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George McGovern attempted to become the first president from South Dakota. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the 1972 presidential election. He had previously run as a stand in for the assassinated Robert. F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential election. McGovern advocated the removal of U.S. troops from Vietnam in exchange for the return all U.S. prisoners of war, for a 37% reduction in defense spending, and the replacement of the personal income tax exemption with a $1,000 tax credit. He had the support of a wide range of celebrities including, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and, Barbara Streisand. Numerous high-profile Democrats of the time turned down requests to run as the vice-presidential candidate. McGovern finally settled on Senator Tom Eagleton of Missouri, which turned out to be a disastrous decision when it came to light that Eagleton had depression. McGovern and his then running mate Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, suffered a landslide defeat. The Electoral College vote was 520 for Nixon to 17 for McGovern. It was one of the largest margins of defeat in American history.

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Julius Hobson (1922-1977) was a civil rights activist and leader in the D.C. Statehood Party. Because Washington, D.C. is controlled by the U.S. Congress, its citizens do not have congressional representation. The party was formed in 1969 to address the inability of Washington residents to exercise their rights as American citizens by not having a voting delegate in Congress. Because the district was composed of primarily African American citizens, this lack of representation became a civil rights issue and led to the push for D.C. Statehood. In 1971 Hobson made the issue the central part of his campaign for election as a non-voting delegate to the U.S House of Representatives. Although he lost the 1971 election, Hobson was elected to the City Council in 1974 and continued to be a central figure in the fight for D.C. statehood.

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The legend of Santa Claus can be traced as far back as the third century, to a monk named Saint Nicholas. The name Santa Claus evolved from Saint Nicholas’ Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, which is a shortened form of his Dutch name Sint Nikolaas. 

It is said that Nicholas inherited his family’s wealth after his parents died and used it to help the poor and sick. He was much admired for his generosity, goodness, and kindness and became known as the protector of children and sailors. He was the popular saint in Europe by the time of the Renaissance and even remained so after the Protestant Reformation, when the traditional veneration of saints was discouraged. It was during the later part of eighteenth century that he became a familiar figure in American popular culture, introduced by groups of Dutch immigrants. 

Saint Nicholas is now more commonly known as Santa Claus, the legendary character dressed in a white fur trimmed red jacket and pants, a matching hat, and black boots. He brings Christmas gifts to well-behaved children around the world, and coal or even nothing at all to naughty children. Nowadays, this character has a few residences around the world. It is believed in North America that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, while each Nordic country believes that he lives within their own territory.

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Serving as an imprint of DC Comics, Vertigo began publication in 1993. Founded by editor, Karen Berger, the Vertigo brand was created to publish stories with more adult and graphic content as opposed to what DC Comics usually featured in their comics. The comics under this brand were given more creative freedom due to being unconfined by the rules imposed by the now defunct Comics Code Authority.  Stories tend to thematically revolve around supernatural, horror, and crime-noir themes. Though many Vertigo titles take place in the greater DC Comics universe, many comics under the imprint exist within their own separate and original continuity. In the years since its introduction, Vertigo has enjoyed numerous successes as a result of a passionate fan-base. Examples of its more popular works include  The Sandman series, Preacher, & Fables. 

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Though many believed the end of World War II would usher in a period of stability and peace, a new conflict between the United States and Soviet Union was brewing at the time. What resulted was a decades-long Cold War characterized by international proxy wars and a tense arms race. The competition for nuclear supremacy led to several close calls, including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which led many Americans to question the safety of nuclear stockpiles. Protests were launched all around the nation that argued for nuclear disarmament. Some even pointed to the ethical dilemmas and environmental issues involved with the use of nuclear weapons, citing Hiroshima as a case in point. The largest anti-nuclear protest took place on June 12, 1982, in New York City, where more than one million people gathered at Central Park to denounce the arms race. Though the two superpowers eventually entered a period of reduced tension in the 1970s and agreed to thin out their stockpiles, both countries still retain relatively large amounts of nuclear weapons.

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"Take the rich off welfare," is a campaign slogan for former Oklahoma Senator (1964-1973), Fred Harris. In 1976, Harris led a grassroots effort to gain the democratic nomination for President, eventually losing to Jimmy Carter. His platform pushed for the United States to redistribute its wealth by “getting the rich off welfare.” Harris frequently championed issues of human rights and income equality. During his term as Senator, he worked toward creating the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission and helped pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson into forming the National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorders. He is credited as being the “Godfather of Populism” by Jesse Jackson and was interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine in 1975 in an article titled, Fred Harris: A populist with a prayer, The Senator responsible for “a new populism.” After his political career ended, Harris went on to teach political science at the University of New Mexico and penned 6 books, including 2 novels and a memoir.

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Smoking stinks was the key slogan of a campaign against smoking by the American Cancer Society in the 1970s through the 1990s. They ran a series of commercials in 1978 depicting Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, and Sleeping Beauty rejecting their princes for smoking. The flower arrangement can be seen at the end of television commercials as an early representation in the media as the flowers represent something that smells nice and was adopted to contrast the bitter smell of cigarette smoke.

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The Movement for Economic Justice was formed by George Wiley in 1972 after he stepped down from the National Welfare Rights Organization. Wiley was firmly dedicated to fighting for welfare rights for low income families, and although he was CEO of the NWRO, he believed a broader movement that would promote progressive taxation and redistribution would benefit all Americans dealing with high property taxes. Following Wiley's untimely death in August of 1973, the MEJ was dissolved.