Black text on a white background with an illustration of a pentagon shape in blue and red with a white star in the middle

This button is from Dick Gephardt’s 1988 campaign for the presidency. Gephardt, a Democrat, had represented Missouri in the House of Representatives since 1977, and during his presidential campaign tried to get the Democratic party’s nomination, but failed to do so because of his past record of flip-flopping on his votes. Gephardt continued to serve in the House of Representatives until 2005. In 2004 he ran for the presidency but again failed to get the Democratic party’s nomination because of the public’s perception of his values being old-fashioned. After his retirement from politics in 2005, Gephardt went on to become a lobbyist and has lobbied for numerous companies like Boeing and Ford.

Dick Gephardt. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gephardt.

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders in the center of teh button on a white background with a blue outer ring on the top half and a red outer ring on the bottom half with white text

Robert Dole served in the U.S. House of Representative between 1961 and 1969 and as U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1969- 1996. In 1995, he announced his candidacy for 1996 presidential election and won the Republican Party’s nomination. He chose Jack Kemp as his running mate, but was defeated by the incumbent Bill Clinton in November 1996. During his political career, Dole served as an advocate for men’s health issues as well as the Chairman of the National World War II Memorial fundraising campaign.

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders in the center of a green cirlce with a blue ring with white stars around it and a red and white striped ring around the outer edge with white text on the green

Douglas Corrigan was an American aviator who gained fame after he flew a solo transatlantic flight from New York to Dublin, Ireland. Corrigan was a mechanic who had worked on Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. Likely inspired by Lindbergh, Corrigan purchased a small, single engine plane off a trash heap, rebuilt it, and flew from California to New York. After arriving in New York, he filed a flight plan to cross the Atlantic Ocean, which was immediately denied. Shortly after, he took off, headed back to the West Coast, but his plane took a turn and disappeared into the clouds. Corrigan landed in Dublin 28 hours later, claiming not to know his whereabouts. His flight license was suspended, and he had to return to the U.S. by ship. By the time his ship docked in New York, he had become a national celebrity dubbed "Wrong Way Corrigan", and he was greeted at the port by a mob of fans.

Photograph of a man's head and shoulders on a black and white background with white text underneath

Sholem Aleichem is a pseudonym for Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright. The writing seen is his pseudonym in Yiddish. He began writing in Hebrew and started publishing in 1897. Later, in 1883, he decided to write in Yiddish, which is when he began to use his pseudonym. From then on it became his pen name. He is known for his character, Tevye the Dairyman, from a series of short stories, which was used as a base for the famous musical, Fiddler on the Roof. 

Illustration of a beaver standing on its back legs with one arm outstretched with black text above and below on a bright orange background

The Conservative Party of New York State was founded in 1962 and is now the fourth-largest political party in the state of New York. In 1973, the party decided they wanted an animal symbol, as the Democratic Party had the donkey, and the Republican Party had the elephant. The beaver was selected through an essay contest decided by a committee of 19 judges. Arguments from finalists in support of the beaver included, "“If you give a dam—vote Beaver.”, “Every Conservative should be an ‘Eager Beaver.’", and “We Conservatives have to ‘work like beavers’ in order to elect our candidates.” The runner-up nominees were the lion and the buffalo. 

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

The State Journal newspaper of Nebraska is also known as The Nebraska State Journal. Other names the newspaper went by over the years were, Sunday Journal and Star, Sunday State Journal, Sunday State Journal, and Lincoln Sunday Star. The area of coverage for the newspaper is Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska. The newspaper first began publishing in 1892 until 1942.

Black text on a bright orange background

This button translates from Spanish to “Good people need Carter.” As part of Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign, buttons like this were minted in several languages.

Red white and blue striped background with white and blue text and white stars

P.J. “Parky” Cullerton was the County Assessor for Cook County, Illinois from 1958 to 1974. Before being elected as County Assessor, Cullerton served on the Chicago City Council, to which he was elected in 1935. He was chairman of the council’s Finance Committee, where it was rumored that he would bring his committee to Florida every winter to relax and enjoy refreshments while they worked on the city’s budget. A member of the Cullerton family had been on the Chicago City Council since the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 until Alderman Tim Cullerton retired in 2015.

White text on a green background

Jimmy Carter served as the 39th President of the U.S. between 1977 to 1981. Both of Carter’s campaigns, including his unsuccessful run for re-election, used green and white coloring to draw attention to Carter’s background as a rural peanut farmer. This choice was truly unique, as his opponents chose to use the traditional campaign colors of red, white, and blue.

Blue text on a white background

This button comes from 1968, when Robert Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy, ran for the presidency. Campaigning against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, Kennedy was not expected to do well because he declared his candidacy late and had relatively less experience than his opponents. Kennedy ran with positions like racial equality, de-escalating the Vietnam War, the abolition of the death penalty, and the creation of more jobs, making him popular with minorities and young voters. After winning primaries in four states, Kennedy’s campaign was ended tragically when he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in June 1968, and he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

Robert F. Kennedy Presidential Campaign, 1968. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_presidential_campaign,_1968.