The Start of Jimmy Peanuts Waterloo

Illustration of a peanut dressed to resemble Napoleon with brown text on top and green text on the bottom.

This button depicts a caricature of Jimmy Carter as a peanut dressed to resemble Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of France. Prior to his career in politics, President Carter and his family famously had a peanut-growing business. As a result, numerous illustrations portraying Carter as a peanut have been used in both positive and negative ways throughout his political career. Furthermore, the comparison to Napoleon and the mention of Waterloo is in reference to the Battle of Waterloo, which saw Napoleon and his forces lose to British and Prussian forces, ending his reign and domination over Europe. In the aftermath of the battle, Napoleon abdicated the throne and was later forced into exile. For the 1980 U.S. election, Republican opponents of Carter used the comparison to Napoleon to illustrate their desire to see Carted leave the presidency in favor of their candidate, Ronald Reagan.​