pulitzer prize for his 1931 editorial cartoon, "a wise economist asks a question," and became known even before his death as the "dean of american cartoonists." the purdue university graduate moved to chicago, illinois, in 1890 to work as an artist and occasional writer for the "chicago morning news" (later named the "news record", the "chicago record", and the "record-herald"). his first front-page cartoon appeared in 1895 and his first published political cartoon was published during the u. s. presidential campaign of 1896. mccutcheon introduced human interest themes to newspaper cartoons in 1902 and joined the staff of the "chicago tribune" in 1903, remaining there until his retirement in 1946. mccutcheon's cartoons appeared on the front page of the "tribune" for forty years.