Bold white text printed on a red background

This button was most likely made in support of Birch Bayh's bid for presidency in the 1976 election. A former Indiana senator whose political career spanned from 1963 to 1981, Bayh is on record as being the only American, besides the founding fathers, to author two Constitutional amendments. Although Bayh had been popular among organized labor and other liberal groups by the time he ran for president in 1976, he did not have the campaign money nor the grassroots infrastructure to effectively compete and win the Democratic nomination. After a poor showing in both the New Hampshire and Massachusetts primaries, Bayh decided to end his campaign. Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination, and ultimately the election in 1976.

White text on blue background. 

This button was manufactured in support of Walter Mondale's bid for president in the 1984 election against then incumbent, Ronald Reagan. Prior to his candidacy, Mondale had been elected attorney general of Minnesota in 1960, appointed US senator upon Hubert Humphrey's resignation, and had successfully campaigned as Jimmy Carter's running mate in 1976. After capturing the Democratic nomination in 1984, Mondale chose Gerraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and campaigned on such issues as an equal rights amendment, higher taxes, and a reduction of US public debt. On election day, however, Mondale was defeated by Reagan in the second largest landslide in American presidential history, capturing only his home state of Minnesota. Mondale joined the Minnesota-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney following the election, and continues to be a fixture within the Democratic Party.

Purple and red text on a white background

Neil Goldschmidt was a Democratic politician in the State of Oregon from the mid 1960s through the 1990s. A native Oregonian, Goldschmidt began his career in politics after attending college. He obtained his BA in political science from the University of Oregon and a law degree from the University of California's Berkeley School of Law. After law school, he began an internship in Washington D.C. in the office of former U.S. Senator of Oregon, Maurine Neuberger.

Aside from the period of time when Goldschmidt served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under Jimmy Carter, he worked politically for the state of Oregon. When Goldschmidt ran for governor of Oregon in 1986, the state was facing economic distress and high unemployment rates. The focus of Goldschmidt’s campaign was not only on the future of Oregon, but also on his potential to bring innovative changes to the state based on his demonstrated successes when he was mayor of Portland from 1967 to 1969. As Governor, Goldschmidt fought school closers and pushed for increased salaries for faculty members of institutions of higher learning. Additionally, Goldschmidt promoted economic growth throughout the state. Despite his popularity, Goldschmidt did not seek reelection for a second term due to martial problems and a sexual abuse scandal.

Blue semi circle background with white text and a white semi background with blue text

In the 1984 presidential election, the Democratic candidate Walter Mondale chose a female running mate, Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro was the first woman to run for national political office for a major party. While Ferraro became a popular figure on the campaign trail and a symbol of pride for women’s rights activists, the team lost to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in a landslide. 

Blue text on a yellow background

Dan Varela was a Business Representative for Teamsters Local 853, a union with over 11,000 members in Northern California.

Black smiley face and black text on bright yellow background. 

This button is urging voters to support Robert "Bob" Bily for the Illinois' 8th District seat in the 1976 election. Unfortunately, "Bob" only captured 14% of the vote, losing to his like-minded opponent, Democrat Harry "Bus" Yourell, along with Republicans Jane M. Barnes and Herbert V. Huskey.  
 
Upon his retirement in 1985 after a successful career in business, Joseph Robert "Bob" Bily moved to Arlington, Texas. "Bob" died there at the age of 82 in 2005.

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.