If I Were 21 I'd Vote for Humphrey

White text on blue around the top, red and blue text on white in the center, and white text on red around the bottom

Hubert Humphrey ran as the Democratic nominee in the 1968 U.S. presidential campaign. At that time, the legal voting age across most U.S. states was 21, making youth-focused campaign slogans powerful tools to court younger adults. The phrase “If I were 21 I’d vote for Humphrey” reflects an appeal to young people who were not yet eligible to vote, suggesting that if they could vote, they would support Humphrey’s candidacy. This type of messaging was common in late-1960s campaign memorabilia aimed at building enthusiasm among younger populations, who may have been politically engaged but disenfranchised by age restrictions.
Importantly, this slogan was also used on official Humphrey campaign buttons produced during the 1968 election season.
The broader political climate provides strong context for why this button mattered; the Vietnam War was intensifying, and many young men under 21 were being drafted, fueling the popular refrain, “old enough to fight, old enough to vote.” By 1971, this pressure helped lead to the adoption of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Thus, this button can also be seen as part of the wider youth-voting rights movement during a pivotal moment in U.S. political history.