Fear and Loathing in Miami


OK, now I finally have the real RS 118; you can see RS 115 if you like. These are three drawings that did not appear in the book version of Campaign Trail. The article by HST this time is "Back to Miami: Thompson and Steadman Meet Nixon and the Sewer Workers".

Wrestling with 20 some year old paper is not easy, and I apologize for the crooked scans. They don't do Ralph justice, but the way the scanner and keyboard are set up, I would need to sprout a third and very long arm to get it right.


UNTITLED - Nixon Family - 47KB

This illustration features the photographic heads of the Nixon family while Ralph drew the bodies in. The caption reads:

The Nixon Family returning for the 1972 Republican Conv. at Miami Beach - Veterans of several campaigns.

UNTITLED - Four More Years - 35KB

This is just a bit of ink scribble that appears in several of the drawings; in the above one, it comes out of the musician's horn on the bottom, spilling out into the text. As you can see, someone's evil child played connect the dots with Ralph's ink blots. Hmmm. The age of the paper is reflected in the colour, although the scanner converted the other two to a newer paper colour.

UNTITLED - War Veterans - 76KB

At the Miami convention, Ron Kovic, who would later appear in "Ask A Marine" by David Harris, was one of a few war veterans who were able to meet with Richard Nixon while the others were either removed or prevented from seeing the President. As I recall, the meeting itself was not very long either. A rather shameful event; this picture is typical of ones that would later appear in Ralph's collection called America