Then describe those five nouns with five adjectives. Now add a preposition to those five nouns and adjectives.

Finally, choose your favourite bundle and put all the words together to make one descriptive sentence.

(For lower reading level articles, remove “add a preposition”)