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In the summer of 1968, Chicago promoted, “Reach Out,” a summer program for youth. The event was evolved from the meetings of Mayor Daley’s summer program promotion committee with the intention of bringing the youths of Chicago a meaningful summer experience. The event was advertised with commercials starring Sammy Davis Jr. More than 70 public and private youth-serving agencies as well businesses, entertainers, sports personalities and others worked together as part of the event.

The event took part in the city’s civic center plaza and would host speeches, rock groups, air shows, theater troupes, airplane tours over the city. A mayor’s committee rounded up 20,000 jobs for youths aged 16 to 21. Dennis Church, public information officer for the Chicago Council on Youth Welfare, along with a committee of local youths composed a list of youth activities on a directory with youths working the phone. By calling 744-3211, any person would be able to find out what was going on.

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The GOP, or Grand Old Party, is another name for the Republican Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States. It was founded in 1854 by a few different groups of people: former Whigs and Free Soilers, modernists, and anti-slavery activists. The party got its name after Republicanism, which was a common value during the American Revolution. The GOP stands by conservative values, capitalism, stronger national defense, and deregulation. Overall, there have been 19 Republican presidents throughout American history. 

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In 1971, the National Women's Political Caucus was founded by a group of feminist pioneers to address the limited roles women held in public office. Instead of being constrained to addressing envelopes and serving coffee at political functions, this slogan encouraged women to seek more active roles in politics and elections by playing on those social expectations and stereotypes.

Click on https://buttonmuseum.org/buttons/women-make-policy-not-coffee-green or https://buttonmuseum.org/buttons/women-make-policy-not-coffee-0 to see additional variations of this button also held by the Button Museum.

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During the 1976 U.S. presidential election, Willie Mae Reid, a Black Chicago politician, became the appointed vice presidential candidate for the Socialist Workers Party. A year prior to her nomination, she ran for Mayor of Chicago and lost to Richard J. Daley. Reid's political career did not cede until 1992 when she reran for the U.S. vice presidency under the Socialist Workers Party.

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James Robert Thompson Jr., also known as "Big Jim Thompson," was a Republican governor from Illinois. He ran for governor in 1976 and won 65% of the vote. Thompson is the first candidate for governor to win over 3 million votes. He was in office until 1991 and was the longest serving governor in Illinois. He also served on the 9/11 Commission years after leaving office.

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This button was utilized during Eugene "Gene" McCarthy's 1976 Presidential campaign, where he ran as an Independent. McCarthy didn't have an official running mate for Vice President, although he did list 15 separate candidates on state ballots where he was required to list a running mate. Nationally, he won a total of 740,460 votes and finished third overall.