Illustration of a cowboy with a large brown hat, pink boots with spurs, a green shirt with blue fringe and shooting pointer fingers like guns on a background of a desert and blue sky with red and green text.

This is a button critiquing George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States. The image of Bush as a stereotypical cowboy is a reference to his Texan heritage, distinct Southern accent, and the “country” persona he cultivated. According to polls, Bush's persona was cited by both his supporters and his detractors as one of the primary factors for their like or dislike. The expression on the button is a pun, playing into the panic about the spread of Mad Cow Disease—a degenerative, transmittable disease affecting the nervous system of cattle—that occurred in the U.S. during the early 2000s. 

George W. Bush's presidency began on a controversial note, due to the Florida ballot recounts and subsequent lawsuits that followed. Despite a rocky start, his approval rating rose to 90 percent following the September 11 attacks. Bush was reelected in 2004, but his popularity dropped significantly following the election, in part due to his handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Hurricane Katrina.

Black text on a white background with a sticker of an American flag and an illustration of a man's face.

Ross Perot, a native of Texarkana, Texas, is a businessman and entrepreneur who is perhaps most well-known for his presidential campaigns in 1992 and 1996. Perot began his professional career as a salesman for IBM, and in 1962 founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS). In 1968, Fortune magazine named Perot the “fastest, richest Texan.” In 1984, General Motors purchased EDS and 1988, he founded a second company, Perot Systems Corporation. 

Perot announced his intentions to run for President on February 2, 1992, on the television show Larry King Live. His campaign platform included balancing the federal budget, ending job outsourcing, and repealing gun control laws. Despite running as an Independent, Perot gained momentum and by September, 1992, garnered enough support to appear on the ballot in all 50 states. Though he did not receive any electoral votes, but did receive 19% of the popular vote, making him the most popular third-party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. He ran for president again in 1996, this time with the Reform Party (a party his founded), and received  8% of the popular vote—less than in 1992, but still significant for a third-party candidate.

Red white and blue striped background with blue text on the white stripe

This button is from Richard M. Nixon's 1968 U.S. Presidential campaign. Nixon first became well-known to the American people while serving as Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower. He ran for President in 1960, but lost the general election to John F. Kennedy. In 1968 Nixon, along with running mate Spiro Agnew, ran as the Republican candidate against the Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Nixon called himself the leader of the "silent majority". He promised voters that he would bring law and order back to the country and help minorities start small businesses. He won by a small margin, with 43% of the voters against Humphrey’s 42%, and was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States.

Red upper quarter with white text over a white half with blue and red text and a blue and white photograph of a man.

This tongue-in-cheek button was created for the 1996 U.S. presidential election. It acknowledged that Republican presidential candidates were competing to see who could take over as standard-bearer of the party from former President Richard M. Nixon, who had died in 1995. Among those candidates were Governor Pete Wilson of California and Senator Bob Dole from Kansas, both of whom delivered eulogies at Nixon's funeral. Dole was chosen as the Republican challenger to incumbent president Bill Clinton. Dole and his running mate, Jack Kemp, lost the election to Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, 379 electoral votes to 159.

Black and white photograph of a man's face with white text

An American historian and author, George McGovern was elected as a US Senator from South Dakota in 1962 after a previous failed bid in 1960. As one of the first politicians to speak out publicly against America's growing involvement in Vietnam, McGovern would become most known in the Senate for his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War. McGovern's platform during his 1972 presidential campaign included a comprehensive plan to end the war in Vietnam, a substantial cut in federal defense spending, and a "demogrant" program—which sought to replace inflated welfare bureaucracies with a pledge to give every American citizen $1,000. McGovern's "demogrant" program was dropped from his platform in August of that year after it was severely criticized as a "liberal giveaway." Although McGovern captured the votes of activists and reform liberals, his opponent, Republican incumbent Richard Nixon, managed to defeat McGovern in one of the biggest landslides in American history.

A red letter C shape with a yellow center on a white stripe across the middle of the button with blue above and below and white text.

