Paul Conrad, 86, three-time Pulitzer-winning cartoonist

LOS ANGELES - Paul Conrad, 86, a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and member of Richard M. Nixon's enemies list, died Saturday of natural causes at Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Mr. Conrad poked fun at politicians, taking on presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush. He worked in the heyday of political cartoonists, and he was among the elite. His three decades at the Los Angeles Times helped the newspaper raise its national profile.

He was fierce in his liberalism and expressed it with a stark, powerful visual style. Southern California political junkies for decades would start their day either outraged or delighted at a Conrad drawing. His favorite target was Nixon. At the time of the president's resignation, Mr. Conrad drew Nixon's helicopter leaving the White House with the caption: "One flew over the cuckoo's nest."

"He always said he was most proud of being on Nixon's enemies list," said his son David.

Mr. Conrad was also not fond of George W. Bush. One of Mr. Conrad's final images showed Bush as Sisyphus, rolling a huge boulder labeled "Iraq" up a hill.

Democratic politicians were not safe from his barbs either. After Jimmy Carter admitted that at times he had "lusted in his heart," Mr. Conrad drew him mentally undressing the Statue of Liberty.

Mr. Conrad served in the Pacific during World War II in the Army Corps of Engineers, then majored in art at the University of Iowa. His first job after college was at the Denver Post, where he worked for 14 years before moving to Los Angeles.

His drawings were anything but busy or complex. He rarely used dialogue and kept words to a minimum. As narrator in a PBS documentary on Mr. Conrad, Tom Brokaw said: "Every line he draws cries out to the powers that be, 'We're watching you.' "

- Associated Press