Jugate featuring John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson between white text over red, white, and blue background.

This button dates from the 1960 US Presidential campaign of Democrats John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973). At the time of the campaign, both Kennedy and Johnson were US Senators. Kennedy was from Massachusetts and Johnson was from Texas. They ran against the Republican candidates, Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) and Henry Cabot Lodge (1902-1985). The race was close in the popular election, but Kennedy and Johnson received 303 of the 537 Electoral College votes; Nixon and Lodge received only 219. The 1960 US Presidential election may be remembered as the first election with live, televised candidate debates. Kennedy appeared cool and collected. Nixon, who had been ill and refused to wear television make-up, was fidgety and noticeably sweating.

Blue and red elephant silhouette accompanied by blue stars between red and blue text over cosmic holographic background. 

This button by the GOP Shoppe was part of the National Republican Party's platform to encourage voting Republican in US elections. Republicans were most likely attempting to cash-in on the the gains made during the 1994 midterm elections. The platform was mildly successful despite Democrat Bill Clinton's victory over Bob Dole in the 1996 US Presidential election.  Republicans gained three seats in the Senate, strengthening their majority, and held onto their majority in the House even after losing three seats.

A white button with photos of Earl Dodge and George Ormsby. Atop the photos is a American shield

This button is promoting Earl Dodge (1932-2007) and George Ormsby's (1916-2013) presidential bid for the Prohibition Party. Dodge was a lifelong member of the Prohibition Party. He served as the party chairman and represented the party in over 15 political campaigns. Ormsby, a long-time leader of the International Organization of Good Templars, served as the party's vice-presidential candidate in both 1988 and 1992.

The Prohibition Party was formed in the aftermath of the Civil War while the temperance movement was still young. The Party has participated in nearly every major United States election since it began, however it has had limited success in getting candidates elected.

A green button with white text and a light green American flag

This is a political button in support of the Green Party ticket of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke. The Nader-LaDuke ticket served as the Green party's bid for the Presidency in both 1996 and 2000. Nader, a life-long political activist, Army veteran, and Harvard graduate, founded the non-profit group Public Citizen and has received numerous public service awards. Nader has been a prominent voice against nuclear weapons and for airline deregulation and automobile safety as well as environmental issues.

LaDuke is the executive director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and of Honor the Earth. She has spent a life-time fighting for Native American rights and is the winner of numerous awards including the Reebok Human Rights Award (1998), and the Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year (1997). In 2007, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. 

Blue donkey below three blue stars between red text over white background. 

This button represents the United States Democratic Party and their use of the donkey as their official political party symbol. The first use of the donkey was in Andrew Jackson's 1828 presidential campaign. Jackson's opponents referred to him as a "jackass" due to his slogan, "Let the people rule!" Jackson embraced the donkey and later used it to describe himself as someone strong-willed and used it on his campaign posters. In 1870, political illustrator, Thomas Nast used the Democratic donkey in Harper's Weekly and is credited with making the donkey the Democratic party national symbol.  Nast used the donkey to illustrate an anti Civil War movement and the Democratic controlled newspapers in the South. By the 1880's the public incorporated the donkey as the unofficial party symbol.

White text over green background. 

This pinback button was made for Jimmy Carter's 1976 Presidential campaign, where he defeated the incumbent President Gerald Ford in a relatively close election. The slogan “Viva Carter” suggested a strong support for Carter and aligned him with the Latin American revolutionaries, embraced by the counterculture in the 60s and 70s, as Carter often fashioned himself as a Populist candidate.

Jimmy Carter, born in 1924, served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, and his efforts in advancement of human rights and social developments. His major human rights contribution included the negotiation of David Camp Accord and the returning of the Panama Canal. 

White text with three white lines on a blue background.

John H. Stroger, Jr. was an American politician who served from 1994 until 2006 as the first African-American president of the Cook County, Illinois Board of Commissioners. As board president, Stroger balanced the county's $2.9 billion budget, instituted a Juvenile Drug Court, appointed a Commission on Women's Issues, and opened a new AIDS treatment and research facility. However, Stroger came under increased fire in the later years of his presidency for what his critics called a scandal-ridden administration.

Three yellowed stars over blue horizontal stripe above blue text above red vertical stripes over yellowed background. 

This button is from Franklin D. Roosevelt's (1882-1945) 1941 US Presidential reelection campaign. Roosevelt took office in 1933 and served until 1945. He is the longest serving president in US history. When he took office, the US was nearly four years into the Great Depression. With the help of federal programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, New Deal, and Works Progress Administration, Roosevelt managed to enliven America's collective morale and move towards a stable national economy in his first and second terms. By his third term, the US was in a two-front war with Germany and Japan. Roosevelt died about four months before the end of the war with Japan and less than a month before the end of the war with Germany.

Blue and red text over white background. 

Rod Blagojevich was the US Representative for Illinois's Fifth Congressional District. He won the race with sixty-four percent of the votes and served the district from 1997 until 2003, when he became Governor of Illinois until he was impeached in 2009. Blagojevich is best known for his attempt to sell former US Senator Barack Obama's seat upon his election to the presidency  and the subsequent impeachment, trial, and conviction that followed. In 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in federal prison. He appealed his case in 2013 and in 2015, the court threw out five of the 18 counts again him. 

Colorful illustration of Ronald Reagan surrounded by patriotic imagery topped by a bald eagle. 

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American actor and politician. He was the 40th President of the United States and served as the 33rd Governor of California prior to his presidency. Reagan moved to Hollywood in 1937, where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later in television. Reagan served as President of the Screen Actors Guild and later as a spokesman for General Electric. Originally, he was a member of the Democratic Party, but due to the parties' shifting platforms during the 1950s, he switched to the Republican Party in 1962. Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, the former president disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year; he died ten years later at the age of 93. A conservative icon, he ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents and is credited for generating an ideological renaissance on the American political right.