Blue illustration of two hands shaking between red text over white background. 

Uncle Sam is a common personification of the American government that, according to legend, came into use during the War of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson. The first use of Uncle Sam in literature was in the 1816 allegorical book "The Adventures of Uncle Sam in Search After His Lost Honor" by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, Esq. An Uncle Sam is mentioned as early as 1775, in the original "Yankee Doodle" lyrics of the Revolutionary War. The image of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time, according to some, in a picture by Flagg on the cover of the magazine Leslie's Weekly, on July 6, 1916, with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1917 and 1918.

Grey scale portrait of John W. Davis sandwiched between white text over grey background. 

John William Davis (1873-1955) was the Democratic Party's nominee for the 1924 US Presidential election. His running mate, Charles W. Bryan (1867-1945), was the younger brother of the famous anti-evolutionist William Jennings Bryan. Politically, Davis opposed anti-lynching, child-labor, and women's suffrage laws. Davis served one term as US Representative for West Virginia (1911-1913) but gained most of his political experience by becoming the US Solicitor General (1913-1918) and US Ambassador to the UK (1918-1921). Davis lost the presidential election to incumbent (John) Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) by a margin of 246 (out of 531) Electoral College votes.

Davis argued over one hundred cases before the US Supreme Court. The most famous Supreme Court case was his defense of "separate but equal" education laws in Briggs v. Elliott, which he lost in 1952.

Portrait of Jimmy Carter flanked by the Capital Building and the White House betweenred white and blue text over American flag background. 

James "Jimmy" Earl Carter ran against incumbent Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. in the 1976 US Presidential election. Carter's running mate was US Sentator from Minnesota, Walter Mondale. Ford stuck with his vice president, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller.  Carter and Mondale received 50.1% to Ford and Rockefeller's 48% of the popular vote. The electoral votes were not as close, with 297 going to Carter and Mondale, 240 for Ford and Rockefeller, and 1 vote from Washington State going to Ronald Reagan.

When Carter was elected, he became the first Democrat from the US South to be elected to the office since before the Civil War. During his single term, Carter established the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. His presidential legacy is often overshadowed by economic and international relations problems, culminating with the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan beginning in 1979 and the Iran Hostage Crisis from 1979-1981. Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election by a margin of 440 electoral votes.

Black and white photograph of Jimmy Carter kneeling down with two children, blue text around top edge and red text around bottom edge on a white background.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter ran as the Democratic candidate for President in 1976. When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries that year, most believed he had little chance against nationally better-known politicians. His name recognition was only two percent! However, his strong political campaign led him to win the election. Carter served as President from 1977 to 1981. During his campaign, he was interviewed by Robert Scheer of Playboy and was the first, and so far only, American president to have been interviewed by the magazine.

Illustration of Jimmy Carter with green text on a white background.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. ran for President in 1976.  He won the election a served for one term from 1977 to 1981. Carter was the first American President born in a hospital, and he was raised on his family's farm outside the small town of Plains, Georgia, in a house with no electricity or indoor plumbing. In 1953, Carter resigned from the Navy, where he had been working as an officer in the Navy's first experimental nuclear submarine, and returned to Georgia with his wife, Rosalynn, to run his family's peanut farm.

Color portrait of Jesse L. Jackson surrounded by green, black, and red text over white background.  

This button dates from Rev. Jesse L. Jackson's 1984 bid for US President. Jackson ran as a candidate of the Democrat Party and was the first African-American male to do so. He lost the nomination to former Vice President Walter F. Mondale and finished third in the tally, receiving over 18 percent of the votes and surprising pundits nationwide.  

Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, SC. He was adopted by his mother's husband when he was one year old and took his step-father's surname. Jackson graduated from a historically black university, North Carolina A&T, in 1964 and attended Chicago Theological Seminary. Rather than completing his degree there, he chose to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC was the civil rights organization led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1966, King personally selected Jackson to head the organization's Chicago branch. After a falling out with SCLC administration, Jackson created People United to Save Humanity (PUSH). PUSH focused on political activism and aimed to place political pressure on elected officials regarding civil rights issues. Jackson resigned as president of PUSH in 1984 in order to focus on his presidential campaign. During the campaign, Jackson formed the National Rainbow Coalition, which merged with PUSH in 1996.

A white button with a photograph of Jesse Ventura's face with black text above and below.

This is a political button in support of Jesse Ventura's possible 2000 presidential election bid. Jesse Ventura is a former U.S Navy Seal who served in the Vietnam War. His nickname "The Body" comes from his tenure in professional wrestling throughout the 1970s and 1980s. As he transitioned out of professional wrestling, he acted in films including Predator. In 1991, Ventura's political career began when he defeated the 25 year incumbent mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. In 1998, Ventura ran as a third-party candidate (Reform Party) in the Minnesota gubernatorial race and won. Self-described as "fiscally conservative" and "socially liberal," Ventura has been a political activist and commentator since he left the governor's office in 2002.  For example, he publicly supported Ron Paul for US President.

Yellow text over maroon background. 

John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at age 77. Late in life and after his death Hoover became a controversial figure, as evidence of his secretive actions became known. His critics have accused him of exceeding the jurisdiction of the FBI. He used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders, and to collect evidence using illegal methods. Hoover consequently held a great deal of power and was in a position to intimidate and threaten sitting Presidents.

Black and white portrait of a man encircled by black border with yellowed text over yellowed background. 

This button is to commemorate the 25th president, William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901); the image is the official presidential portrait. President McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz during his second term.

McKinley served from March 4, 1897 until his death on September 14, 1901, six months into the second term. His presidency was noted for victory in the Spanish-American War, economic prosperity, and maintaining the gold standard by rejecting inflationary proposals. McKinley was the last president to serve in the Civil War as a Union solider. After the war he settled in Canton, Ohio where he practiced law. McKinely was elected into congress in 1870 and became an expert in protective tariff for the Republican Party. His presidency was marked by economic growth due to policies that protected manufacturers and factory workers, a practice that ensured domestic production and employment.

In foreign policy, McKinley attempted to persuade Spain into granting independence to Cuba. However when Spain refused, a series of events occurred which caused a public outcry against Spain. The main incident was the destruction of US Navy Ship USS Maine when it was stationed in Havana, Cuba, and Spanish soldiers were held responsible for the act. The US declared war against Spain in response, and “remember the Maine” was a popular slogan during the war. The Spanish-American War was possibly a ploy to annex territories held by Spain. After the War, the United States was given Guam, Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Cuba was granted independence but under the control of US Army.

McKinley was greatly respected and viewed positively during his presidency. He was remembered for economic growth and territorial gains. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president after McKinely’s passing.  

Black text over white background. 

Americans love throwing around the idea of impeaching their president and have been trying to impeach them since John Tyler (1790-1862).  A generation or so later, they finally got their first one with Andrew Johnson (1808-1875).  This pin suggest the impeachment of another Johnson, Lyndon B. (1908-1973).  Johnson assumed the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).  

So the story goes, on the eve of Kennedy's assassination, Johnson was giving testimony about some questionable involvement.  First was with Texas business Billie Sol Estes, a Kennedy and Johnson supporter.  The second was with Bobby Baker, Johnson's former aide, who had allegedly been bribing Washington insiders with cash and arranging sexual favors.  Conspiracy theorists have proposed that Johnson's refusal to running for reelection in 1968 was because of his involvement in the Estes and Baker scandals.  Still other theorists have proposed the scandals were why Johnson had Kennedy assassinated.