Shit Happened

Black and white photo of two men's heads (George Bush and Dan Quayle) on a blue background with white text

This button was made for the 1992 presidential election by opponents of President George Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. During George Bush's presidency Quayle was ridiculed for not being very smart because he contradicted himself and gave speeches that were sometimes unintelligible. Most famously Quayle encouraged a sixth grade student to spell potato with an e on the end. He said the card he was reading from was wrong, but news and talk-show hosts seized on his misspelling as a sign of stupidity. Bush was heavily criticized for choosing Quayle as a running mate and the choice was used to discredit his decision making ability. 

President Bush lost popularity during his term because there were economic problems, for which he was held responsible. In order to combat the budget deficit he broke his promise not to raise taxes, which made him even less popular. Bush also faced accusations of involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal and helping delay the release of hostages from Iran until after Reagan was elected. Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton.