McGovern Eagleton '72

Lenticular button with alternating black and white photographs of McGovern and Eagleton on a white background with black text. 

After George McGovern won the Democratic nomination for president in 1972, nearly every single high-profile Democrat McGovern approached to be his running mate declined, including Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie, and Birch Baye. After refusing McGovern's offer to run on the ticket, Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested Tom Eagleton as his running mate. With little thought, nor any background check, McGovern chose Eagleton.

This led to a campaign shrouded in controversy. There were rumors that Eagleton supported multiple issues that were controversial at the time like abortion and the legalization of marijuana. It had also been revealed that Eagleton had a history of mental health issues which Richard Nixon, the leading Republican candidate, used in a smear campaign. McGovern dropped Eagleton from his campaign and replaced him with Sargent Shriver but his reputation was already severely damaged at that point. This is seen as one of the many reasons why Nixon won in 1972.