White text on an upper blue edge, red and blue text on a white background

Cook County is located in Northern Illinois and includes Chicago and a number of suburbs in the area. The Cook County Democratic Party comprises 50 wards and 30 suburban Illinois townships. The 1940 chairman of the Cook County Democrats, Patrick A. Nash, along with Chicago mayor Edward J. Nash, were staunch supporters of Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated for a third term at the Democratic National Convention at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, on July 18, 1940.

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Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. Nixon won reelection in 1972 against Democratic nominee, George McGovern, by one of the largest landslide victories in history. He also served as vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his time in office, Nixon ended the US involvement in the Vietnam War and ended the military draft in 1973. He also fostered diplomatic relations with China and the Soviet Union, including after the US space mission, Apollo 11, which ended the space race. 

To this day, Nixon is the only US president to resign from office. His resignation was instigated in the early 1970s by the Watergate scandal which covered a break-in to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters and the coverup afterwards by Nixon's administration. Nixon left office in August 1974 once it was clear that congress meant to impeach him from office. He died in 1994 after suffering from a stroke. 

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Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential re-election campaign used "Nixon Now" as its slogan and as a campaign song. Nixon won the election but was soon met with political conflict. Allegations were made and evidence was presented of his involvement in the break-ins at the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel. Nixon fought against the release of taped evidence, which lead the House of Representatives to begin impeachment charges against him. He was the only President to resign, which was a result of the Watergate.

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Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were presidential running mates representing the Republican Party in the 1968 and 1972 general U.S. elections. Richard Nixon served as President from 1969 until he resigned in 1974 before facing impeachment and removal from office after the Watergate scandal. Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President in 1973 after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Nixon was the first President to resign from the position and Agnew was the second Vice President to resign from office after John C. Calhoun in 1932.

Two black and white photographs of men's head and shoulders inside white ovals with black text underneath on an illustration of an American flag

This jugate (double portrait) button shows William McKinley on the left and John Riley Tanner on the right. 1896 was an election year, and both men were Republicans running for office. 

McKinley was the Governor of Ohio, and he was running for president. He conducted an unusual front porch campaign where he did not travel but the invited the world to his front porch in Canton, OH where he was available to the public Monday through Saturday. Tanner was running for governor of Illinois. Both won their respective elections: McKinley became the 25th President of the United States, and Tanner became the 21st Governor of the State of Illinois. Both men were in office from 1897-1901.

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George H. Lyle ran for mayor of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, in 1942 and promoted his campaign using buttons like the one seen here. 

McKeesport is located in southwestern Pennsylvania at the junction of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers, 14 miles south of Pittsburgh. During the 19th century, it became a part of the Pittsburgh industrial complex. The city's first steel mill was established in 1851, and in 1872, the National Tube Company opened and became part of U.S. Steel. The demand for jobs was high, and according to U.S. Census data, McKeesport was the fastest-growing municipality in the country at the time. 

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John F. Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States. He took office in January 1961 and was president until his assassination in November 1963. He was in office during the Cold War and much of his foreign policy dealt with managing US relations with the Soviet Union. Kennedy's domestic policy efforts included fighting for civil rights, increasing funding for education, increasing healthcare services for the elderly, and providing economic aid to rural regions. Before his presidential election, Kennedy served in World War II and represented Massachusetts in the House and Senate.

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Chicago native Michael Howlett was a Democratic politician who was elected to office several times in the state of Illinois. In his 1976 campaign for governor of Illinois, he beat the sitting governor Dan Walker for the Democratic nomination but ultimately lost the election to Republican James Thompson. Howlett served as Illinois secretary of state for most of the 1970s. He was also a WWII veteran, serving in the US Navy.   

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Blue and white image of Roosevelt on a blue background with a lighter blue outer edge with white text

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) served as the 32nd president of the United States. He won his first presidential election in 1932 and was reelected in 1936, 1940, and 1944. He died 11 weeks into his fourth term in 1945 after battling a sever illness for over 20 years that had left him unable to walk. He is known for his "Fireside Chats" in which he addressed the nation over the radio, but he was also the first president to appear on television.

Roosevelt began his presidency during the Great Depression and initiated the New Deal within his first 100 days. Domestically he also ended prohibition and established Social Security. By 1940, he was leading the US through World War II after Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.