Pinpointing The Voice Of A Nation

Maddie Abuyuan
·6 min read
A woman looking into the distance over the camera wears a multitude of campaign pins fixed to her bathing suit that read "draft Eisenhower movement" and the name "Stassen"

Barbara Grand-Bergh wears dozens of campaign buttons for Republican candidates Harold Stassen and Dwight Eisenhower. The buttons are pinned to her bathing suit.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

As early as George Washington’s presidency, Americans have wanted not only to be vocal, but also visual about their support for different political movements. Emblazoned with faces, slogans, and poignant artwork, political buttons have been a steadfast touchpoint for our national discourse.

The popularity of pins as a campaign strategy rose to prominence in 1896 during the heated presidential race between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. This was the first instance of a mass-produced button in US politics, which kicked off a golden age of political buttons. From there, the production of political buttons boomed into the millions, becoming a staple for every candidate, issue, manifesto, movement, and inauguration. Sourced mainly from the Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection, a survey of the history of campaign pins reveals that we are still fighting about the same things today.

In advance of the 2022 midterm elections, BuzzFeed News took a pointed look into the history of campaign pins, from the weird to the terrifying.

What’s New Is Old Again

Unfortunately, we’re still fighting the fights. From fair labor practices to abortion rights, we’ve found ourselves back where we started. These buttons address the rise of antisemitic sentiments, the legacy of Reagan’s war on drugs, and political leaders deciding what freedoms we have over our bodies. Sound familiar?

A button on the left reads "The right to abortion can be a woman's right to life" with the word "woman's" underlined; a button on the right shows an illustration hand gesturing toward a tree and smiling sun, encircled by the words "use alternative energy"

A pro-abortion button and a pro–alternative energy button from unknown dates

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
Two campaign buttons: one reads "stop Reagan's poor on the war," the other shows two frowning faces behind red crosshairs, under a warplane taking flight, and has the words: "stop the bombing! out now!"

An anti-Reagan button from 1984 and an anti–Vietnam War button from an unknown date

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button on the left reads "shalom means peace" with the A's swapped to be stars of David; the button on the right says "there's blood on those grapes!" between quote marks, under a small illustrated splotch of blood

A button calling for peace in Israel and a button calling for the boycott of grapes, both from an unknown date

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button on the left shows two fetuses in a cramped womb, with one saying "crowded now? baby, just you wait" and a button on the right showing a broken nuclear missile, its cracks forming the outline of a peace dove, above the words "nuclear moratorium"

A pro-abortion button and an anti-nuclear war button, both from unknown dates.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
Button on the right has a read hexagonal stop sign reading "mental illness — stop the stigma" and the button on the right reading "tax reform — don't cut human services. mass human services coalition"

A button against the stigmatization of mental illness and a button supporting tax reform, dates unknown.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
two buttons read "I am a grassroot" in all capital letters, and another reading "the rich get richer, the poor get Reagan"

A pro–grassroots organization button, date unknown, and an anti-Reagan button from 1984

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection

Thinking Outside of the Circle

A campaign button isn’t just a political statement — it can also be a fashion statement. With many styles of buttons going in and out of style, the politically active citizen of the day had a few choices to make. The original and most enduring buttons are celluloid buttons, metal buttons with a design printed on paper and then reinforced with a clear plastic layer on top. In 1916, innovative button designers began producing buttons that printed the design directly onto metal. This allowed for uniquely shaped designs and simpler production, though ultimately the ubiquity of the familiar round button would never go out of style.

A button shows a psychedelic portrait of George Wallace with the word "Wallace", the button on the right shows a large black bird's profile, with a smaller white bird's profile inside its frame

A pro-George Wallace button and a pro-peace button, dates unknown

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button in the shape of a donkey reads "vote democratic" and a button outlined with a heart and a key going through it reads the name "Hartke"

A pro–Democratic Party button, date unknown, and a pro-Senator Vance Hartke button from 1972.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button resembling a sunflower shows an elephant labeled "GOP" and the name Landon Knox, the button on the right shows a silhouetted figure facing a horizon filled with flames and the words "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came"

A pro–Landon Knox button from 1936, and an anti–Vietnam war button, date unknown.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button resembling a sheriff's badge reads "Deputy Buckley for Sheriff" beside a button with an simple orange smiling sun image encircled with the words "nuclear power? no thanks"

A campaign button for "Buckley for sheriff" button from 1974, and an anti–nuclear power button, date unknown.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button resembling a ying-yang symbol reads "youth international party, 1972, Miami beach" beside a smiley face button with the words "people above politics"

