Carter Sad Face

Illustration of "sad face" with black text along upper edge or button on a yellow background.

Entering into the 1980 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter struggled to gain support from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, due in large part to Ted Kennedy running against him. Though he eventually secured the candidacy, he was unable to match his opposition Ronald Reagan's promise of a reinvigorated economy and tax cuts. Reagan took 44 of the 50 states, with Carter winning only his home state of Georgia, his Vice President's state (Minnesota) and four others. The sad face buttons were produced by Reagan's campaign to express the general dissatisfaction America felt with Carter's first term, contrasting with smiley buttons bearing Reagan's name. Carter was the first incumbent president to lose since Hoover in 1932, and the first Democrat to serve only one term since Buchanan in 1857.