White button with a red rim with white diamonds. Blue text is featured in the center. 

“Red Hot Papa” is a raunchy phrase that may have been referencing the 1950 era album “Red Hot Papa”, a song by banjo player and Western swing performer Hank Penny. 

Green text on a white background and a circle with an x in it

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Red, white and blue striped button with the illustration of a donkey and elephant in the middle. White text. 

Starlac was a nonfat instant milk powder sold by Borden and marketed as an economical alternative to regular milk. They advertised it as having all vitamins and nutrients of milk without the water and fat.

Starlac was a sponsor for advertisements during the 1956 presidential election. A newspaper ad stated, “Be sure to vote on election day… vote for Starlac everyday!” with a 5 quart container of Starlac on offer for 37c. The campaign is carefully nonpartisan, showing both a Republican elephant and Democrat donkey smiling. That year, Dwight D. Eisenhower ran for reelection with Richard Nixon as vice president against Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. Eisenhower and Nixon won with 57% of the vote.

Black and white photographs of two men's heads on an American flag background with white and blue text

In 1996, Republican Bob Dole ran for President of the United Sates with Jack Kemp as his running mate. Dole originally served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas for nearly 30 years and was also picked as a Vice Presidential running mate in 1976 twenty years before running for president. He was the last World War II veteran to run for president as well as the oldest first-time nominee for President at 73 years old. Dole's main goals were to solve the budget crisis and reduce income tax. 

Dole lost to incumbent President Bill Clinton and his Vice President, Al Gore.

White text on red border with blue-and-white photograph of Terry Carpenter in the center. 

Terry Carpenter was a Nebraska politician who changed his political party affiliation five times. He ran for the position of Nebraska governor in 1934, 1940, 1950 and 1960, but was never elected to the office. In addition, Carpenter ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate five times and lieutenant governor of Nebraska twice. When he wasn't on the campaign trail, Carpenter was a successful businessman with his own chain of gas stations. He was elected as the mayor of Scottsbluff, Nebraska in 1947, but later stepped down when critics believed there was a conflict of interest with his businesses in the city. In 1949, Carpenter established a new village across the river from Scottsbluff and named it Terrytown. He was elected to the Nebraska state Senate in 1952 and served for 22 years. Carpenter passed away shortly thereafter in 1978. 

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Many Slovak-Americans and other groups who fled Eastern European communist regimes were interested in candidates they perceived as supportive of a strong military and anticommunist action. They viewed communism as a global threat, one that would reach American if Americans were not vigilant Though they valued their home country and traditions, they also considered themselves patriotic, anticommunist Americans.

Of course, not all Slovak-Americans supported Nixon or the Republican party. The party actively courted Slovak-Americans and other so-called “white ethnics” from Eastern Europe. Nixon made the “Nationalities Division” in the Republican National Convention into a permanent fixture, and sought to hire more Eastern Europeans in his administration and government. Nixon and the Republicans’ strategy changed when foreign policy toward the Soviet bloc shifted toward détente in the early 1970s. Staunch anticommunism was not compatible with this new approach, and the Slovak-Americans and other politically active “white ethnics” were relegated to the sidelines.

Black and white photo of two men's heads (George Bush and Dan Quayle) on a blue background with white text

This button was made for the 1992 presidential election by opponents of President George Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. During George Bush's presidency Quayle was ridiculed for not being very smart because he contradicted himself and gave speeches that were sometimes unintelligible. Most famously Quayle encouraged a sixth grade student to spell potato with an e on the end. He said the card he was reading from was wrong, but news and talk-show hosts seized on his misspelling as a sign of stupidity. Bush was heavily criticized for choosing Quayle as a running mate and the choice was used to discredit his decision making ability. 

President Bush lost popularity during his term because there were economic problems, for which he was held responsible. In order to combat the budget deficit he broke his promise not to raise taxes, which made him even less popular. Bush also faced accusations of involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal and helping delay the release of hostages from Iran until after Reagan was elected. Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton.

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders on a white background with black text

Richard Nixon was the Vice President for Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953-1961. In 1960, Nixon ran for President against John F. Kennedy in what became the closest race in American history. Nixon lost to Kennedy, but despite a failed presidential campaign, he successfully ran again in 1968, becoming the 37th President of the United States. Prior to his presidency, Nixon served as a Republican representative in the House and a Senate. Nixon won re-election in 1972 by a record landslide, beating Democratic opponent, George McGovern. 

Nixon is also well-known for the Watergate Scandal and for becoming the first and only president to resign from office. Nixon's Vice President Gerald Ford pardonded him from criminal charges once he became president. Aside from Watergate, Nixon is known for laying the groundwork for environmental regulations, helping to advance women's rights with Title IX, ending the draft, and revolutionizing foreign policy (as seen in his relationship with China).

Yellow button with black text above and below black and white photos of Edward Kennedy (in profile) and John Conyers

Ted Kennedy did not run for President in 1972, although there were efforts to convince him to run. He first entered the Senate in 1962 to fill his brother, John Kennedy's, seat. Ted Kennedy was a front-runner for the 1972 election, but in 1969 he got into a car accident, which killed a campaign worker, and fled the scene without contacting the police. He refused to run for President or Vice President, but polls showed he was still the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 1971. Kennedy supported healthcare and immigration reform and opposed the Vietnam War. 

John Conyers is a U.S. Congressman from Michigan and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He supports national healthcare, civil rights for all people, and opposes discrimination against Muslims. The ticket advertised by this button would have been very liberal, but neither candidate campaigned.

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Ross Perot is an American businessman who is best known for running as an Independent candidate in the 1992 presidential election. During the election, he won roughly 19% of the popular vote, although he won no electoral college votes. The following election, he ran as a candidate for the Reform Party (a party that he founded) and won only 8% of the popular vote. While he has not run for president or been actively involved in politics since 1996, he has endorsed presidential hopefuls, including Republican Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012.