Image of Archie Bunker with a cigar in his mouth on a white background.  Blue and red text and 5-pointed stars around edge of button.

In 1972, a spoof presidential campaign was launched featuring television character Archie Bunker from the show All in the Family, and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place. A series of buttons, including the one shown here, was released by Tandem Productions and featured Archie and Edith Bunker as well as mock campaign slogans. 

Center image of the fictional character, Archie Bunker against a white background with with blue text on top and red text on the bottom

Archie Bunker is a fictional character who appeared in the 1970s American sitcom All in the Family as well as its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place. Portrayed by actor. Caroll O'Connor, the character of Archie Bunker is a World War II veteran, blue-collar, conservative, whose political and social bigotry were used as a source of comedy. Though Archie exhibited a gruff and mean demeanor throughout the shows run, the character also exhibited moments of decency and genuine love for his family, making the character popular with the audience. Seen as exhibiting the traits of the common man, a parody election campaign featuring Archie gained popularity during the 1972 election. T-shirts, bumper stickers, and buttons advocating Archie for President became a popular trend at the time.

Pink background with an illustration of three oil containers with a picture of a skull and crossbones on the middle can which also has oil spilling out from its side. Text appears on top and bottom of illustration

In January 1991, dual marches took place in Washington where protestors came together to voice their displeasure with the United States role in the Gulf War. The first protest was held on January 19 with an estimated 25,000 people in attendance while the second protest held on the 26t is estimated to have had 75,000 protesters . The numbers for the January 26 protest are debated, with some organizers believing the number to be closer to 225,000. The protest came days after the commencement of Operation Desert Storm. Serving as a response against Iraq's invasion and annexation of its neighbor, Kuwait, the United States, in coalition with 35 fellow nations launched a counter offensive against Iraq. The protests in Washington argued that war was not in the best interests of the United States and that rather, the conflict should end in a cease-fire as opposed to an all out war. The war on the ground continued until February 24, where Iraqi resistance nearing its collapse caused for President George H.W. Bush declaring a ceasefire, thus ending the Persian Gulf War.

Illustration of two clasped hands against a red half circle.  Red, blue and white text on a white background.

The Solidarity Day march took place on September 19, 1981, when nearly 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. The march primarily took place to protest then President Ronald Reagan firing 12,000 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. Nonprofit organizations such as Greenpeace and the NAACP participated to show support for organized laborers. This button would have been worn by a member of the Machinists Union who marched in support. 

White background with a peanut in its shell in the center. Green text above, tan text inside the peanut.

Plains, Georgia, with a population of about 700 people is located in the southwestern region of the state surrounded by peanut fields. Prior to the Great Depression Plains was a bustling town, but the economic downturn caused the small town's prosperity to take a dive. The 1976 presidential election and years following it reawakened Plains as thousands of people visited the community to see the hometown of the 39th United States President Jimmy Carter. The town now hosts the annual Plains Peanut Festival, which attracts visitors from around the world. The event includes a parade and educational exhibits about the area’s agriculture. 

Illustrated silhouette of Albany, New York's skyline on a blue background with white text.  Upper edge of button is grey with black text.  Lower portion of button is black with red shape of New York state and white text.

In 2000 the Democratic Convention was held at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York. It was there that Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination for US senate. She attended the convention with her husband, Bill Clinton, who was the president of the United States at that time. 

"History in the making" was the slogan for Clinton's campaign as she took on the challenge of the US Senate after being first lady of the United Sates for eight years.

Illustration of "sad face" with black text along upper edge or button on a yellow background.

Entering into the 1980 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter struggled to gain support from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, due in large part to Ted Kennedy running against him. Though he eventually secured the candidacy, he was unable to match his opposition Ronald Reagan's promise of a reinvigorated economy and tax cuts. Reagan took 44 of the 50 states, with Carter winning only his home state of Georgia, his Vice President's state (Minnesota) and four others. The sad face buttons were produced by Reagan's campaign to express the general dissatisfaction America felt with Carter's first term, contrasting with smiley buttons bearing Reagan's name. Carter was the first incumbent president to lose since Hoover in 1932, and the first Democrat to serve only one term since Buchanan in 1857.

Illustration of the state of Wisconsin above a photograph of Al Gore with red and blue text on a white background.  Blue outer border with red ring and white 5-pointed stars.

The 2000 Presidential election is known for being a very close election. The deciding electoral vote came down to Florida, which the U.S. Supreme Court was involved to ensure election security. Despite winning the popular vote, Gore lost the electoral vote and the election.

Gore is also known for his environmental activism starring in a documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (2006). He was vice president under Bill Clinton, U.S. Senator for Tennessee from 1985 to 1993, and a U.S. Representative for Tennessee from 1977 to 1985.

While he did push environmental policies during his campaign, his main concern was the economy. The economy was seen by the people as progressing, so his campaign pushed that Gore wanted to continue the work Clinton was already doing. Gore believed that low-interest rates would stir the economy and wanted to keep it that way. He wanted to expand Medicare and find a way to integrate a universal health care system.

Blue-tinted photographs of Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey with blue text in center of button.  White text on illustration of red ribbon along top of button.  White text on blue portion of button on bottom of button.

Lyndon Baines Johnson or LBJ was sworn in as president following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of 1963. When he ran with Hubert Humphrey against Senator Barry Goldwater a year later he won in a landslide victory. Barry Goldwater and William (Bill) Edward Miller ran together and lost the presidential election of 1964, representing the Republican ticket.

Goldwater, an Arizona Senator at the time, picked Miller as his vice presidential candidate and the two ran on a campaign of staunch conservatism and anti-communism. Johnson on the other hand fought for an increase in social programs and was seen as a moderate while Goldwater was portrayed as an extremist. This was really highlighted in the Johnson campaign ad "Daisy Girl" which shows a little girl picking petals off a daisy and counting them. Her countdown segues into a launch countdown and nuclear explosion. The ad was in reference to Goldwater's nonchalance of nuclear weaponry and his advocacy of nuclear weapons as standardized tactic in Vietnam.

Button divided half brown, half orange with brown and orange text.

Ronald Reagan’s history with unions is complicated. In 1981, shortly after taking office for his first term, Reagan fired around 12,000 air traffic controllers. The employees were skilled and did not believe that the government would be able to replace them. Reagan found them in violation of a law that bars federal workers from striking, and the government gradually replaced them with retirees and controllers from the military and other sources. Reagan is also accused of appointing anti-union members to the National Labor Relations Board. On the other hand, Regan was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952, and later in 1959.

Whether his actions hastened the decline of unions or signaled the changing times is a matter that historians and commentators still debate. Some historians and other experts contend that corporations were already challenging unions before Reagan’s decision during the PATCO strike, and that union membership had been declining since the 1950s. Others argue that Reagan emboldened efforts to weaken unions.