Hoover and Curtis

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This button is for the 1928 presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis. Incumbent president Calvin Coolidge chose not to run in 1928, and the Republican convention nominated Hoover and Curtis, though they had previously opposed each other for the presidential nomination. They faced Democrats Al Smith and Joseph Robinson in the general election. Both Hoover and Smith were isolationist, pro-business candidates. Hoover tentatively supported Prohibition, which had been in effect since 1920, but Smith favored its repeal. Many were also concerned that Smith, a Catholic, would be unduly influenced by the Pope. Hoover and Curtis won the election in a landslide, 444 electoral votes to 87.  

Hoover had previously served as Secretary of Commerce under presidents Warren G. Harding and Coolidge, while Curtis had been a U.S. Senator from Kansas and was Senate Majority Leader from 1925-1929. A member of the Kaw Nation, Curtis had also served Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives.