His work and actions received criticism. In 1940 the cartoonist and several other Post Dispatch staff members were cited with contempt of court because they criticized the dismissal of an extortion suit against a state representative. Fitzpatrick received a ten-day sentence and a $100 fine.[2]
During his lifetime, Fitzpatrick saw cartoons exhibited at the St. Louis Art Museum as well as the Moscow Museum of Modern Western Painting. In the spring of 1941 the New York City's Associated American Artists Gallery held its second exhibition of Fitzpatrick's cartoons.[2]
Washington University in St. Louis, presented Fitzpatrick the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in 1949.[2]
Daniel Robert Fitzpatrick died on May 18, 1969.
1926; 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, for his cartoon "The Laws of Moses and the Laws of Today" in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on April 12, 1926, (the cartoon is known for representing disapproval of the rapid increase of laws and legislation compared to the few laws enacted by Moses); in 1955, for his June 8, 1954 cartoon "How Would Another Mistake Help?" It would not. This particular cartoon was about the French and possible U.S. involvement in Indochina.[2]
1958 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism [5]