Jon Kennedy

Jon Kennedy served as a political cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat from 1941 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1988. Kennedy's cartoons highlighted Arkansas and world topics, won numerous awards, and were featured in national newspapers including the New York Times.

Jon Kennedy was born on August 19, 1918, in Springfield, Missouri. He attended school at Southwest Missouri State in Springfield. In August 1941, Kennedy began working for the Arkansas Democrat. He was hired to work as an editorial cartoonist and assist with layouts using an in-house engraving plant.

After two years with the Arkansas Democrat, Kennedy left the paper to enlist in the army during World War II. He was classified as an artist and created cartoons for camp training posters and camp newspapers. Kennedy was discharged in April 1946 and returned to the Democrat. He retired on September 16, 1988.

In his over five decades of cartooning, Kennedy won many awards, including Arkansas Journalist of the Year in 1988. Kennedy became a charter member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists in 1957. By 2014, Kennedy’s political cartoons were in the collection of seven presidential libraries.

He died on October 10, 2014.