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In 1971 Richard M. Daley ran to be re-elected as Mayor of Chicago for the fifth time. Daley was elected to the position for the first time in 1955, and during his time in office oversaw the building of O’Hare Airport and Sears Tower, as well as agreeing to desegregate Chicago neighborhoods and is best remembered for preventing Chicago from declining as other Rust Belt cities had. Daley easily won the 1971 election partly because of his popularity and partly because of the lack of a strong opponent. Afterwards, Daley later won the 1975 election, though he died halfway into his term in 1976, holding onto the position of Mayor for a total of 21 years.

Richard J. Daley. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley.

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This button comes from Calvin Coolidge and his running mate Charles Dawes’ presidential campaign in 1924. Coolidge had risen to fame as Governor of Massachusetts, and was elected as Vice-President under Warren G. Harding in 1920. President Harding died during his term, making Coolidge the president in 1923, and in 1924 he ran for the presidency with Dawes, winning 54% of the votes. During Coolidge’s second term he granted citizenship to Native Americans, loosened government controls on the economy, and reduced the role of government programs. Coolidge decided not to run again in 1928, and retired to his home in Massachusetts after his term ended, making radio addresses and writing a news column until his death in 1933.

Calvin Coolidge. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge.

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Colin Luther Powell was often mentional as a potential presidential candidate, and many hoped he would run for president as a possible opponent of Bill Clinton in the 1996 U.S. presidential election, but Powell had declined due to a lack of passion for politics in 1995. He was an American statesmen and retired as a four-star general in the U.S. Army. He was also the 65^th Unites States Secretary of State under U.S. President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position.

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In 1992 Bill Clinton ran for the presidency against George H.W. Bush. Clinton, who was at that time the Governor of Arkansas, was not seen as a strong opponent and people doubted that the Democratic party would choose him as their nominee. When he was nominated, Clinton chose Al Gore as his running mate and became very popular with young voters by appearing on popular TV shows. Clinton won the election with 43% of the vote and ultimately served two terms, leaving office in 2001 and going on to create numerous philanthropic organizations.

Bill Clinton. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton.

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Allsvensk Samling was a magazine founded in 1914 in Goteborg, Sweden. The magazine, which was printed in Swedish, was circulated internationally by the National Society of Sweden to encourage Swedish people living abroad to retain their native language and culture. The first editor of the magazine was Enni Lundstrom from 1914 to 1923, and the magazine continued to be circulated among Swedish immigrants until it closed down in 1971.

Allsvensk Samling. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2015 from: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allsvensk_Samling_%28tidskrift%29.

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This button was for Adlai Stevenson III's campaign for U.S. Senator from Illinois. Ralph Tyler.Smith had been appointed to fill the senate seat held by Everett Dirksen, who died in office in 1969. Stevenson defeated Smith in a special election in 1970 and was re-elected in 1974. He decided not to run in 1980. The button is likely from the 1974 election. Stevenson, a Democrat, had been Illinois Treasurer from 1967-1970. Stevenson is the son of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II, who lost the U.S. presidential election to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.

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This is a button in support of Jim Thompson, and was produced during one of his campaigns for Governor of Illinois. Thompson, a Republican who was colloquially known as Big Jim Thompson, was the longest serving Governor of Illinois—occupying the office from 1977 to 1991. Prior to serving as Governor, Thompson worked in the Cook County (Illinois) State’s Attorney’s Office and was appointed by then-President Richard Nixon as U.S. Attorney for the Northern district of Illinois. Thompson was a well-known crusader against Chicago’s infamous political corruption and organized crime, and his reputation garnered him a record number of votes in the 1976 gubernatorial election. Throughout his fourteen years in office, he was known for his charismatic personality and his successful handling of the state’s budget.

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This button is most likely from Barack Obama’s 2012 U.S. Presidential re-election campaign. In 2011, Obama launched a policy initiative called We Can’t Wait—referenced by the slogan on this button—which was a series of executive orders put forth to “support middle class Americans” during a period of long-standing Congressional gridlock. Some Republicans disapproved of the We Can’t Wait initiative because they viewed it as a threat to the balance of power and Congress’s oversight. 

Democrat Obama, the 44th President of the United States, successfully won re-election in 2012 over his Republican contender Mitt Romney, winning 51.06% of the popular vote to Romney’s 47.21%. Obama’s win marked the first time since 1944 that a president had won two successive contests with both a win in the electoral college and over 51% of the popular vote.

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