Blue text on a white background

The People for Ford (PFF) was a volunteer initiative for the President Ford Committee developed to target special voter groups where similar For Ford slogans were also created for Hungarian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and others for direct efforts in gaining support from these groups. The PFF also targeted women, farmers, senior citizens and professional groups.

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. entered into politics as a member of the House of Representatives which led him to become Minority Leader and House Speaker. Upon the resignation of U. S. President Spiro Agnew, Ford was appointed by President Nixon to assume the vice-presidency. Ford would go on to become the 38th President of the United States after the resignation of Richard Nixon. Ford is the only U.S. president who had never been elected to national office. Ford died December 26, 2006. 

White text on a blue background

Ronald Reagan was an actor who became involved with politics in the 1960s. He was the Governor of California from 1966 to 1974. In 1968 and 1976 he ran unsuccessfully to become the Republican Party's nominee for President, but he easily secured the nomination in 1980. At the Republican Convention on July 14, 1980, Reagan declared that he would improve the lives of all Americans by "making America great again," which became his campaign slogan. 

Reagan ran against incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, alongside vice-presidential nominee George H.W. Bush. His campaign stressed lower taxes, states' rights and less governmental interference in people's lives. In the general election, Reagan was behind in most polls leading up to the sole televised debate with Carter, but the Reagan/Bush ticket was able to overcome the deficit. Reagan ended up carrying 44 states, and became the 40th President of the United States. 

Blue and red text with red underline on a white background

The 1984 presidential election was a contest between incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush, and the Democratic Party's ticket former Vice President Walter Mondale and New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro. Mondale had wanted to choose New York Governor Mario Cuomo as his running mate, but he declined. Ferraro, recommended by Cuomo, was the first woman nominated for Vice President by a major party, and Mondale hoped to appeal to women voters. 

President Reagan could point to a strong economic recovery and renewed national confidence during his first term, while Mondale supported the Equal Rights Amendment and the need to decrease budget deficits. The Mondale/Ferraro ticket was damaged during the campaign by questions about Ferraro's husband, real estate developer John Zaccaro. Although there were some questions about Reagan's age and capacity to continue in the office, the Reagan/Bush ticket was successful on Election Day, receiving the electoral college votes of 49 out of 50 states. 

White text on a black background with a peace sign in the center

On January 23, 1973 U.S. President Richard Nixon gave a speech describing the Paris Peace Accord as “Peace with Honor”. The phrase plays on a promise Nixon made during his presidential campaign in which he said “I pledge to you that we shall have an honorable end to the war in Vietnam”. The Paris Peace Accord was established to end the Vietnam War and ended U.S. military combat in Vietnam. 

Blue and red text on a white background with an illustration of a red white and blue flag with a union symbol on it

Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro were the Democratic Party's nominations in the 1984 election for United States President and Vice-President. Mondale was a United States Senator representing the state of Minnesota from 1964 to 1976, and served as the 42nd Vice-President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. Ferraro was a schoolteacher, and then the head of a new Special Victims Bureau, a division of the Queens County District Attorney's office in New York, before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1978. 

The Mondale-Ferraro ticket was historic, with Ferraro becoming both the first woman and first Italian-American nominated by a major political party. This meant large-scale media attention,and Ferrraro faced tough questions about her lack of experience with foreign policy and the finances of her husband, businessman John Zaccaro, as well as criticism from the Catholic Church for her pro-choice stance. The Mondale-Ferraro campaign was liberal in nature, supporting the Equal Rights Amendment and nuclear disarmament, and gained the endorsement of several major unions, including the United Automobile Workers' union (UAW), whose flag is featured on this button. 

Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan on Election Day, receiving only 13 electoral college votes from Mondale's home state of Minnesota. 

White text on a blue background with a red outer edge

Michael J. Bakalis’ ran for governor of Illinois in 1978. He and his running mate, Dick Durbin, faced stiff opposition from Republican incumbent James R. “Big Jim” Thompson. Thompson handily won and his victory margin of 596,550 votes set the record for an incumbent in an Illinois gubernatorial contest.

Bakalis went on to serve as Deputy Undersecretary of Education for the United States from 1980-1982, serving under presidents Carter and Reagan. Bakalis again made a brief attempt to run for governor in 2002, but failed to secure enough funding to compete.

Blue text on a white background

Eugene McCarthy was an American politician who ran for President in 1968. McCarthy unsuccessfully ran for President five times but served as Senator of Minnesota from 1959 to 1971 and in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959. 

Red text over a black and white photograph of a man over red text and a blue and red illustration

John Glenn is a former astronaut and United States Senator. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard the Friendship 7, on February 20, 1962. NASA psychologists determined that Glenn was the astronaut best suited to a political career, and Robert F. Kennedy suggested to Glenn that he challenge incumbent Ohio Senator Stephen Young. Glenn announced that he was resigning from the space program to run for office in 1964, but he had to withdraw from the race after sustaining a concussion from a fall. Glenn remained close to Kennedy, and was with him when he was assassinated in 1968. 

Glenn ran for Senate in Ohio unsuccessfully again in 1970, but was finally elected in his 1974 bid, serving until 1999. As a sitting Senator, he became the oldest person to fly in space on a Discovery mission in 1998, at age 77. Glenn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. 

Blue text over a red outline of the state of Illinois on a white background

Illinois Citizens for Reagan was a committee formed in 1976 by former Congressman Phil Crane to assist Ronald Reagan in becoming elected President by providing support to delegates loyal to Reagan in the Republican primary. 

Ronald Reagan was the 40^th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Reagan himself lived in various towns in northern Illinois and graduated from Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois in 1932. 

Black and white illustration of a lion head wearing a football helmet over black text on a white background.

Hubert the Lion is a marketing character that was created for Harris Bank by the Leo Burnett advertising agency in 1958. Like a lion, Hubert was meant to represent what the bank wanted to be known for; per bank VP Mary Ullrich, “dignity, importance, strength, everything that we wanted to stand for except warmth and friendliness.” Hubert was originally a stuffed animal given out as a premium for attracting customers and became one of the more popular bank premiums in history.