Globe containing gold flakes (originally suspended in liquid) on the center of the button with blue text and white background.

Barry Goldwater unsuccessfully ran in the 1964 presidential election against incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson, who took over after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Johnson was still positively associated with Kennedy's popularity and won 61.1% of the popular vote, the highest margin since 1820.

Black text reading on white background and white text on a blue banner underneath a photograph of a man in a suit.  Blue stars to the left and right of the photograph.  Red stars underneath blue banner.

Barry Goldwater was a Republican Senator from Arizona most known for his alignment with the labor-union reform and anti-communism movements. He stepped down from the Senate in 1964 to run for President of the United States. Goldwater won a very difficult Republican primary while opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but Lyndon Johnson won the presidential election by a landslide. Goldwater won only six states in the general election.  Goldwater fought to help stop communism from spreading throughout the globe. He was also a supporter of the conservative coalition which led to Congress passing new reform in 1957 against anti-corruption. Many of his opponents in the primary elections tried to covey Goldwater as an extremist with his conservative views, though his voting record proved to be in line with other members of the Republican party.

Photo portrait of Jimmy Carter in a gold frame with blue image of the US Capitol Building and blue and white text on an 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 so 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.

Bold, dark blue text printed abvove an illustration of a burst of red color on a light blue backgound.

State Senator James Devitt represented the 28th district of Wisconsin from 1969 to 1976. Before entering politics he was a partner in a real estate development firm and the director of the Bank of Greenfield. Devitt then served two years in the Wisconsin Assembly before he was elected as State Senator. In an ugly 1972 campaign against Democrat Robert Hoskins, Devitt was accused of charging nearly 850 personal calls to his office during one month in 1971.

Black and white photograph of Dan Quayle with white text above and below on a red background.

During his time as vice president, Dan Quayle was ridiculed for his perceived incompetence and his confusing and humourous public statements. A tongue-in-cheek organization called the "President's Prayer Club" sold T-shirts and buttons with the motto "Keep George Healthy", warning that Quayle would have been the next in line for the presidency if George H.W. Bush could no longer hold the office. In 1990, the second year of Quayle's vice presidency, the Center for Media and Public Affairs reported that he became the subject of the most late-night talk show jokes.

Blue text with black shadow on an orange and yellow striped background.

This button references New York Senator Jacob Koppel "Jack" Javits, who served in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1981. Javits, a liberal-minded Republican, supported monumental legislation while in the Senate, such as the 1957 Civil Rights Act and Lyndon Johnsons' "Great Society" programs. Although he initially supported the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, by 1967, he denounced the Vietnam War, calling for a peaceful resolution. Javits served in the Senate until his 1980 loss against Democrat challenger, Alfonse D'Amato. Javits died of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 81 in March, 1986.

Photograph of candidate's face within a red and black circle above an American flag illustration.  

This is possibly a memorial button for Nelson Rockefeller, the 41st Vice President of the United States (1974–1977) under President Gerald Ford. He was a member of the wealth Rockefeller family, a businessman and philanthropist. Rockefeller sought Republican Presidential Nomination unsuccessfully in 1960, 1964, and 1968 and became Vice President after Richard Nixon's resignation in the wake of Watergate Scandal. During his political career, he was progressive, liberal and moderate, and thus, the Liberals in the Republican Party were called "Rockefeller Republicans" in his time. 

White text on red, white, and blue background. White band with blue stars separates the upper and lower portions of the button.

After George McGovern won the Democratic nomination for president in 1972, nearly every single high-profile Democrat McGovern approached to be his running mate declined, including Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie, and Birch Baye. Senator Gaylord Nelson, after refusing McGovern's offer to run on the ticket, suggested Tom Eagleton as his running mate. With little thought, nor any background check, McGovern chose Eagleton. Unbeknownst to McGovern, between 1960 and 1966, Eagleton had suffered from severe depression, checking himself into hospitals for "physical and nervous exhaustion." Furthermore, before Eagleton was selected as McGovern's running mate, he told conservative journalist Robert Novak that George McGovern had stood for "amnesty, abortion, and [the] legalization of pot." Until the day of the election, McGovern was popularly referred to as the "amnesty, abortion, and acid" candidate. Not until a Meet the Press interview in 2007 did Novak say it was indeed Eagleton who he had quoted in the ubiquitous article.

Once it was leaked to the press that Eagleton had undergone electro-convulsive therapy and had checked himself into the hospital twice, Nixon's campaign team had a field day. Although McGovern dropped Eagleton soon afterward and recruited Kennedy in-law Sargent Shriver as his running mate, the campaign could not recover from the Eagleton fiasco. Nixon won the 1972 election in a landslide victory. 

Blue text on a white background, centered over an illustration of an American flag.

This button was distributed by the Citizen's for Reagan Committee, a political action committee founded by United States Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada in July, 1976. Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1981-1989. After gaining fame as an actor—he appeared in 53 films—Reagan, a conservative, left Hollywood and began a career in politics in the 1960s. He was elected Governor of California in 1966; campaigned for the Republican Party's presidential candidate in the 1976 election; and won the 1980 presidential election. President Reagan and his running-mate, George H. W. Bush, beat sitting president Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory. Running as the incumbents in 1984, Reagan and Bush won 49 out of 50 states against former Vice President Walter Mondale. Reagan is remembered for his fiscal policies, also known as  “Reaganomics,” and is often referenced as a hero-figure by the Republican Party.  

Bold white text printed on a blue background

 Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1981-1989. After gaining fame as an actor—he appeared in 53 films—Reagan, a conservative, left Hollywood and began a career in politics in the 1960s. He was elected Governor of California in 1966; campaigned for the Republican Party's presidential candidate in the 1976 election; and won the 1980 presidential election. President Reagan and his running-mate, George H. W. Bush, beat sitting president Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory. Running as the incumbents in 1984, Reagan and Bush won 49 out of 50 states against former Vice President Walter Mondale. Reagan is remembered for his fiscal policies, also known as  “Reaganomics,” and is often referenced as a hero-figure by the Republican Party.