Comic predictions ring true
Updated on 21 June 2008
A futuristic Catholic comic strip from the 1960s shows Barack Obama isn't the first time America's hoped for a black president.
So you thought Barack Obama was the first black candidate to run for president; a groundbreaking event, something that marks a transformation of America's moral and political landscape.
But cast back to 1964 and a Catholic comic book for schoolchildren certainly not known for its liberal values.
Treasure Chest, produced by the church, was handed out to children in Catholic parochial schools across America from 1946 to 1972.
Most of the stories promoted themes like faith, family and patriotism. It even contained ads for organisations training kids to become missionaries and, in those McCarthyite times, anti communist messages galore.
"People in countries where religion is not practiced are a very sad people," it proclaimed. "Where there is God there is love and happiness."
But it seems there were some more radical political messages in the mix. Back in 1964 Treasure Chest ran a strip about some kids who campaigned for a presidential candidate called Governor Timothy Pettigrew.
It was set a few years in the future - the election of 1976 - and throughout the series, the identity of the candidate himself isn't revealed.
Only in the final episode - when he emerges victorious - does the comic reveal he's black, commenting: "And so this man Pettigrew became the first Negro candidate for the President of the United States. He then went out accross the land, this black man, to campaign for the highest office.
"Would he win? Well, the year was 1976. It was the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
"Could he win? Well, it would depend in part on how the boys and girls reading this comic grew up and voted ... it would depend on whether they believed and, indeed, lived those words in the declaration - All Men are Created Equal."
Intrigued? See the comic strip itself here.
