Gustav Michalon
Pogo Possum
Occupation: Swamp-dwelling philosopher
Election years: 1952 and later
Economic platform: Unknown (When asked by another character if he had any planks, he offered boards from his porch.)
Star of a sophisticated, Cold War-era newspaper strip bearing his name, Pogo was first put forward as a presidential candidate in 1952. His candidacy proved especially popular on college campuses, with Pogo for President rallies at Harvard, Cornell, MIT, Rice, UCLA, and at least a dozen other schools. Harvard’s rally got a bit out of hand—characterized in news accounts as “a bottle and beer can brawl with club-swinging police” that ended in the arrests of 28 students. Though Pogo would lose to Dwight Eisenhower that year, his name continued to be floated for higher office long after the demise of his comic in 1975. Today he may be best known for the saying, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” See also: Fuel price.
