Yellow illustration of an elephant with brown text on its back and yellow text above and below it on a brown background. This button also has a piece of yellow felt shaped like a flower pinned to the back. 

This button dates back to the 1936 presidential election when Alf Landon, a Republican as the elephant on the button indicates, ran against incumbent president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Landon had become governor of Kansas in 1932, and in 1936 ran for the presidency with Frank Knox, a newspaper publisher from Chicago. During his campaign, Landon rarely traveled, which hurt his relationship with voters, and later accused Roosevelt of corruption. Unsurprisingly, Roosevelt won the election, carrying 46 out of 48 states in what was the most lopsided election in American History. Landon returned to the governorship and never again ran for an elected position, but remained politically active by backing presidential candidates, and was known for giving lectures from the 1960s until his death in the 1980s which featured influential political leaders like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Alf Landon. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Landon.

Yellow and brown illustration of a sunflower with yellow text in the center on a brown background. The button also has a yellow flower shaped piece of felt pinned behind the button. 

This button dates back to the 1936 presidential election when Republican Alf Landon ran against incumbent president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Landon had become governor of Kansas in 1932, and in 1936 ran for the presidency with Frank Knox, a newspaper publisher from Chicago. During his campaign, Landon rarely traveled, which hurt his relationship with voters, and later accused Roosevelt of corruption. Unsurprisingly, Roosevelt won the election, carrying 46 out of 48 states in what was the most lopsided election in American history. Landon returned to the governorship and never again ran for an elected position, but remained politically active by backing presidential candidates, and was known for giving lectures from the 1960s until his death in the 1980s which featured influential political figures like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Alf Landon. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Landon.

White text on a blue background with an American flag on the upper right and a red outer ring

The 55th presidential election was held on November 2, 2004. Democratic party nominee John Kerry and John Edwards were defeated by incumbent President George Bush and Vice President Dick Chaney. Kerry, a Senator from Massachusetts was often called a "flip-flopper" by the Bush administration for Kerry's constant change in voting, especially with funding for the Iraq War.Kerry was a supporter of the "No Child Left Behind Act," supported many bills to remove toxins from the environment, supported gay rights, pro-choice, and affirmative action. Kerry chose John Edwards, a North Carolina Senator, as his running mate.  Edwards policy positions were to aid in the elimination of poverty within the United States, slow down global warming, create a universal health care system, and remove troops from Iraq.

Illustration of a rainbow on a black background with yellow text underneath

In 1984 Jesse Jackson launched his presidential campaign, only the second time that an African American had launched a nationwide campaign for the position. Jackson, an Illinois reverend and activist, ran against Walter Mondale for the Democratic party’s nomination. Political pundits did not believe that Jackson could launch an effective campaign for the nomination, but he took third place, winning five primaries.

Jackson’s platform advocated a “Rainbow Coalition” made up of minority groups, inspiring this button, as well as a program for higher employment, de-escalating the War on Drugs, and higher taxation on the rich. Ultimately, Walter Mondale won the Democratic nomination and went on to run unsuccessfully against Ronald Reagan. Jesse Jackson continued to be active in politics, running again for the presidency in 1988, and merged the Rainbow Coalition with another organization called PUSH, which works towards social justice.

Jesse Jackson presidential campaign, 1984. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson_presidential_campaign,_1984.

Black text on a gold background

This political badge was created for the 1940 U.S. presidential campaign of incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt. Emphasizing "Greater" prosperity was in response to the "Prosperity Builder" slogan of Roosevelt's opponent, Wendell Willkie, as shown on the button above. A businessman from New York, Willkie campaigned against Roosevelt's New Deal programs as wasteful and ineffective in ending the Great Depression, and promoted better economic times if he was elected. Yet Willkie was hurt by being a symbol of big business, which many felt helped cause the economic crisis in the first place. Roosevelt won with 54.7% of the vote to Willkie's 44.8%, 449 electoral votes to 82.

Roosevelt became the second of only three U.S. presidents to win re-election with a lower percentage of both the electoral vote and the popular vote than in the previous election (James Madison in 1812 and Barack Obama in 2012 were the other two). Roosevelt continued his New Deal policies during his third term and won a fourth in 1944. Upon his death in April 1945, FDR was succeeded by Vice President Harry S Truman.

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a man wearing a suit in the center of the button on a white background with a red outer ring with white text

Gary Hart is an American politician who was a Senator from the state of Colorado.  He ran for the Democratic party nomination for the 1984 United States Presidential election.  He ran against fellow Democratic, Walter Mondale for the party nomination.  Hart ran as a candidate with "new ideas" for the party, and began campaigning early in the state of New Hampshire.  Mondale would go on to win the nomination for the Democratic party as a result of securing the support from fellow Democratics.

Illustration of a republican shrouded elephant strangling a peanut with a mouth and large teeth. White lettering with a red background edge on top, white lettering with blue background on bottom and white overall background.

This button is from the 1976 presidential election in which incumbent president Gerald Ford ran against Jimmy Carter. Ford had come to the presidency after Nixon’s resignation following the Watergate Scandal in 1974 and had pardoned Nixon as one of his first acts as President. Against him was Democrat Jimmy Carter, a relatively unknown former peanut farmer from Georgia, whom this button refers to. During the election Carter’s lack of involvement with Ford’s controversial pardon of Nixon helped him in the polls, and he was elected president by a very thin margin, winning 50% of the vote to Ford’s 48%.

United States Presidential Election, 1976. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1976.

Two red stars with a blue check mark between them on the upper right over rainbow colored text over black text, on a white background

In 2015, Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia ran for the mayoralty of Chicago. In 1992 Garcia had been elected to the Illinois State Senate, being the first Mexican-American to do so, and in 2010 was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. In the 2015 campaign for the mayoralty, Garcia stepped in for progressive Karen Lewis who had to end her campaign due to illness, and ran against Rahm Emanuel. His platform opposed the Belmont flyover and cameras recording red lights, and supported the expansion of rights for the LGBT community. Garcia lost to Emanuel in the election, and has since returned to Chicago politics.

This button was manufactured by the Busy Beaver Button Co.

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesús_"Chuy"_García.

Spielman, Fran. (2015, Dec 2). Garcia Releases LGBTQ Agenda – To Delight of Activists Disenchanted with Emanuel. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/364629/garcia-releases-lgbtq-agenda-delight-activists-disenchanted-emanuel.

Red text above and blue text below blue illustration of a peanut in a tow truck towing a car with a photograph of a man's head as the car's passenger, all on a white background

White text on a blue upper half of the button with vertical red and white stripes on the bottom half and an outer red edge

Following the implication of Nixon and his advisors in the Watergate scandal, the American public was divided about whether or not to believe that the President had been unaware of his administration's cover-up of the break-in to the DNC headquarters in 1972. Initially, the majority of Republicans "back[ed] the president's" claim of ignorance to the illegal activity. However, a series of tapes released between April and August of 1974 destroyed Nixon's political reputation, revealing not only his knowledge of the break-in but also his "coarse and vindictive attitude" towards American people. Four days after the release of the "smoking gun" tape, Nixon resigned on August 9th of 1974. It remains the only time a U.S. President has resigned from the post.