The media often used political cartoons to express dislike with political policies of the time period, and influenced political policy as a result of public disapproval.
In the illustration above, a general is whitewashing over a fence with "Truth About Vietnam" clearly written. The general seems to have a gleeful smile on his face, leading the viewer to believe that he, and in turn the united states government, enjoy hiding the truth, or painting over it in this case. This is a statement about the government misleading the public about Vietnam by american political leaders, such as when Lyndon B Johnson escalated involvement in Vietnam after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. LBJ continuously addresses the public saying the war is going well in Vietnam, while in fact that is not the case, one example being that Vietnam uses more funds and bombs than in all of World War 2. This policy of outright lying to the public was continued for the majority of LBJ's presidency, and the exposal of this policy led to him not running for re-election, changing the public's trust in their politicians.