This button, displaying the Colorado flag, was distributed in 1971 when John Love and John D. Vanderhoof ran for the Colorado Governorship and Lieutenant Governorships respectively. The election marked the first after the passing of a constitutional provision instituting the joint election of both positions. Love had been Governor of Colorado since first being elected to the position in 1963, while Vanderhoof had served in the Colorado House of Representatives since 1950. Love and Vanderhoof won the election, though in 1973, Love resigned in order to become the first Director of the Office of Energy Policy under President Nixon. Vanderhoof took over the governorship and led the state through an energy crisis and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement until the end of his term in 1975. Both returned to local politics in Colorado after their respective terms.

John Arthur Love. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Arthur_Love.

John David Vanderhoof. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Vanderhoof.

Illustration of a rainbow with blue text over the top

In 1988 Jesse Jackson campaigned for the presidency for his second time. The noted activist and minister’s first campaign in 1984 had put him in third place in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination, which was much farther than many had believed he could go. Jackson’s 1988 platform was much the same as it had been in 1984, calling for a “Rainbow Coalition” of minorities, the LGBT community, and the poor, an end to the War on Drugs, the creation of more jobs, and raising taxes on the wealthy. The campaign went well but was hindered by allegations of his brother’s criminal past. Jackson won second place in the race for the Democratic nomination, first place going to Michael Dukakis, who eventually lost the presidential election to George H.W. Bush. Jackson continued to serve in politics and continues to lead his organization Rainbow/PUSH, a group dedicated to social justice.

Jesse Jackson Presidential Campaign, 1988. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson_presidential_campaign,_1988.

White text on a blue background

Richard M. Nixon's (1913-1994) second term as the United States President was a difficult one. During his reelection campaign in 1972, the Nixon Administration was involved in the break-in at the Democratic National Committee's Washington, D. C. headquarters. The incident, and the attempts by the Nixon administration to cover it up, is commonly referred to as the Watergate Scandal. 

Repeated calls for Nixon's impeachment by both members of the House of Representatives and national organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union occurred throughout the latter half of 1972 and 1973, and by February 1974, the House Judiciary Committee began officially investigating Nixon. Impeachment hearings began on May 9, 1974, and during the testimonies, it was discovered that in addition to the Watergate Scandal, Nixon had covertly recorded conversations in the Oval Office use a voice-activated recording system. Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974, amidst the impeachment proceedings. 

White text on a a red upper left corner with an illustration of a man on the right over black and red text

Elvis Presley was an American icon best known for his music. Called the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis popularized rockabilly music during the 1950s and starred in numerous films during this period. After being drafted into the military and taking a break from performing in the first half of the 1960s, Elvis returned to the stage in Las Vegas in 1968, and starred in the first globally broadcast concert in 1973. Presley died in 1977 from a heart attack, and is today considered to be a cultural icon. This button may have come from a 1987 convention held in honor of the Elvis International Tribute Week, when Elvis fans congregated to celebrate the life and music of the singer.

Brown, Patricia Leigh. (1987, Aug 14). A Decade after Elvis: Faithful at the Shrine. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/14/us/a-decade-after-elvis-faithful-at-the-shrine.html.

Elvis Presley. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley.

White text on a blue stripe with red above and below

This button was for the 1920 U.S. presidential election campaign of Warren G. Harding and his running mate Calvin Coolidge. With President Woodrow Wilson's health preventing him from running for re-election in 1920, the Republicans nominated Harding and Coolidge. The Democrats nominated James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt. Campaigning in the post-World War I environment for a "return to normalcy," Harding benefited from sentiment against Wilson's reformist foreign and domestic policies. Harding won in a landslide; his 60.3% to 34% victory remains the largest popular-vote margin after the 1820 election of James Monroe.

Harding's administration was characterized by economic improvement and a restoration of tariffs, but also restrictions on immigration and accusations of corruption against some of Harding's political appointees. The Teapot Dome oil lease scandal came to light after Harding died in 1923. Vice President Calvin Coolidge took over as president and served until 1929 (he did not run for re-election in 1928).