William Gropper created this series of drawings as illustrations for the satirical book The Illustrious Dunderheads (1942). Edited by Rex Stout and introduced by Frank Sullivan, the book is a political commentary on the perceived influence of Nazi propaganda on the United States Congress and a chronicle of the voting records of numerous congressmen in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor. Gropper's caustic drawings caricature Hitler, Mussolini, and certain U.S. senators Gropper believed to be influenced by Nazi propaganda.