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Story: Premiers and prime ministers

'Muldoon on Muldoon'

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'Muldoon on Muldoon'

In opposition, Robert Muldoon crafted a political bestseller, The rise and fall of a young Turk. As prime minister he churned out more books, although these ones, dictated during gaps in a busy life, were weaker efforts. In this 1977 cartoon Tom Scott shafts the prime minister's vanity, evident in self-important book titles such as Muldoon(1977) and, later, My way (1981).

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: H-725-003

by Tom Scott

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Gavin McLean, Premiers and prime ministers – Towards modern leadership, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/33201/muldoon-on-muldoon (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gavin McLean, published 7 May 2012, updated 1 December 2016.