Political cartoon from 1986, president reagan (u. s.) and premier mikhail gorbachev (u. s.s. r.) are engaged in an intense arm wrestling match. various symbols are used to explain what is happening. discuss three symbols and what message the artist was trying to convey by including three symbols in the cartoon.

Are you referring to the arm wrestiling cartoon. This was a very popular political cartoon of the 1950's. One symbol would be the form fitting flags on tthe arm wrestlers. The artist is trying convey that the leaders are fit and want their countries to be active and healthy. The 2nd symbol are the beedy eyes under Reagan's and Gorbechov's TV faces. The artist is trying to convey that there is a shadow government in each country that actually controls their actions.
The 3rd Symbol would be the smiling faces on the screens. The artist is trying to say that the leaders are trying to be friendly even with everything else going on.
I hope that helps and you like my answer so I can get addition points on the site.

This political cartoon shows the extreme battle between the United States and the Soviet Union.  In this battle, President Reagan and Premier Gorbachev would go to great lengths to win the fight.  As you can see they used a super secret formula much like the one that captain america used.  They became big and beefy and were going to fight to the death.  The second symbol is their big fight on tv for the whole world to see.  The third symbol is the lightning coming out of their fists of furry that symbolizes the epic fifty-foot battle that they would have all accross the globe.