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Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States who won his first term in 1980 with George Bush as his Vice President. He won 489 electoral votes against his opponent, Jimmy Carter. Before he was president, Reagan was governor of California and a well-known Hollywood actor with his most famous roll in Kings Row (1942). A few months into office there was an assassination attempt.

Reagan’s goal in office was to make the American people less reliant on the government. He cut funding and social services. He tried to stimulate the economy and lower the unemployment rate. He supported and expanded Medicare and social security. The term “Reaganomics” was coined during this time as he proposed the idea of trickle down economics. 

Reagan believed that negotiating with the Soviet Union was important to restore International relations and aid in peaceful negotiations. Reagan is known for the line, “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall,” in 1987 referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany. He wanted to stop the expansion of communism, so he pushed for more military spending and American influence. Reagan and Gorbachev would sign the Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty in 1987 which eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles from both sides. The Iran Hostage Crisis continued into the beginning of Reagan's presidency. After a long series of televised talks, weapons were exchanged for the hostages.

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Charles H. Percy was born September 27, 1919, in Pensacola, Florida. He was a senator for Illinois from 1967 to 1985 and he was the Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1964, but did not win. Percy was anti-isolationist and supported low-cost housing. Prior to his role in politics, Percy became the president of Bell & Howell, a firm in the film industry, in 1949 and expanded the firm to a multinational scale.

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Paul Simon was a native of Oregon who later became an Illinois citizen. He entered the political arena in 1954 by winning a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. In a surprising victory, Simon became a Senator in 1984. He defeated three-time incumbent, Charles Percy, in a narrow victory securing 50% of the vote. He had a failed presidential nomination in 1988.

Simon won re-election for the Senate in 1990 by defeating Lynn Martin. Simon won the election with 65% of the vote and had over 1 million more votes than Martin. This marks one of the largest margins of victory for any Senator.

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George McGovern was the Democratic nominee for the US Presidency in 1972, running against Nixon in his second term and ultimately losing in a landslide defeat in which he carried only Washington D.C. and Massachusetts. He entered the race as an underdog compared to Edmund Muskie, who most assumed would be the candidate. However, McGovern's progressive policies and promise to withdraw from Vietnam if elected made him a popular candidate with the youth vote and the women's and civil rights movements. McGovern suffered from a divided party, with many more modern Democrats publicly siding with Nixon. In the end, the McGovern campaign took 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520. However, the Washington Post later broke the news that Nixon had conspired in a break-in to the DNC headquarters and a subsequent coverup that resulted in his resignation just two years later.

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Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson with running mate Hubert Humphrey successfully won the 1964 election against Republican candidate Barry Goldwater. The election is one of the most lopsided in history, with Johnson winning 44 states and receiving 15 million more votes. Johnson, as then Vice President, had assumed office in 1963 after John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated.

Kennedy was one of the most popular politicians in the nation who had his support trickle down to Johnson by association. Johnson advocated for more social welfare reminiscent of the 1930's under Franklin Roosevelt. After winning the election, Johnson did just that by instituting Medicare, Medicaid, and starting a fight against poverty.

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District 63B comprises parts of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Hennepin County. John Drew was an Independent candidate, although he held several Republican ideals and was endorsed by the party. He served in several legislative sessions from 1979 to 1982. He ran for a position as a State Representative in 1982, but lost to Dick Cohen. The election was notable for Drew losing by a mere 14 votes causing a recount to be needed. The recount only confirmed his loss. He tried to enter politics once more in 1986 for Minnesota Treasurer, but lost that election as well.

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James “Big Jim” Thompson was the longest-serving governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991. He reintroduced the death penalty to Illinois during his first year and became known for being tough on crime. He did not show much support for education or human services. “He was national co-chair of the Campaign to Protect Our Children in 1986 and a member of the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality from 1987 to 1988. He also served as vice-chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.” He did support construction. Thompson wanted to build the area up and approved of the Art-in-Architecture Program. His image was a casual one. He traveled and met constituents in casual clothes. 

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Herb Caen, often referred to as "Mr. San Francisco" was a beloved author and daily columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle for almost 60 years until his death in 1997. His columns combined news, gossip, word play, and love for the city of San Francisco, making him a household name in the Bay Area. In 1996, Caen won a special Pulitzer prize for his ''continuing contribution as a voice and a conscience of his city.” Herb Caen never ran for president.

The San Francisco Chronicle issued this joke promotional button for the Democratic Convention that was held in San Francisco in 1984. Even though Caen never ran, his influence is still eminent as the Chronicle still periodically reprints his columns.

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Henry Ross Perot was an American businessman and philanthropist who ran as an independent candidate for the office of U.S. President in 1992 and 1996. Perot ran a nontraditional campaign, focusing on 30-minute infomercial-style advertisements. Spending around $65 million of his personal fortune, Perot won 19 percent of the popular vote in the November '92 election. Perot went on to found the Reform Party in 1995, faced off against Clinton for the presidency again in 1996, and published Ross Perot: My Life & The Principles for Success to support his platform. Perot died in July, 2019.