Presidential Campaign Pins 1860–1956

These campaign buttons would have stirred memories for Post readers of 1956. They’d know Dewey, the New York governor who’d lost three presidential races to Democratic candidates. They might have known [pig] Farmer [Henry] Krajewski, the Poor Man’s Party presidential candidate in 1952. Some might recall Lemke and O’Brien, the Labor Party candidates in 1936. But their memories might need jogging to recall Alton B. Parker (lower left, below the anti-McKinley-hobby-horse button). He was the 1904 Democratic candidate who had the ill fortune of running against Teddy Roosevelt.

The men inside the spectacles would be hard for many to recall. They are James G. Blaine and John Logan, who in 1884 lost to Grover Cleveland, the first Democratic president since 1856.

But few would still be alive who’d recognize the small button near the top. It promoted George McClellan, Commanding General of the U.S. Army, discharged for reluctance to lead his army into battle. Arrogant and smarting from his dismissal by Lincoln, he ran against the president on the Democratic platform which sought negotiated peace with the Confederacy. His defeat was ensured by the fact that no votes were cast in the rebel states.

This article is featured in the November/December 2024 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.