A Youth International Party button from 1972 and a pro–political reform button, date unknown.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection; Blank Archives / Getty Images
A button reads "Don Clausen" and a button with a donkey reads "McGovern–Shriver 72"

A Don Clausen button, and a McGovern–Shriver button from 1972.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection

(P)In on the Joke

Humor has always been a great way to get a message across. Whether it was originally intended as a joke or not, without the context of the political moment, we can use humor as a coping mechanism to get through another day.

two buttons read "it's polite to wait until you're asked" in a minimalist, lowercase font, and "watch out, i vote" in a loud, psychedelic font with flowers in the O's

Funny buttons that are pro-voting, dates unknown

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A button on the left reads "lick Dick in ’72" and the button on the right reads "be friendly" with images of bare footprints

An anti–Richard Nixon button from 1972 and a suggestive button, date unknown

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
A green button says "environment!" lowercase with an exclamation mark, a blue button reads "this is so sudden" in all capital letters

Two funny buttons, dates unknown

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
Buttons read "Wearing buttons is not enough" and "question authority"

Two funny buttons from the 1970s

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection; Blank Archives / Getty Images
Buttons read "no beer, no work" and show a glass filled with liquid labeled "H2O"

Three buttons against prohibition

The Frent Collection / Getty Images; Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection

Dark Sentiments

Some buttons are a reminder of a dark not-too-distant past. The violent sentiments of xenophobia and pro–Vietnam War buttons reflect an ugly side of the nation. Keeping our past in view as we move forward can give us the insight we need to face similar situations the future holds.

Two buttons read "I am a right-wing extremist" with the word "extremist" in quotes, and "Smash Haiphong"

A right-wing extremist button and a pro–Vietnam War button

The Frent Collection / Getty Images
Two buttons read "join the Japanese sinking fund for the US Navy relief fun" and "put the squeeze on the Japanese, beat the promise"

Two buttons opposing Japanese involvement in World War II

The Frent Collection / Getty Images
Two buttons read "To hell with Hanoi" in white text over blue background, and "Tell it to Hanoi" in blue text over a white background

Two pro–Vietnam War buttons

Stuart Lutz/Gado / Getty Images
A button reads in red text over a white background: "contaminate Hanoi, drop hippies"

A pro–Vietnam War button

Stuart Lutz/Gado / Getty Images

Got to the Point

Here’s to the winners! These buttons had what it took to endure the long road of the political campaign to victory. Is simpler better? Take notes!

Buttons read "I'm nuts about Jimmy" with an illustration of Jimmy Carter and a peanut in place of the "I" in his name, and an "Our President Franklin D Roosevelt" button

An "I'm Nuts About Jimmy" button, supporting Jimmy Carter for the 1980 United States presidential election, and a pro–Franklin Delano Roosevelt button, circa 1936.

Blank Archives / Contributor; Blank Archives / Getty Images
A button shows a close-up of someone's face, reading "Henry Jackson, the only moderate in 1972" and another with a close-up on someone's face reading "keep the faith, baby"

A Henry Jackson button from 1972 (left) advertising him as "the only moderate in 1972" and a button promoting Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (right) using his popular expression "Keep the Faith, Baby."

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
Buttons read read "Don't tarry, vote Harry" and "Elect Truman, no new man" on either side of a button showing Truman's face, reading "Harry S Truman for president"

Buttons used in Harry Truman's 1948 campaign. Slogans read: "Don't tarry, vote Harry" and "Elect Truman, no new man."

Bettmann / Getty Images
A yellow smiley face with Joe Moakley's name under the mouth, and a green button with bold font reading "Sarge looms large."

A smiley button promoting former Massachusetts representative Joe Moakley from 1972 (left), and a "Sarge Looms Large" pin for former Massachusetts governor Francis Sargent from 1970.

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection
Two buttons read "Think about George Bush" in blue and red capital letters, and "Rosalyn Carter for First Lady 1980" with an image of a woman's face

A "Think About George Bush" button from the 1988 presidential election (left), and a pro–Rosalyn Carter pin (right) from Jimmy Carter's 1980 reelection campaign

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection; Robert Lachman / Contributor
Images of state senator Sharon Pollard and US senator Ted Kennedy flank one of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale under the words "48th Inauguration, Jan. 20, 1977" on a green egg-shaped pin

A button promoting the Jan. 20, 1977, inauguration of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale

Rothstein Political Button Collection at Harvard Kennedy School Collection